I am Mahathir Bin Mohamad Political Dynamics and Institutions

12-1262 Dr. Nick Alviar

“Integrity, Accountability, and Transparency”
Andres D. Bautista, the speaker of the magisterial lecture, talked about the Philippine
Commission on Good Governance (PCGG) – its functions, its mission and its work. Andres
Bautista is one of the commissioners of this sector wherein their vision-mission is “to restore the
institution’s integrity and credibility, aligning its organization and efforts by recalling the noble
intentions for which it was created. To secure its place in history, by creating a legacy built on
transparency, integrity and accountability – and, in doing so, become the People’s Commission,
and a model agency and exemplar for good governance. To become the Commission on informed
policy analysis and studies on techniques and methods to combat and prevent corruption” (PCGG,
n.d.). This sector was created on February 28, 1968 through the issuance of executive order number
1 during the time of President Corazon Aquino. It has three mandates. First is to recover all the ill-
gotten wealth accumulated by former President Ferdinand Marcos, his immediate family, friends,
etc whether located in the Philippines or across countries. Second is to investigate cases of graft
and corruption as the president may assign a person to the Ombudsman. Lastly, is to create
safeguards to ensure the above practices shall not be repeated in the new government. In relation
to this, the sector was able to recover a total of 168.6 billion pesos from the year 1986 to December
2014. Moreover, it largely spent on CARP, agricultural sectors such as the coconut industry
(Philippine Coconut Authority) in which 70.2 billion was achieved. Back in 1986, Marcos’ ill-
gotten wealth totals to 5 to 10 billion dollars. Another thing that has contributed to this is Imelda’s
jewelries which cost around 6 to 8 million USD. After Marcos left office, Imelda brought her
jewelries to Hawaii. Fortunately, it was taken by the Hawaiian Police and returned it to the
Philippines in 1991. In addition, three collections were also taken away namely the Malacanang,
Roumeliotes and Hawaii collection. Indeed, the Philippine Commission on Good Governance was
able to solve cases of corruption and was able to recover the stolen money.
In conclusion, as what was stated, one must have the capacity to possess the principle of
integrity, accountability, and transparency to achieve good governance. According to various
dictionaries, integrity is the quality of being honest and fair or the state of being complete or whole.
As for accountability, it is the state of being accountable in which one has an obligation or
willingness to accept responsibility and to account for one’s actions. And for transparency, it is a
state wherein one must be easy to notice or understand in which the person must be honest and
open at all times without secrecy. To achieve good governance, these statements above must be
possessed by an individual. One, the person must possess this principle in which the person has to
be honest and fair all time – corruption must be avoided and truth must be told at all times. Second,
the person must perform his or her duties and responsibilities well. Lastly, the person must be
understood and notice easily at all times in which his or her duties and responsibilities are being
seen through actions and not merely words.