Press Release
November 3, 2009

FIGHTING CORRUPTION SHOULD BE HIGH ON AGENDA
OF NEXT PRESIDENT - ANGARA

Senator Edgardo J. Angara today said that fighting corruption and promoting good governance should be high on the agenda of candidates vying for the Presidency in 2010. He also reiterated the shared responsibility in fighting corruption through international cooperation and championing local initiatives to "healing this social cancer".

"Corruption is a plague on our house. It cannot be stamped out overnight. Only a well-studied groundwork, with international cooperation and local initiatives, can cure us of this cancer and nurse our society back to health. The next administration should make this a top priority," said Angara, longest serving Senator.

He added, "In our fight towards eliminating corruption, we must recognize the fact that everyone has a role to play. Corruption creates a huge dent not only in our economic and governance initiatives but also in our nation-building efforts. Thus, getting rid of the social cancer is a shared responsibility."

The Corruption Perceptions Index (CPI), an annual publication ranking countries to the degree to which corruption is perceived to exist among public officials and politicians, ranked Philippines 141st out of 180 countries in 2008. In early 2000, the World Bank estimated that corruption was costing the Philippine government $47 million a year or a massive $48 billion over the 20-year period to 1997.

According to the same report, at least 20% of the government funds for projects in 1998 alone, ended up as "kickbacks" with Php241.1 billion out of the Php546.7 billion total budget. It cited a 1998 Civil Service Commission report which estimated losses of approximately Phpl.96 trillion over the past 20 years due to corruption. This amount exceeded the country's entire foreign debt of $40.6 billion.

"Recognizing the fact that corruption dampens our efforts toward achieving our country's societal goals is one thing, mobilizing government's initiative and people's participation is another thing," Angara added.

As early as December 2003, the Philippines signed the United Nations Convention against Corruption (UNCAC). The convention rests on four pillars: preventive measures, criminalization of certain corrupt acts, international cooperation and asset recovery.

UNCAC aims to strengthen the government's anti-corruption drive and help hasten the Philippines' current and future efforts to recover ill-gotten wealth stashed abroad by corrupt government officials.

Angara who initiated various reforms to address corruption from its root like the Government Procurement Reform Law which remains the biggest anti-corruption measure in the country and the Ombudsman Law which seeks to weed out corrupt officials in the country calls for more intensified efforts to fight corruption.

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