GORDON URGES TRANSFORMATION
FOR HONESTY IN GOVERNMENT

CEBU CITY - Sen. Richard Gordon has appealed to government accountants to lead in a national transformation for "honesty and probity" in our country even as he deplored that most foreigners appear to hear only of corruption in the Philippines.

Addressing the 29th annual national convention of the Government Association of Certified Public Accountants here recently, Gordon urged its members to continue their efforts to address the problem of graft and corruption in the Philippines through professionalism, dedication and transparency.

"What is revealing about the phenomenon of corruption in our country is that most cases don't really have to do with the malversation of public funds. The really prevalent kind - and the costly ones - are those that have to do with bribery, cornering government contracts, and misusing the discretionary power of public office," said Gordon.

"Here lack of transparency and accountability runs roughshod over the public good. Project costs become inflated. Transactions costs are high. Public services become derailed. And the spectacle of graft breeds our horrible international reputation for corruption because it is usually people doing business who are asked to pay the price," he stressed.

"Ultimately, of course, it is the economy and our people who pay the price - in terms of lost opportunity, lost job and lost growth," he stressed.

He expressed appreciation for what the Commission on Audit and its government accountants have been doing in recent years to enforce processes and procedures in the expenditure of public money. "Indeed, COA auditors are sometimes so strict that they risk choking the life out public service," he remarked.

He also mentioned the success of the Sandiganbayan and the Ombudsman in handling cases of graft and corruption among public officials, including the conviction of former President Joseph Estrada by the Sandiganbayan.

"No one expects, of course, this one act of justice to wash the long history of corruption in our government. But I said at the time that this verdict could usher in a tsunami of investigations and convictions in corruption cases in our country," Gordon observed.

He revealed that during a Senate hearing, the Ombudsman reported a 63 percent success rate in convicting grafters they hale to court. But while the Office of the Ombudsman has received as many as 15,000 cases or complaints, 70 percent were just designed to harass certain officials in government, and 30 percent were "the real thing."

Gordon observed however that while the percentage of success in prosecuting grafters "is impressive", the great majority of the cases have to do with the "small fry." He said, "Most of the really big grafters never have to answer for their misdeeds in office."

However, Gordon also cited the honest work of the majority of civil servants in the bureaucracy.

"As things stand today, our public and the world community only know about the shenanigans in government. Little is known about the daily work that goes on that has to do with keeping agencies in check and accounts in order. We hear and read about the scandals. We know nothing about the graft that is daily being averted. Little do our people and the world know about the professionalism that goes into being a Filipino government accountant," he averred.

Gordon stressed that "it is on this tradition of professionalism that we can build the redoubt for honesty and probity in government. As long as there is no moral inertia with your [government accountants'] rank, we can make a start toward change in our government bureaucracy."