RP TO HOST GLOBAL CORRUPTION CONFERENCE

Ottawa, Canada -- This week Senator Edgardo J. Angara attended the Global Organization of Parliamentarians Against Corruption (GOPAC) Executive Committee Meeting where the international anti-corruption group voted to hold its biennial conference in 2013 in Manila.

The GOPAC Executive Board asked Angara, who sits in the Executive Board of the Canada-based organization, to convey the message to the newly-elected Aquino administration.

"Hosting a conference that would gather the world's parliamentarians to unite behind fighting corruption perfectly fits the Aquino agenda of fighting corruption in government. This would be an opportunity to link up with parliaments all over the world who are confronting the same challenge of eliminating corruption from our institutions," he said.

Philippine envoy to Ottawa Jose S. Brillantes supported and provided necessary staff support during the Executive Board Meeting and welcomed the hosting of GOPAC's biennial conference in Manila.

In September of this year, GOPAC will hold a meeting of its global taskforce committee in Manila, which will be hosted by the Philippine Senate.

As the only Asian representative in GOPAC's Executive Board, Angara initiated the organization in April 2005 of the South East Asia Parliamentarians Against Corruption (SEAPAC), with 26 parliamentarian-members from Cambodia, Indonesia, Malaysia, Singapore, Thailand, Vietnam and the Philippines.

GOPAC is the only parliamentary network with the singular focus on combating corruption. Its current 900-strong membership represents over 90 countries in all the regions of the world.

Angara also called for a national strategy to fight corruption, involving both the public and private sector.

"Multilateral institutions like the World Bank, IMF and ADB have long come to the conclusion that there is a linear relationship between corruption and development; that the public sector cannot do it alone - the private sector and civil society must get firmly on board. But most importantly, there should be a national strategy so that the various sectors can perform their roles in a concentrated and coordinated manner," he said.

GOPAC's founding conference was held in Ottawa 2002, followed by its 2nd Global Conference in Arusha, Tanzania in 2006, then in Kuwait 2008, and the most recent conference in Mexico city 2009.