MANILA – Department of Finance (DOF) secretary Carlos Dominguez III called on the Presidential Anti-Corruption Commission (PACC) to focus its efforts in running after the “big fishes” involved in anomalous government contracts, which will have an impact on the economy.
In a press statement, the Finance chief instructed all offices under the DOF and its attached agencies to work with the PACC in helping target “big fishes involved in high-stakes, white-collar crimes” in line with the Duterte administration’s campaign against corruption.
“We have limited amount of time. I’m not saying we should not go after the small ones, but you know, if you only have so much time, we better go after the big ones first kasi maraming epekto sa economy (because of its many effects on the economy),” Dominguez said during a recent briefing held by the PACC for Finance officials.
“Focus on the big target, focus on the big things. We cannot do everything. Just focus on the big ones and try to really catch them,” he added.
Created by President Rodrigo Duterte in 2017 through Executive Order 43, the PACC has the power to conduct lifestyle checks, look into possible graft and corruption activities, and recommend punishment against erring officials.
It may also refer any case for appropriate action to the Office of the Ombudsman or deputize any other office, committee, commission, bureau, agency, or department for assistance it may need.
According to Dominguez, the move of the government to focus on the big fishes would send a message to small-time crooks that the government means business.
“Those guys who bribe people to look the other way, who give them nice contracts, who give them concessions for many, many years, who let them make money for no risk. That’s a big, big corruption crime,” said Dominguez.
“But you have to really be very smart, you have to be smarter than them to catch them because it’s white-collar crime,” he elaborated.
For his part, PACC chairman Dante Jimenez, who also sits as the head of the Volunteers Against Crime and Corruption (VACC), welcomed the remarks of Dominguez.
“I think Mr. Secretary, that’s a very good input for us now so that in the coming days, we will be studying all these things in our en banc meeting,” Jimenez was quoted as saying.
Dominguez told Jimenez that the department will provide the PACC with a full list of offices under the DOF with the names of officials as part of their coordination.
The DOF-attached agencies, such as the BIR, BOC, Bureau of the Treasury (BTr) and the Bureau of Local Government Finance (BGLF) have their respective internal affairs units, Dominguez said. (GMA News)
