Press Release
April 6, 2016

POE OUT TO PROVE STRONG STANCE AGAINST CORRUPTION

Taking a tough stance against corruption, independent presidential candidate Sen. Grace Poe said she will prove that regardless of who supports her in the presidential elections, she will dispense justice to both friends and foes.

The survey frontrunner said the only way to make people trust the government again is to ensure that corrupt officials, regardless of their political leanings, will have no place in government.

"Dapat patas ang pagtrato kaibigan man o kaaway, mayaman man o mahirap. Papatunayan ko naman kahit 'yung mga kaibigan ko, halimbawa, sa mga pagdinig sa Senado, naging patas naman tayo sa pagdinig sa kanila. Kung tunay na may kasalanan sila ay hindi naman tayo nag-atubili na sabihin iyon at mag-file ng kaso laban sa kanila," Poe said in an interview with Bombo Radyo Cebu.

The senator led the public inquiry into the Mamasapano tragedy and the state of the Metro Rail Transit, two of the most controversial hearings in the Senate.

Poe is also the primary sponsor of the Freedom of Information bill in the Senate, which passed in a record time of eight months but remains pending in the House of Representatives. The FOI is a vital tool in eliminating corruption and institutionalizing citizen's participation in keeping the government honest.

"Lalo na kapag ako ang naging pangulo, talagang dapat mabawasan ang korapsyon," she said.

Under her administration, Poe said government officials with corruption charges will be immediately removed from office. She also encourages the courts to speed up trial.

"Pinatatagal ang mga kaso diyan, dapat mahatulan agad. Kailangan tanggalin agad sila sa puwesto sapagkat tiwala ng taumbayan ang kailangan natin sa gobyerno," she said.

Aside from the billions stolen from the country's coffers, Poe said corruption is the main culprit for people's distrust in government.

"Kung mismong mga kaibigan mo na nasa puwesto ay hindi mo ipapakulong dahil lamang kaibigan mo, eh di walang maniniwala sa iyo," Poe said.

The Philippines ranked 95th out of 168 countries in the 2015 Corruption Perceptions Index, down 10 notches from the 2014 rankings. The research by Transparency International showed that the Philippines scored 35/100, which indicates the perceived level of public sector corruption on a scale of 0 (highly corrupt) to 100 (very clean).

Based on the scores, the Germany-based watchdog said there has been no significant improvement across the region and that leaders must revisit their genuine efforts in fighting corruption.

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