OPG

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BY NEIL HONEYMAN
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February 6, 2018
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THE OFFICE of Participatory Governance (OPC) exhorts us to be more active in governance. Well said! A robust national conversation is a necessary concomitant to sound government decision-making.

One area mentioned by the OPG is the government’s plan to reduce poverty from 21.6 percent in 2016 to 14 percent in 2022. Percentages do not always convey the enormity of the problem. With a growing population, this means that to achieve the stated objective, more than 8 million people will need to move out of poverty diving President Duterte’s term.

A daunting task.

OPG has developed a program which seeks to achieve three key objectives. These are:

1. For government services to become “more responsive, adequate, timely, and effectively delivered to those that need them the most”
2. For citizens to be more proactive and communities more empowered in “participatory governance and in inclusive economic development”
3. For a “whole of government” sector, and area-focused poverty alleviation strategy to be fully operational.

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Poverty alleviation and corruption eradication are closely aligned. The least corrupt countries in the world: Denmark, New Zealand, Singapore, Sweden, Finland, Norway, Canada, Australia, Iceland, Netherlands, and Hong Kong are all comparatively well-off.

OPG will be aware that if poverty is to be reduced, then corruption needs to be reduced as well.

The Ombudsman has a Constitutional mandate to reduce corruption.

Article XI Sec 13(7) states in relation to the powers, functions, and duties of the Ombudsman:

“Determine the causes of inefficiency, red tape, mismanagement, fraud, and corruption in the Government and make recommendations for their elimination and the observance of high standards of ethics and efficiency.”

During his State of the Nation Address (SONA) in July 2011, President Aquino announced the appointment of Conchita Carpio-Morales as the Ombudsman. The appointment is for a seven year term and therefore expires in five months.

I am disappointed that the present Ombudsman has not addressed the problems of corruption prevention but merely examined alleged incidents of corruption. Often these allegations are disturbingly indirect, and the excessive use of an individual’s Statement of Assets, Liabilities, and Net Worth (SALN) do not provide satisfactory proof that misconduct has occurred.

We need now government systems which operate with transparency and are therefore less vulnerable to corruption.

In Hong Kong, the Corruption Prevention Department of the Independent Commission Against Corruption (ICAC) has carried out many analyses which identified corruption opportunities and plugged loopholes by making necessary systems and procedural changes.

I hope the incoming Ombudsman will address the causal factors of corruption. This would result in less waste and extravagance, thereby increasing the efficiency of government expenditure. This reduces poverty since government funds reach the destinations they are supposed to and are not diverted by sticky-fingered intermediaries.

One enormous area of corruption opportunity which has not been effectively dealt with is the acquisition of electricity. The Energy Regulatory Commission (ERC) in connivance with local distributors of electricity has created a cozy relationship in which the Filipino is paying more for his electricity than almost anywhere in the world. Consumers of electricity supplied by Panay Electric Corporation (PECO) and Central Negros Electric Cooperative (CENECO) are major sufferers of overpriced electricity.

Now is the time for a new regime in which corruption opportunities are eradicated./PN
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