Citizens vs corruption

In a country with a history of corruption, we find ourselves in a perfect storm: a scheme so large that it dwarfs all previous cases. Building on unpursued or failed cases, it involves a growing network of perpetrators in the executive and legislative branches colluding with private contractors. It has turned from robbery into murder, with lives and property on the line when public services are not delivered. Projects were incomplete or never built. They never provided adequate protection against floods. We lost both protection and money.

The question is: Can we ride out this storm and prevent it from happening again?

This flood control scandal is just the tip of the iceberg. How many corruption scandals have we seen where investigations start, no one gets charged or convicted, no one goes to jail, and no structural reforms are implemented? Does anyone remember the fertilizer scam, personal protective equipment scam, laptops for education scam, or how confidential funds were spent?

Corruption scandals have been around a long time, yet few safeguards have been introduced. Unless we see criminals charged and convicted, the people’s faith will never be restored. Why does corruption persist? No one gets punished. No punishment, no fear of corruption.

I believe it is possible to combat corruption, but it will take citizen action combined with internal reforms by honest government workers, reinforced by the rule of law and strengthened by values. It starts with voting for the right people into office. This requires encouraging good people to run, getting reform-oriented voters to register and vote, and guarding the ballot and the count. It also involves monitoring officials to see that they are doing their jobs in the people’s best interests.

It may seem like swimming against a tidal wave, but there are examples to create a citizens’ movement against corruption.

In 2000, the Makati Business Club (MBC), Social Weather Stations, Philippine Center for Investigative Journalism, and Philippine Center for Policy Studies established the Transparent Accountable Governance (TAG) project to document the Estrada administration’s practices.

TAG evolved into the Coalition Against Corruption in 2004 under MBC, the academe, the Church, and civil society. This later spun off into the Integrity Initiative in 2009.

In 2003, the National Citizens’ Movement for Free Elections participated in the Department of Education’s (DepEd) Textbook Count project with the boy scouts and girl scouts. Namfrel observed the printing process and delivery of textbooks to ensure they aligned with procurement. Over 37 million books were monitored from 2003 to 2007. Namfrel also assisted DepEd’s bids and awards committee from 2010 to 2015.

In 2004, Namfrel teamed up with the Department of Health to start the Medicine Monitoring Project. The project focused on procurement, delivery, and inventory of priority medicines across DOH hospitals and regional health centers. The objective was to make medicines more affordable and accessible. Namfrel monitored over P6 billion worth of procurement.

One effective means of preventing corruption is to participate in bids and awards committees. About 20 years ago, the private sector was invited to sit as observers of the Department of National Defense’s BAC. We attended weekly meetings where we observed and questioned bids for military equipment. Through our questioning, we halted some questionable bids. Presence on these committees matters. Just imagine the impact if we had observers on the Department of Public Works and Highways’ (DPWH) BACs.

Another effective means lies in the Performance Governance System (PGS) set up by the Institute for Solidarity in Asia. This system works with government agencies and local government units to set up programs for governance and strategic planning. One of the most successful was DPWH under then Secretary Rogelio Singson.

DPWH’s battle cry was “Right Project, Right Cost, Right Quality, Right on Time, Right People.” It laid out a six-point strategic plan, the first of which was good governance reform and anticorruption. It made all contractors sign an annual integrity pledge. The results were concrete and visible. It recorded P24 billion in savings from July 2010 to December 2013. That’s the impact of leadership, PGS, and partnership with a Multisectoral Governance Council.

It is possible to reduce and stop corruption, but it will take strong civic action. Aside from reforms in budget and procurement processes and stronger conflict of interest rules, we must institutionalize citizen participation in audit and monitoring, making it truly participatory and allowing outsourced providers to undertake audits. We must also use technology such as satellite imaging, drone photography, and artificial intelligence as monitoring tools.

An ounce of prevention is worth a pound of cure.

—————–

Guillermo M. Luz is the chair of Liveable Cities Philippines.

—————–

Business Matters is a project of the Makati Business Club (makatibusinessclub@mbc.com.ph).