8888 not effective as anti-corruption hotline, says UP prof

A professor from the University of the Philippines on Wednesday said that the citizens' complaint hotline 8888 has not been an effective tool to curb corruption in the country.

The hotline was established in August last year and is meant to be a way to report government inefficiency and corruption.

In a Balitanghali report by Jun Veneracion, Dr. Fe Mendoza, dean of the UP National College of Public Administration and Governance, said that based on her initial surveys and reports, not all calls were about corruption complaints.

"Ang nangyari doon sa 8888 lahat na lang ng sumbong na na-receive nila, may mga nagaaway na mag-asawa, so 'yun no. Akala kasi ito 'yung isang venue para lahat ng pwedeng isumbong, isusumbong," Mendoza said.

"In terms of being an anti-corruption tool, hindi siya masyadong naayos," she added.

Data from the Civil Service Commission (CSC), which operates the hotline, shows that only 31 percent of the calls were about government inefficiency and graft and corruption.

Over half of the calls were inquiries.

Out of 150,000 calls, 800 were fixing and extortion reports while there were more than 200 graft and corruption complaints.

"Meron ding pumapatak sa extortion pero maliit lang 'yung number. Kailangan pa maeducate 'yung public na huwag silang matakot na magreport ng corrupt practices dahil makakarating 'yan doon sa kinauukulan," said CSC Public Information Office director Liza Agamata.

Agamata said all the complaints that they have received were processed and referred to the concerned agencies.

"Hindi sila tatantanan, hindi sila titigilan hangga't walang concrete solutions at ang importante dito, binabalikan namin ang kliyente," she said.

A separate special report noted that only 44,096 out of 54,743 calls were processed in 2016. The data also came from the CSC.

Moreover, the 8888 hotline center received 94,551 calls in the first half of 2017, but only 71,646 were processed.

According to Veneracion's report, the Social Security System (SSS) was the fastest agency to act on the complaints, taking an average of to resolve complaints.

The slowest agency to respond is the Land Registration Authority.

According to CSC data, the SSS has received the most number of reports related to the Anti-Red Tape Act during the first 10 months of the hotline.

For the local government units, Quezon City topped the list.

READ: Duterte’s first SONA, one year later: 8888, the citizens’ complaint hotline

In October 2016, President Rodrigo Duterte formally ordered making “8888” as the citizens’ complaint hotline.

Executive Order No. 6, signed on October 14, said the 8888 Citizens’ Complaint Center serves as “a mechanism where citizens may report their complaints and grievances” on red tape, corruption of any national government agency, government-owned or –controlled corporation (GOCC), government financial institution (GCI), and related offices.

The complaint center will have the following communication channels:

• short message service (SMS)/text access
• electronic mail (email)
• website
• social media, other emerging communication medium

It was reported that the complaint hotline will be re-launched by the Duterte administration.

"We are on the verge of re-launching 8888 in Malacañang. Trainings have already been conducted after the necessary hardware and software were sourced, final protocols are still being ironed out and we hope to do the launching after the series of pre operating tests have been done," Office of the Cabinet Secretary spokesperson Jonas George Soriano told GMA News Online. — Anna Felicia Bajo/BM, GMA News