Joint Press Statement
Call to Action Against Corruption

1 December 2008 - Corruption is the gravest threat to Philippine democracy and society today.

In the Millennium Challenge Corporation’s just released Philippine scorecard for fiscal year 2009, the country failed to meet the performance standard in the control of corruption category, with its percentile ranking falling to 47% from 57% in fiscal year 2008.

In the 2008 Corruption Perceptions Index released by Transparency International in September, the Philippines placed in the bottom quarter of 180 countries. The country tied for 141st place with Cameroon, Iran, and Yemen.

The country’s poor performance in these corruption ratings is not surprising given the litany of scandals that have hounded the current Administration since 2001: the IMPSA kickbacks, the AFP comptroller hidden wealth case, the Jose Pidal scandal, the COMELEC-MegaPacific computerization deal, the fertilizer scam, the North and South Rail projects, the cheating in the 2004 presidential elections, the distribution of cash gifts in Malacañang, the NBN-ZTE bribery scandal, and now, the PNP “euro generals”. No one has been held accountable. We have not witnessed corruption of this magnitude since the years of the Marcos dictatorship.

Contrary to her pronouncements, the President has shown no intention of using the considerable powers and resources at her disposal to get to the root of all these scandals, and has in fact allowed the misuse of her power of executive privilege to hinder investigations into acts of official corruption.

The unchecked rise of corruption is seriously hampering efforts to reduce poverty in the country and affecting our economic competitiveness. But most alarming is the moral impact of this virulent cancer on our citizenry, especially the youth. Not only is it fostering a sense of cynicism and desperation, the greater tragedy is that it may be engendering the adoption of the corrupt’s disoriented moral compass among our people.

In their call to action, the group of bishops led by Jaro Archbishop Angel Lagdameo asked, “But, who, who will pick up the broken, shattered pieces of our country, hurting from poverty and corruption, to make it whole again?” We say, we Filipinos are our own liberators. Despite the dire situation we are in, we believe that we are not powerless to defend the integrity of our institutions and values. We urge all Filipinos to join us in challenging our political leaders to immediately undertake the following reforms:

Implement citizens’ participation in local development planning and budget reviews. We urge our public officials to recognize their constituents’ right to participate in governance. Citizens should know how public funds are being used in their barangay, city, and province.

Strengthen the civil service. We need civil servants who will build quality and integrity systems in government agencies, and spearhead the campaign against corruption from within the bureaucracy.

Punish the corrupt, not the whistleblowers. Except for General Carlos Garcia, no one has been held accountable for their misdeeds. We strongly urge the Ombudsman to act on pending high-profile corruption cases, to increase the office’s pool of competent field investigators, and most importantly, to uphold her mandate to serve as protector of the people and not of the powerful.

Let us end the culture of dishonesty and impunity in our country, especially in government, and take the war against corruption to the forefront of the national agenda!

###

COALITION AGAINST CORRUPTION
Ateneo School of Government
Barug Pilipino
Bishops-Businessmen’s Conference for Human Development
Caucus of Development NGO Networks
CBCP-Sangguniang Laiko ng Pilipinas
CBCP-National Secretariat for Social Action, Justice and Peace
Integrated Bar of the Philippines
Makati Business Club
Management Association of the Philippines
National Citizens’ Movement for Free Elections
Transparency and Accountability Network

www.cac.org.ph
hulihin. litisin. ikulong.