13 'graft-busters' complete PAGC course

MANILA, Philippines - The Graduate Certificate Course in Corruption Prevention of the Presidential Anti-Graft Commission (PAGC) has produced another set of 13 “graft-busters” from different government agencies.

PAGC chief Secretary Constancia de Guzman said the latest batch, which had its commencement exercises last June 24 at the Development Academy of the Philippines (DAP), has brought to 26 the number of graduates of the nine-month course since 2006.

Two others are still completing their Corruption Prevention Action Projects (CPAPs) within the next two months.

As a final requirement for completion of the course, all scholars are required to submit their CPAPs focusing on at least one area in their respective agencies that is vulnerable to corruption and must include a reform initiative that fully addresses the problem.

“All these projects (CPAPs) have been approved and are mostly in the piloting or implementation stage such that this course is not just about taking classes, but a practical anti-graft initiative that can generate beneficial results at the agency level,” De Guzman said in a statement.

She cited as examples the three best CPAPs of Jeson Quindo de la Torre of the National Economic Development Authority (NEDA), Myrna Alimboyoguen of the Presidential Commission on Urban Poor (PCUP), and Oscar Navata of the Bureau of Immigration (BI).

De la Torre’s CPAP focused on the adoption and institutionalization of a customized Code of Conduct for NEDA officials and employees, while Alimboyoguen formulated a “Citizen’s Charter for Accreditation of Urban Poor Organizations” based on Republic Act 9485 or the Anti-Red Tape Act of 2007.

Meanwhile, Navata’s CPAP addressed the loopholes in the BI’s system of accrediting private entities that should have been providing professional assistance to foreign nationals in immigration-related transactions.

“As a small reward for the efforts of the graduates in coming up and leading the implementation of worthy anti-corruption initiatives in their respective agencies, they have earned masteral units for completing the course,” De Guzman said.

Comprising the latest batch were three from the PCUP, two from the Philippine Atmospheric, Geophysical and Astronomical Services Administration, two from the Department of Agrarian Reform, and one each from the BI, NEDA, departments of health, public works and highways, and science and technology, and the Armed Forces of the Philippines.

The course was supervised and facilitated by the DAP with initial support from the Rule of Law Effectiveness project of the US Agency for International Development (USAID) in partnership with the PAGC.