PAGC eyes more government executives in anti-graft course

MANILA, Philippines - The Presidential Anti-Graft Commission (PAGC) is targeting a much bigger number of government participants in the 3rd Graduate Certificate Course in Corruption Prevention (GCCCP), which is slated at the Development Academy of the Philippines in Ortigas Center this October.

PAGC chief Secretary Constancia de Guzman said her office has sent out invitations to government agencies, government financial institutions (GFIs) and government-owned and controlled corporations (GOCCs) for their respective nominees to the 3rd GCCCP.

“These nominees will undergo an examination that will determine who among them shall qualify to take up the GCCCP as scholars,” De Guzman said.

The GCCCP enables the scholars to earn masteral units but only after successfully designing and implementing Corruption Prevention Action Projects (CPAPs) in their respective agencies as the focus of their thesis, the culminating activity of the six-month certificate course.

The scholars will come from among the government agencies, GFIs and GOCCs covered by the Integrity Development Action Plan (IDAP) and the Moral Renewal Program (MRP) of the executive branch.

The IDAP is the government’s national anti-corruption framework, and the MRP is its culminating phase, as mandated under Administrative Order No. 255 of President Arroyo.

“From among the agencies, GFIs and GOCCs, we expect to generate 40 scholars who can complete the course,” De Guzman said.

That number is significantly higher than the previous two GCCCP batches that yielded only 13 graduates each. The first batch finished the course last year, and the second batch only last June.

As a final requirement for completion of the course, they were all required to submit their CPAPs focusing on at least one area in their respective agencies that they found to be vulnerable to corruption. Each CPAP 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 isn’t just about taking classes, but a practical anti-graft initiative that can generate beneficial results at the agency level,” De Guzman said.

The GCCCP began in 2006 and was supervised and facilitated by the DAP with initial support from the Rule of Law Effectiveness (ROLE) project of the United States Agency for International Development (USAID) in partnership with PAGC.