Convictions are key to success of anti-corruption drive – PNoy

President Benigno Aquino III on Wednesday underscored that his administration’s anti-corruption efforts will only be deemed successful upon the conviction of public officials facing trial.

“I keep stressing to those agencies that are directly involved in ferreting out these wrongdoings that the key to success is not filing cases but actually getting convictions,” Aquino said during the Forbes Global CEO Conference held in Solaire Resort, Parañaque City.

Speaking with Forbes Media chairman and editor-in-chief Steve Forbes in a sit-down interview dubbed the “Meeting of Minds,” Aquino was asked about top two concerns of investors: corruption and security.

Aquino said that under his administration, “everyone is being made to account for their actions.”

He said this was made possible through the appointment of Chief Justice Maria Lourdes Sereno and Ombudsman Conchita Carpio-Morales, both of whom were successors to Arroyo appointees.

Sereno took over the helm of the Supreme Court (SC) following the impeachment of former Chief Justice Renato Corona, while Morales, a former SC associate justice, permanently replaced resigned Ombudsman Merceditas Gutierrez, who was also a subject of an impeachment complaint.

“We are very serious. We have installed a Supreme Court justice to serve a total of 18 years. We have all the time to reform our judicial processes,” said Aquino.

Aquino also cited the case of his predecessor, former President and incumbent Pampanga Rep. Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo, who is under hospital arrest over plunder charges; as well as the three senators who were arrested and detained in connection with the multi-billion pork barrel scam. One of them, Senate Minority Leader Juan Ponce Enrile, is presently out on bail.

'Media tends to be sensational'

On the security front, President Aquino said crime-related news tend to be “sensationalized” by the media.

“Media would want to have something that is sensational. We have problems but I don’t think our problems are disproportionate to any other country of [similar] size and particular status,” he said.

He noted that most of the kidnapping incidents have only happened in the southern part of the Philippines, where the state has already forged a peace agreement with the Moro Islamic Liberation Front (MILF).

The legal framework for the peace deal however is still pending for approval in Congress.

“It would be wrong to say that there are no crimes in the Philippines but our crime situation is being addressed and there has been quite a substantial reduction of index crimes,” Aquino added.

He said efforts are underway to modernize both the Armed Forces of the Philippines (AFP) and the Philippine National Police (PNP) to provide them with the necessary equipment and training. — BM, GMA News