FEB.

22, 2012 DATE

NR # 2687B
REF. NO.

House approves bill declaring December as Anti-Corruption Month

The House of Representatives has approved on second reading a measure declaring December of every year as anti-corruption month. House Bill 3005 was authored by Reps. Rufus Rodriguez (2nd District, Cagayan de Oro City), Maximo Rodriguez, Jr. (Party-list, Abante Mindanao) and Romeo Acop (2nd District, Antipolo City) and formerly titled An Act declaring October of every year as Anti-Corruption Month in the entire country. During the committee hearing held last February 16, 2011 by the House Committee on Revision of Laws chaired by Rep. Marlyn Primicias-Agabas (6th District, Pangasinan ), Rodriguez, one of the authors of the bill introduced an amendment, changing the month of October to December as Anti-Corruption Month. To sync with the United Nations General Assembly declaration of December 9 each year as the World Anti-Corruption Day, the month of December every year is declared as Anti-Corruption Month in the entire country to emphasize the drive and awareness against corruption, Rodriguez said. The bill mandates all heads of government agencies and instrumentalities, government-owned and controlled corporations including local government units as well as employers in the private sector to conduct activities designed to increase awareness among the people on the adverse effects of corruption. Rodriguez said corruption slows down economic and social development, impedes, the delivery of basic services, lowers the quality of infrastructure projects and raises the prices of goods and services. The problem of corruption calls for immediate action and calls for a revamp of the bureaucracy, the prosecution of those found violating our anti-corruption laws and punishment for those who are found guilty, Rodriguez said. A vigilant public plays an important role in the governments effort to protect citizens from corruption, Rodriguez added. Rodriguez lamented a Transparency International study which described the Philippines as one of the most corrupt countries in the world in its yearly Corruption Perception Index(CPI). With 183 countries, the Philippines is ranked 129th, with a score of 2.6 in the Corruption Perception Index of 2011; New Zealand in the first slot with an index score of 9.5 and Somalia and North Korea at the bottom, Rodriguez said. The Corruption Perceptions Index of the Transparency International yearly ranks countries based on how corrupt their public sector is perceived to be, on a scale of 0-10, where 0 means highly corrupt and 10 means a country is perceived as very clean. (30) jsc