EDITORIAL

Bringing anti-graft drive to regions

The anti-corruption campaign of the Presidential Anti-Graft Commission has started rolling to the country’s regions with PCGG officials conducting seminars among local government units.

The PAGC campaign has gone to a total of nine regions, spanning at least 81 local government units over the past eight months, and would continue to cover the entire archipelago, according to a government e-mail.

Secretary Constancia de Guzman, who chairs the PAGC, said the regional campaign began as early as last March in Kidapawan City, Cotabato for the LGUs in Western Mindanao (Region 12) and went on to Legazpi City in Bicol (Region 5) and Leyte in Eastern Visayas (Region 8) in May.
It then went to Cagayan Valley (Region 2) and Northern Mindanao (Region 10) in June; Cebu City in Region 7 in July; Clark, Pampanga in Central Luzon (Region 3) in August; and Butuan City in Caraga and Zamboanga City in Western Mindanao (Region 9) in October.

Why were the Cordillera and Ilocos Regions not included in the PCGG tour? They could have learned a lot about how to make magic out of projects. But since the PCGG is reportedly embroiled in magical (read: suspicious deals) projects of its own, they may have known the tricks, so it was not worth their time. Now that the PCGG’s officials are being rapped for “unreasonable” trips abroad, its officials could do some soul-searching before conducting anti-graft programs.

“The campaign enabled us to reach out to the different regions, conducting orientations, briefings and workshops and rendering technical assistance to regional and local officials on the various aspects of the Integrity Development Action Plan (IDAP), its many benefits and accomplishments and how they can implement it,” De Guzman said.

Serving as President Arroyo’s “centerpiece program against graft,” IDAP consists of 22 specific anti-corruption measures under four major areas of implementation – prevention, education, investigation and enforcement (deterrence), and strategic partnerships – all constituting the PAGC’s mandate to eradicate and curb corruption in the executive branch.

“But because of the harmful effects of corruption on the economic and cultural development in the provinces, the PAGC is taking a step further to cover not only the regional offices of national government agencies, but also the LGUs that make up our regions,” De Guzman said.

“And so far, the results are encouraging,” she added, referring to the resolutions passed by various regional development councils to adopt IDAP as their anti-graft master plan.

The PCGG can yak all it wants. But to a public which had long grown become a skeptic to government programs much more those on anti-corruption, it is just another way of showing how taxpayers’ money is spent or misspent.