PACC To Reg’l NGA Officials: Stop Corruption

Regional directors of national government agencies (NGAs) in Central Visayas were told to stop all forms of corruption.

Presidential Anti-Corruption Commission (PACC) Chairman Dante Jimenez met with the regional directors of NGAs in Region 7 during a dialogue held March 25, 2019 in Mandaue City, Cebu.

Jimenez said PACC has been going around the country to meet with regional NGA officials to seek their commitment to the anti-corruption thrust of the Duterte administration.

During the dialogue, PACC Commissioner Manuelito Luna said that although their office is mandated to monitor government agencies for possible violations of Republic Act 6713 or the Code of Conduct and Ethical Standards for Public Officials and Employees, they still leave it to the department or agency heads to see that it is fully implemented.

“To the department heads- police your own ranks. Don’t ask us to come in if kaya nyo naman (you can handle it),” said Luna.

Presidential Assistant for the Visayas, Sec. Michael Dino, said that in line with the efforts to minimise corruption in the bureaucracy, Pres. Rodrigo Duterte’s thrust is towards streamlining government processes to make it more simplified and least prone to corrupt practices of government officials and employees.

Dino said corruption tends to be rampant in the painstaking and lengthy processing of documents in government offices that require a lot of signatures from different public officers to get an approval.

“These public officers are already getting paid by people’s taxes. They should not be allowed to take more from them just by their signatures. And they should not allow unscrupulous businessmen to corrupt them just so their illegal transactions will be approved,” said Dino in his welcome remarks during the dialogue.

The OPAV chief said the dialogue is a significant step towards the goal of ending corruption in the government. (rmn/PIA Cebu)