Press Release
April 13, 2007

SENATE MUST SHARPEN TOOLS VS CORRUPTION -- ANGARA

Sen. Edgardo Angara said yesterday that senatorial candidates must include in their political agenda a well-conceived measure to combat corruption in government at all levels because corruption hinders efforts to sustain progress.

When translated to the basic needs of Filipinos, corruption has cost 520 million textbooks for our children, 63,000 new classrooms, or 1,500 kilometers of farm-to-market roads every year, Angara pointed out.

He urged the electorate to vote for senatorial candidates not only with clear and strong views against corruption, but also with clear-cut programs to combat it at any level of government.

There should be no room for political weaklings in the Senate, Angara stressed.

Recently, the Berlin-based anti-graft watchdog Transparency International ranked the Philippines 117th in a survey on corruption in 159 countries. A score of 5 is the borderline figure, and the Philippines had a score of 2.5

That means we are near the bottom and indicates the prevalence of corruption; in fact, in the Southeast Asian region, we are only faring better than Cambodia and Indonesia, Angara lamented.

The World Bank estimated that nearly $50 billion had been stolen from the country's coffers in the last two decades because of corruption.

This amount could have nearly wiped out our foreign debt, stressed Angara.

A 2004 report of the Asian Development Bank also estimated that corruption can cost up to 17 percent of the country's gross domestic product (GDP). This robs the public of resources that are vital in alleviating poverty and promoting sustainable development.

Corruption essentially hinders efforts to address poverty, weakens political institutions, stifles economic growth, and lessens the country's attractiveness to investors, Angara pointed out.

According to him, aside from instilling the right values and attitudes in government, institutions and processes within it should also be strengthened.

He cited his authorship of the Procurement Reform Law that overhauled the bidding system for the procurement of public goods and services. This is the country's biggest anti-corruption measure to date, he said.

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