December 8, 2023
In celebration of this year’s International Anti-Corruption Day, CIBAC Party-List Representative Bro. Eddie Villanueva calls on the government to renew its commitment and intensify its efforts to fight corruption as increasing number of Filipino finds corruption in the government normal and helpless to be solved.
“The state of corruption in the country is beyond critical and deserves nothing less than a pressing genuine response. We need to wake up and prick ourselves to reverse the tide of apathy and numbness towards corruption! I call on everyone to renew our disgust towards corruption and for the government to ramp up its efforts in leading the fight against the problem,” says Rep. Villanueva.
The CIBAC solon refers to a Pulse Asia survey in June of this year which showed that nearly half or 47% of Filipinos has normalized attitude towards corrupt practices. In the said survey, 67% said that they have lost trust in government services and public officials.
In the 2022 global corruption index by watchdog Transparency International, the Philippines ranked 116th out of 180 countries assessed on levels of corruption perception. The country was among the “significant decliners” by having a score of 33 (0 means ‘highly corrupt and ‘100’ as very clean), which was below the average score of 45 in the Asia Pacific region.
In 2019, a Deputy Ombudsman (Cyril Ramos) said that the government is losing 20% of the national budget or around Php700 billion annually to corruption. The figure means 1.4 million housing for the poor, medical assistance for around 7 million Filipinos, or a rice buffer stock that can last for more than a year.
“To take no commensurate action simply means consenting to corrupt officials to devour our public resources. Thus, I call on the entire government to prioritize three (3) things to resuscitate public confidence in our ability to fight corruption. First, I want to emphasize the indispensability of leadership by example. We need to refrain from appointing corruption-tainted officials, it will surely demoralize and negate in-roads in promoting a transparent and accountable government.”
“Secondly, we need to fast-track the wheels of justice on corruption cases. Unless our people see that crooks are jailed, we cannot restore public confidence.”
“Lastly, we renew our calls for the passage of the Freedom of Information (FOI) law which requires all government agencies to fully disclose its transactions and documents to the public. A corruption-free Philippines is far from sight without the FOI law,” adds the CIBAC solon.
Rep. Villanueva also hints that he will file a bill aimed at limiting confidential and intelligence funds to select few agencies and institutionalizing a mechanism in auditing and scrutinizing the same.
“We need to make our anti-corruption crusade consistent and with no let up. With or without sensational media-hyped corruption cases, we need to keep the fire burning in battling the evils of corruption that keeps us from experiencing the development and affluence that God dreams for all Filipinos,” ends Rep. Villanueva The United Nations designated December 9 of each year to be the International Anti-Corruption Day to raise awareness on the effects of corruption and the need to prevent and combat it.
