22 March 2006—“Promises must be followed by action,” was the challenge posed at the Anti-Corruption Convergence Summit organized by the Office of the Ombudsman last Friday at the Crowne Plaza Hotel in Ortigas. About 80 representatives from the Commission on Audit, Civil Service Commission, Presidential Anti-Graft Commission, the legislature, judiciary, the Executive, civil society and the business sector signed a covenant in support of the National Anti-Corruption plan of action.

For her part, CSC Chair Karina David urged anti-corruption partners to ‘clean their own backyards’ and laid out Civil Service efforts and plans to purge the agency of corruption. She reported that the commission is looking at how examinations are conducted, reviewing the bases for promotion, and instituting ethics tests and other ways to professionalize the bureaucracy. A study is also in the works to improve the compensation package of government employees.

Senate President Franklin Drilon, meanwhile, cited findings from two recently conducted surveys by Transparency International and the Political and Economic Risk Consultancy Group. The first reveals the Philippines as the second country with the most pessimistic attitude about corruption and the second ranked RP as the third most corrupt country in Asia, next to Indonesia and Vietnam. Given these indicators, he called on government leaders to muster political will to fight corruption. He also urged the Ombudsman to act on the recently concluded report on the P 728 million fertilizer fund scam.

The Coalition Against Corruption, represented by Mr. Guillermo Luz, pointed out two concerns: first is how do we expect lower level officials to be professional when senior officials do not set right examples, and the second is the dismissal of civil servants who refuse to obey illegal orders. These are cause for concern for the majority of honest civil servants employed by the government. The statement also called on the Ombudsman to remain independent in investigating three important cases: the Gen. Garcia case, the Comelec case, and the fertilizer fund scam.

< Back to Graft Busters main page