How to Eradicate Corruption

Solutions:

1. Punish the vote sellers and vote brokers

Corrupt voters give birth to corrupt politicians. In order to stop corruption, we have to
start eliminating it at its birth, that is, during elections.

Most of us are aware that vote buying is illegal. But actually, vote selling is also
prohibited by the law. According to Section 261 (a), Article 22 of the Omnibus Election
Code, both vote buying and vote selling are prohibited and punishable. In other words,
its not only the candidates, their supporters, or the vote buyers who can be found guilty
of an election offense, but the voters or vote sellers can also be punished according to
the code.

I know it seems impossible to arrest all vote sellers and put them in jail for committing
an election offense. Theres no prison that can accommodate all the Filipinos who sell
their votes during elections. Just imagine how many are they? It could be a large
percentage of the Philippine population!

But I believe many of those who sell their votes are not aware of the law. So to
decrease the number of vote sellers in the Philippines, the COMELEC and other
concerned agencies should do their best to educate and warn all voters across the
country. Informing people through the Internet and social media isnt enough since 2/3
of our population dont have a good access to the Internet yet. Our government have to
increase efforts to reach, educate and warn voters in the rural areas.

Vote selling may be difficult to prove and vote sellers may not be punished in jail, but if
theyll become aware that their acts are against the law, they might just be punished by
their own conscience.

Moreover, vote selling and vote buying in the Philippines become a great problem
because they are usually organized from the national to the barangay level. Hence, it
would be a better solution if the government can obliterate these organizations or vote
brokers (whether they are inside or outside the government), who manage the wide
corruption of votes in the Philippines.

2. Annual assessment of all public officials by the BIR

Majority of politicians in the Philippines are rich and generating income from
businesses. Even the poorest mayor in Metro Manila has a net worth of P3.31 million.
Therefore, the BIR should not only focus on examining small business owners and
professionals, but should also concentrate on investigating the politicians and the
companies that are fully or partially owned by them.

The government should not only require public officials to submit their financial
statements or statements of assets and liabilities, but they should also assess or audit
these public officials annually and make their statements available to the public. This
way, the public will know how they are earning income and increasing their net worth,
whether its coming from their salary or from their business.

Public officials should be a role model of public trust. They desire to be in a public office.
Hence, they should not complain if they will be required to undergo annual tax
examination.

3. A more effective and efficient tax system. Solution #2 wont be effective if our tax
system will not be improved. To effectively and efficiently collect taxes from taxpayers,
especially from politicians, we have to upgrade our tax system, make registrations/tax
declarations/payments online, and eliminate unnecessary regulations that only make
our system more complicated. The BIR should not only invest in human resources, but
also on technology like what Singapore and other countries that have a more efficient
tax system are doing.

Creating a better tax system is a job that must be initiated by our congressmen and
senators the lawmakers. Thus, they have to consult not only with the BIR, Department
of Finance and DTI, but also with various independent tax experts, the business sector,
and other taxpayers who are affected by our tax system.

4. Regular surprise examination of all government offices

The Civil Service Commission is the agency mandated to promote and administer
efficient and effective personnel in the government. They should see to it that the Anti-
Red Tape Law or RA 9485 is well enforced in all government offices.

Government employees can also commit corruption. If they dont do their job to serve
the public well or if they dont work for the hours the government is paying them, thats
already a form of corruption. Thus, the CSC should ensure that all government
personnel are doing their job well and complying with the Anti-red tape law and other
applicable laws in our country. They should obey the no noon breaks policy, should
work beyond 5pm when necessary, and should not commit fixing or connive with fixers.

But when is the last time that the CSC conducted surprise examination to check if the
Anti-Red tape law is obeyed by government agencies? They should do it more
frequently. Installing CCTVs on all government and public offices can also be a better
solution.
5. Timely governmental audit by COA or by an Independent auditing firm
The Commission on Audit is the government agency responsible for examining,
preventing and reporting frauds happening in the government. But are they doing their
job efficiently? Scams are already uncovered and reported to the public after 3 years or
more. Just consider the current Pork Barrel scam.

As an accountant, I know that timeliness is key to relevance. If frauds are reported late,
its already difficult to recover the funds misappropriated by the culprits. Corruption in
the government should be detected earlier, not after 3 years or 5 years. If COA cannot
be efficient, then why not we consider hiring independent auditing firms to examine the
financial statements and transactions of our government bodies?

6. Strict regulation of all corporations in the Philippines

The Securities and Exchange Commission or SEC is the commission that is responsible
for regulating all corporations and partnerships, including foundations in the Philippines.
But look at what happened to the foundations involved in the Pork Barrel scam? Think
of how Janet Napoles use those foundations to hide all her illegal transactions. To avoid
this kind of scam from happening again, the SEC should set stricter rules for regulating
all corporations, especially foundations in the country. They should ensure that all the
members and board of trustees of any foundation are real and in good faith.

7. Strict implementation of the FOI bill

The Senate, under Senate Bill No. 1733, has already passed the Freedom of
Information Bill. Once enacted, the FOI bill will require government officials to act or
comply with the request for information within 15 working days. It will grant citizens the
right to access records or information under the control of the government, with some
exceptions.

The FOI Bill is a good solution to fight corruption in the Philippines. So lets hope that it
will be enacted as a law soonest. But though it will be a good solution, its success will
still depend on its implementation. Thus, the government should do its best to make
sure that the law will have a clear implementing rules and regulations, and that it will be
enforced effectively as intended.

8. Improved integrity in our justice system

We have existing good laws in the Philippines. The problem is the low integrity of our
justice system. Our laws, themselves, suffer from injustice because they arent
respected and protected by the authorities that should be protecting them in the first
place. Corrupt politicians and government officials are not usually sent to jail.

To improve the integrity of our justice system, there should be a collaboration among
the DOJ, Office of the Ombudsman, PNP, NBI, courts, and the civil society to uphold
justice in our country. There should also be a more effective witness protection program
to make sure that all witnesses or whistle blowers, including their families will be safe
and protected. Moreover, they should be rewarded and well-compensated to support
their family while they are under a witness protection.

9. Continuing professional education requirements for politicians

Being a politician or a public official is one of the greatest profession in the world. It
requires a lot of leadership skills and knowledge in law, economy, ethics, humanity and
others. To make sure our government officials, senators, congressmen, mayors,
governors, et cetera are currently capable in doing their respective job, they should be
required to have a minimum credit units of continuing professional education every year.
If they cant comply, then they should be fired out from their positions.

Another solution is to implement a quota requirement for all legislators in our country.
Senators and congressmen, as their main job is to create laws, should maintain a
certain number of laws proposed or passed every year as a quota. Pork barrel should
definitely be abolished so that they can only concentrate in enacting useful laws that
can make our country progress and make the lives of the Filipinos better.

10. Reduce the number of government officials

If all else fails then the last solution to reduce corruption in the Philippines is simply to
reduce the number of government officials in our country. We have so many lawmakers.
We have around 292 congressmen, including party-list representatives. If our house of
congress cannot produce a good number of useful laws, then why not consider
decreasing the congressional seats to limit only to capable representatives?

We also have a lot of barangay officials across the nation, whom can only be used as
brokers of vote selling and buying during national elections. Although barangay officials
can be helpful, as there are actually honest officials in this level, we have to consider
whether barangay elections can be beneficial in the national level.

Recommendations:

1. REDUCING OPPORTUNITIES FOR CORRUPTION.

Through policy reforms and deregulation, noteworthy progress has been made in
the last 10 years to reduce opportunities for corruption, but much more can be
done.

Opportune areas for policy reform in the Philippines include:

tax policy (for example, preferential tariffs, exemptions, investment incentives)

and administration (for example, tax audits)
regulation of infrastructure services and public utilities such as power,
telecommunications, water, aviation (for example, granting of franchises,
government guarantees, competitive arrangements)
corporate governance reforms, particularly in the financial services area
environmental and land use regulations
 import and trade arrangements.

2. REFORMING CAMPAIGN FINANCE.

The dynamics of electoral politics as practiced in the Philippinesparticularly,
the financial requirements to obtain and retain office and placate core
constituenciescreate dysfunctional incentives that degrade the performance of
the public sector as a whole. In its issues, nature, and institutional origins, issues
of corruption in politics are bigger than campaign finance reform and different
from petty corruption in procurement and bribery in the civil service. Although
these issues have been acknowledged in the Philippines and demand due
consideration, the World Banks recommendations do not address them for lack
of expertise and 6 jurisdiction in this area. Nevertheless, reforms of political
processes and systems should be an integral part of the governments overall
anticorruption program.

3. INCREASING PUBLIC OVERSIGHT.

Measures to increase significantly the information made available to the general
public have special importance because they let citizens know what officials are
accountable for and how to judge their performance against those standards.
Active efforts to engage civil society to advance accountability and integrity are
also needed.

Actions that could enhance transparency and public oversight include:

establishing a citizen charter, requiring an agency to specify and publish: each step
of procedures to obtain a particular service; maximum length of time to conclude the
process; and procedures to file complaints on agency failure to follow required
procedures

using government officials statement of assets and liabilities proactively to identify

possible cases of corruption

conducting client surveys to get regular feedback on access and quality of

government services

establishing advisory boards made up of prominent Filipino citizens to assist the

Office of the Ombudsman as well as each department and agency targeted for
anticorruption effort

limiting the role of advisers in the government, who are not governed by public
accountability and parliamentary processes, and enhancing the role of cabinet
officials who are

strengthening the ongoing initiatives for governance-appraisal systems for cities

and municipalities and publishing results annually.

4. REFORMING BUDGET PROCESSES.

 Reforming budget processes to achieve discipline, allocative efficiency and
operational efficiency is a promising area to address corruption issues.

Key potential actions to reform the budget process are:

enhancing the integrity and effectiveness of government wide and agency-level

financial management systems

improving program performance monitoring and evaluation

simplifying public procurement, eliminating noncompetitive aspects, actively

rooting out cartels, and opening up tenders to international competition

limiting congressional discretion over detailed line-items and strictly enforcing

public finance rules in remaining cases.

5. IMPROVING THE CIVIL SERVICE.

The poor incentive framework governing the civil service in the Philippines is
another major factor contributing to corruption. During the SWS September 1998
survey, respondents were asked why graft and corruption happens in the
government. The three top reasons cited were: to be richer; their salaries are not
7 enough; and difficulties of life today. With this in mind, restructuring the civil
service to reinforce merit and to provide adequate financial compensation and
accountability for performance is recommended as a key element in a national
anticorruption program.

Some of the actions suggested in this area are:

limiting the scope for patronage in public employment by depoliticizing the civil
service and strictly regulating the use of casual and other contractual workers

decompressing the government pay scale to provide competitive salaries up to

senior levels

strengthening performance evaluation, implementing related awards and

sanctions, and enhancing meritocracy in appointments and promotions.

6. TARGETING SELECTED DEPARTMENTS AND AGENCIES.

Many corrupt behaviors are unique to specific government units and functions. At
this level, it is easier to make progress in the Philippines since: agencies and
departments are relatively small; their mandates are narrow, well-defined, and
can easily be subjected to scrutiny and reform; ambiguous legislation and
administrative orders can be clarified or rescinded, and business processes can
be broken down into discrete components and evaluated.

Examples of suggested actions in this area are:

 selecting priority department and agencies, based on the publics priority
concerns
identifying areas for a few quick wins that would give momentum to further
reforms.

7. ENHANCING SANCTIONS FOR CORRUPTION.

Anticorruption efforts should focus on preventing and eliminating root causes of
corruption, but governments capacity to detect corruption and sanction corrupt
practices should also be strengthened. The goal is to change the current
perception of corruption in the Philippinesfrom a low-risk, highreward activity
to a high-risk, low-reward activity.

The following actions would strengthen the anticorruption institutions:

fast-trackingfor successful prosecutiona few high profile pending cases of

alleged graft and corruption
merging the Presidential Commission Against Graft and Corruption with the
Ombudsmans Office and strengthen the latters capacity
strengthening capacity of the Sandiganbayan
supporting capacity building in forensic audit at Commission on Audit and
corruption prevention at the Civil Service Commission
streamlining and simplifying the legislative and regulatory framework involving
corruption and civil service codes of conduct
strengthening the functions of the Inter-Agency Anti-Graft Coordinating Council
to harmonize rules and joint activities.

8. DEVELOPING PARTNERSHIPS WITH THE PRIVATE SECTOR.

The private sector, as a major source of funds used for corrupt purposes, has to
be mobilized to combat corruption. Involving the private sector will not only allow
more sophisticated and sensitive policy responses to corruption to be developed
but will also put pressure on the private sector to raise its own standards of
behavior.

The following actions could be part of a government-private sector partnership against

corruption:

involving representatives of the private sector in designing anticorruption

strategies in vulnerable departments such as customs, taxation, industrial policy,
infrastructure, and investment.
engaging in a dialogue about how to solve the collective action problem
associated with bribery: how to prevent some firms from continuing to bribe when
others stop, thereby creating incentives for the others to revert to bribery again.
The model antibribery legislation sponsored by the Organization for Economic
Cooperation and Development (OECD) is an example in that it promises
significant penalties for those who continue to pay bribes. Another example is the
Integrity Pact concept being piloted in Indonesia, requiring a formal no-bribery
commitment from all bidders for government contracts.
 encouraging higher standards of corporate governance. The OECD Principles
of Corporate Governance (April 1999) provide a useful model for a local initiative.
developing and implementing company codes of conduct and ensuring their
effectiveness through internal control mechanisms, personnel training, and
sanctions.
adopting accounting and auditing rules and standards to ensure transparency in
business transactions.

9. SUPPORTING JUDICIAL REFORMS.

Global experience has shown lower levels of corruption in countries with
predictable judiciaries (in the sense of adjudicating cases consistently and
efficiently). Factors that make for a predictable judiciary are: meritbased
recruitment and promotion; adequate compensation; and accountability for
performance. In the Philippines, available data suggest considerable room for
enhancing the judiciarys effectiveness and reducing perceptions of corruption
within its ranks. A preliminary assessment suggests that an action program for
judicial reforms should address the issues of: perception and reality of judicial
corruption; case overload and delays; poor working conditions; alternative
dispute-resolution mechanisms; and judicial education.

Source:

http://unpan1.un.org/intradoc/groups/public/documents/APCITY/UNPAN019123.pdf

http://faq.ph/stop-corruption-in-the-philippines/