Zap corruption, GMA orders Cabinet

President Gloria Arroyo has ordered Cabinet members to take the lead in the government’s anti-corruption campaign by setting up agency-specific Moral Renewal Programs to ensure “zero tolerance for corruption.”

Press Secretary Cerge Remonde told a state-run radio on Sunday that President Arroyo’s order is contained in Administrative Order (AO) 255, which instructs officials of the executive branch to “lead by example.”

In AO 255, which she issued early this year, the President directed all Cabinet secretaries and heads of agencies to “adopt and implement a Moral Renewal Program in their agencies” with the Integrity Development Action Plan (IDAP) as the national anti-corruption framework.

The administrative order calls for “the strict observance by all public officers of the principle of moral leadership by example, especially by Cabinet secretaries.”

It states that moral renewal “refers to values formation and ethical behavior for government officers and employees, as well as the strengthening of people’s values to achieve zero tolerance for corruption.”

Under AO 255, all bureaus, regional offices and attached agencies of executive departments nationwide are directed to “adopt and implement the Integrity Development Action Plan, which is the national anti-corruption framework for the executive branch.”

The renewal program also calls for the “expansion and strengthening of the membership of the Integrity Committee in every department, agency, bureau and office” plus the “formulation, promulgation and adoption of an agency-specific code of conduct, or the updating of existing codes of conduct to reflect the IDAP.”

Besides zero-tolerance for corruption, the President’s order also directed the promotion of Filipino values embodied in the Preamble of the 1987 Constitution, in particular the values of being God-fearing, pro-people, patriotic and pro-environment.

Agencies are directed to submit their action plans for their renewal program to the Presidential Anti-Graft Commission within 90 days from the effectivity of AO 255 after it is published in at least two newspapers of general circulation in the Philippines. –Angelo S. Samonte, Reporter, Manila Times