DepEd, various groups forge 'integrity pact'

MANILA, Philippines - The Department of Education (DepEd) forged yesterday a first-of-its-kind “integrity pact” with its suppliers, business partners and civil society groups that commits DepEd and the people who do business with it to eschew graft and corruption in all transactions.

The pact was signed by Education Secretary Armin Luistro and the representatives of over 60 suppliers including 39 publishers and copyright owners, seven printing companies, three office supplies and equipment companies, two freight forwarders, four school furniture suppliers, two science laboratory equipment companies, three hotels offering meeting venues, two construction materials suppliers, three sports equipment suppliers and one company offering soil testing services.

Also affixing their signature to the pact are representatives of civil society organizations which include the Ateneo School of Government (G-Watch), Procurement Watch, Inc. (PWI), the Boy Scouts of the Philippines (BSP), the National Movement for Free Elections (NAMFREL), PTCA of Quezon City and the Affiliated Network for Social Acccountability in East Asia and the Pacific (NSA- EAP).

Luistro said that while government has its own initiatives to address corruption, those steps cannot succeed without individual and collective commitment from private businesses that deal with government.

“First we must acknowledge that corruption erodes the moral fiber and impedes economic growth. Second, we must act responsibly by leading by example, thus, this integrity pledge which binds DepEd and the business groups to always observe ethical business practices and good corporate governance,” Luistro explained.

In the integrity pledge, the business sector declared to prohibit bribery in any form and ensure that its charitable and political contributions, business gifts and sponsorships are transparent and are not aimed to attempt to influence the recipient whether from government or the private sector.

 The business sector also pledged to maintain a code of conduct to guide its employees towards ethical and accountable behavior at all times and committed to apply appropriate sanctions to violators of the code.

It also commits to enter into integrity pacts with other businesses and with government agencies when dealing with procedures related to the bidding and procurement of supplies, materials, equipment and construction supplies.

To ensure collective action among business enterprises to foster ethical, clean and transparent business transactions in the country, the business sector will support a nationwide initiative intended to create fair market conditions and transparency in business transactions.

The business groups also agreed to share best practices, tools and concepts to be used by all participating entities to achieve the goals of the nationwide initiative.