House leader junks survey results on corruption

A ranking member of the House of Representatives yesterday junked the results of a survey claiming that at least 90 percent of respondents believed that Congress and the Judiciary are not doing their best in the fight against corruption.

House Majority Leader Rep. Neptali Gonzales of Mandaluyong said that the online survey conducted by the Philippine Public Transparency Reporting Project (PPTRP) was misleading, adding that the majority of the respondents have failed to understand the mandate of the legislature in addressing corruption in government.

“I think the respondents failed to understand the role of Congress in the fight against corruption. While we can investigate, it is always in aid of legislation and while we can recommend the filing of criminal and/or administrative charges against any official as a result of such investigation, at the end of the day, it’s the investigative and prosecutorial arms of the government that are tasked to prove it and for the Judiciary to decide on it,” said Gonzales in an interview.

The PPTRP survey was commissioned by the Institute for War and Peace Reporting, Center for Community Journalism and Development, National Union of Journalists of the Philippines, and MindaNews. It is funded by the United States Agency for International Development.

House Assistant Majority Leader and Citizens Battle Against Corruption (Cibac) party-list Rep. Sherwin Tugna also shared Gonzales’ view. He said that reforms are being put in place in the Aquino government.

Tugna said that even in the House of Representatives, changes are being made to eradicate corruption citing the “zero-based” budgeting, where discretionary funds which are prone to abuse, have been removed.

“Corruption has been effectively decreased, if not eliminated. This has been done through the zero-based budgeting of P-Noy. Meaning, nothing is stated in the budget without a corresponding detail where it will be spent. Now, there are no discretionary funds on the part of Cabinet members and lesser prone to corruption,” Tugna said.

“With the increased awareness against corruption, Judges are now more fearful of the repercussions of corruption because of the vigilance of litigants to report corrupt judges to our Ombudsman,” Tugna added.

The survey also disclosed that 80 percent of the respondents agreed that Congress and the Judiciary have major roles to play in the fight against corruption. Only 10 percent believed that legislators are doing a good job.

The survey also showed that 90 percent of the respondents would like government to work more closely with ordinary citizens to increase transparency and reduce corruption.

“Many have already acknowledged the importance of the people being the boss – but how do we all move beyond the rhetoric and actually get ordinary citizens involved?” said PPTRP director Alan Davis in a statement. –Gerry Baldo, Daily Tribune