Mikiel Andrei A.

Chico

10-Endurance

Three Latest Local News on Graft and Corrruption

PACC deputizes 32 agencies in fight vs corruption

March 06, 2019

THE Presidential Anti-Corruption Commission (PACC) has deputized 32 government agencies in a bid to
boost President Rodrigo Duterte's relentless fight against corruption.

PACC chair Dante Jimenez led the oath-taking of the representatives of the departments and agencies
during a ceremony held at the Malacañan Palace on Wednesday, March 6.

"As the President has relentlessly reminded all to stop corruption and double up the fight against illegal
drugs this year, the PACC will likewise intensify its fight against corruption and recommend to the
President stiffer penalties on erring officials in government," Jimenez said in a statement.

PACC Executive Director Eduardo Bringas issued the Order of Deputation to the Local Government,
Labor Agriculture, Budget, Justice, Agrarian Reform, Finance, Public Works, Health, Environment, and
Foreign Affairs departments; Commission on Audit, Civil Service Commission; Land Transportation
Office; and the Philippine National Police.

"The initiative to deputize government is pursuant to Executive Order (EO) 43, which grants PACC the
power to enlist their support to assist the Commission in the investigation of cases falling within their
respective jurisdictions," Bringas said.

"The deputation of these agencies likewise allows them to serve as their internal anti-corruption
deputies," he added.

The PACC, created through EO 43, is mandated to fight and eradicate graft and corruption in the
different departments, bureaus, offices, and other government instrumentalities to ensure that public
officials and employees, except those who conduct themselves in a manner worthy of the public trust.

Source: (SunStar Philippines)

PACC: System change needed in corruption-prone agencies

November 20, 2020

A massive overhaul of the current system in corruption-prone government agencies is needed to clean
up the bureaucracy, Presidential Anti-Corruption Commission (PACC) head Dante Jimenez said on
Thursday.

Presidential Anti-Corruption Commission (PACC) head Dante Jimenez. TMT file photo

Jimenez, an anti-crime advocate and founding chairman of the Volunteers Against Crime and
Corruption, said the fight against corruption “is an uphill battle that must be fought with determination
and persistence.”

He, however, said, “[T]hese alone will not solve the prevailing problem of accountability in the
bureaucracy.”

“Unless changes in the system are instituted in corruption-prone agencies, the problem we face in
minimizing graft and corruption will remain,’’ Jimenez said in a statement.

The PACC chief then called on the public to throw its full support to the government’s campaign for
good governance and accountability.

He said he agreed with President Rodrigo Duterte that the fight against corruption in government
should not end after his term of office expires in 2022.

“The President himself has said before that he cannot do this alone. He needs the help of everyone in
the campaign for good governance,” Jimenez said.

The President has ordered the Department of Justice (DoJ) to lead a mega task force to investigate
corruption in all government agencies.

He warned that more government employees would lose their jobs and face criminal charges by
December.

Duterte renewed his resolve to combat corruption after tagging dozens of officials from the Philippine
Health Insurance Corp. (PhilHealth), Bureau of Immigration and Bureau of Customs (BoC).

The Justice Department earlier identified the PhilHealth, BoC, Department of Public Works and
Highways (DPWH), Bureau of Internal Revenue (BIR) and Land Registration Authority as the “priority
targets” of the mega task force.
Apart from the DoJ and PACC, the expanded task force is composed of the National Bureau of
Investigation, Office of the Special Assistant to the President, National Prosecution Service, DoJ Office of
Cybercrime and Anti-Money Laundering Council.

The task force had set parameters to determine which allegations would be considered.

Meanwhile, Jimenez said the recent seizures and confiscations of cargoes at the BoC was a clear
example of goods worth billions of pesos being smuggled by unscrupulous traders in connivance with
some Customs officials and personnel.

These, he said, included the alleged undetected entry of illegal drugs contained in magnetic lifters
sometime in August 2018 that led to the replacement of then Customs commissioner Isidro Lapeña.

The PACC, according to Jimenez, was also monitoring reports of rigged biddings allegedly being arranged
by some politicians with various DPWH regional offices.

He added that the reported spate of kidnappings of BIR regional directors is a similar example of how tax
assessment-rigging is also being done at the bureau.

Source: Manila Times

Task force probing graft starts with ‘usual suspects’

October 29, 2020

MANILA, Philippines — The investigation into graft across state agencies by a task force led by the
Department of Justice (DOJ) will start with the “usual suspects,” Justice Secretary Menardo Guevarra
said on Wednesday.

“DPWH (Department of Public Works and Highways), BIR (Bureau of Internal Revenue), BOC (Bureau of
Customs), LRA (Land Registration Authority), and PhilHealth (Philippine Health Insurance Corp.),”
Guevarra said in a text message.

In a radio interview, Guevarra said: “We’ll continue our investigation [of] PhilHealth, we’re not yet done
with that. DPWH was already mentioned by the President. Then the usual suspects—we’ve always been
hearing about them — BOC, BIR, and even agencies directly under the DOJ like LRA. We’ll also look into
irregularities or some corrupt activities happening there.”

“The probe [of] the Bureau of Immigration is [going on]. We’ve done a lot [in Immigration], many have
been suspended and recently complaints were filed [with] the (Office of the) Ombudsman. Changes
have also been made at the Bureau of Corrections,” Guevarra added.

Fed up with worsening scandal in PhilHealth, loud accusations of “parking” pork in the budget of the
DPWH, and charges that immigration officials and employees pocketed up to P40 billion in bribes to let
Chinese illegal workers into the Philippines, President Rodrigo Duterte directed Guevarra on Tuesday to
launch a sweeping investigation of graft in the entire government and to concentrate on the DPWH.

Duterte issued a memorandum that expanded the work of an earlier task force formed to investigate
allegations of widespread graft in PhilHealth and authorized Guevarra to form as many panels as
necessary for the new investigation.

The directive gives the DOJ the power to decide what allegations to investigate and to work with other
agencies.

Guevarra’s task force will look into irregularities at state agencies until the end of Mr. Duterte’s term in
2022.

On Wednesday, Guevarra said the task force would start investigating priority agencies at the national
level.

“But if we need to go down to regional level, local level, we’ll do that,” he said, citing PhilHealth, where
“irregularities mostly happen not in the central office but in regional offices.”

While it was the President who authorized the investigation, Guevarra gave assurance that the DOJ had
a free hand in investigating.
“The President has given the DOJ a free hand in filing cases, but if presidential appointees are to be
charged, official courtesy demands that the appointing authority be informed in advance,” Guevarra
said.

“Our output is not just recommendatory. We [will] file cases directly with the Ombudsman,” he added.

Guevarra said he met on Tuesday with Prosecutor General Benedicto Malcontento and National Bureau
of Investigation Officer in Charge Eric Distor to organize the new task force.

Discussed, he said, were “methods of securing information regarding incidences of corruption in

government [agencies], and possible approaches [to investigating] allegations of corruption, taking into
consideration the gravity of the allegations and its impact on the delivery of government services.”

He said it was agreed during the meeting that the core group of the PhilHealth task force headed by the
DOJ would again handle the new, wider investigation. This group includes the NBI, Presidential Anti-
Corruption Commission, Office of the Special Assistant to the President (Osap), National Prosecution
Service, and Anti-Money Laundering Council.

Guevarra said the Osap had been requested to join the task force for the handling of presidential
appointees who would be investigated and whose service might be immediately terminated by the
President.

The Commission on Audit (COA), Civil Service Commission, and the Ombudsman would also be asked to
work with the task force, Guevarra said.

The task force, Guevarra said, has “twin goals” — prosecute grafters and introduce measures to fight
graft in state agencies, educate the citizenry on the evils of corruption, and promote the values of
integrity and civic-mindedness.

Guevarra said the task force would set up a secretariat for citizens to report graft. It will also investigate
cases arising from COA reports and congressional inquiries, he said.

Meanwhile, Labor Secretary Silvestre Bello III said he would form a high-level group in the Department
of Labor and Employment to help the DOJ-led investigation.

Bello said his department’s task force would be led by two undersecretaries and representatives from
Philippine Overseas Employment Administration, Overseas Workers Welfare Administration, and
National Labor Relations Commission who would be mostly lawyers.

Undersecretary for Labor Relations Benjo Benavidez said the task force would investigate graft
complaints and refer officials who should be charged to the DOJ-led task force for the filing of
complaints.

Source: Inquirer.net