ANGARA LEAVES FOR TIMOR-LESTE AS SPEAKER IN ANTI-CORRUPTION CONFERENCE

Senator Edgardo J. Angara will speak at the Conference on Parliamentarians' Network on Anti-Corruption for the promotion of transparency and accountability in Dili, Timor-Leste.

The conference, organized by the National Parliament of Timor Leste, will be attended by international leaders including current and former heads of states, members of the civil society, cabinet ministers and representatives from the religious sector.

Angara participates in the convention upon the invitation of the President of the National Parliament of Timor Leste, Fernando La Sama de Araujo. Angara will speak on the theme Building Networks among Parliaments and Parliamentarians to Fight Corruption.

"This conference will initiate the establishment of a national network of stakeholders to fight corruption in Timor-Leste, and the subsequent drafting of a law on anti-corruption for Timor-Leste," he said.

Angara was the driving force behind the establishment of the South East Asia Parlimentarians Against Corruption (SEAPAC) and is a member of the Executive Board of the Ottawa, Canada-based Global Organization of Parliamentarians Against Corruption (GOPAC).

The SEAPAC was formed to lead the regional anti-corruption effort in Southeast Asian countries on a coordinated and institutional basis. Parlimentarian-members from Cambodia, Indonesia, Malaysia, Singapore, Thailand, Vietnam and the Philippines compose the membership of SEAPAC.

"There should be mutual cooperation among nations in confronting corruption. We should collaborate with other countries in the region to enhance our own efforts to fight corruption," he said.

Angara was the sponsor in the Senate of the landmark law on government procurement which radically overhauled the rules of bidding and awards in the public sector, and now stands as the country's biggest anti-corruption law.

The law provides adequate safeguards to protect public money and it incorporated features of modern technology into the law to boost the safeguards.

Angara also established the Ombudsman's Office and led the ratification of the UN Convention Against Corruption (UNCAC) by the Philippine Senate.