Training, teleseryes seen to boost drive vs. corruption

A comprehensive training for government officials and a showing of teleserye about integrity in public service should prevent more incidents of corruption.

Ombudsman Samuel Martires and UP President Danilo Concepcion made the call during the Sikhay Laban sa Korapsyon Summit held on Monday, December 12, International Anti-Corruption Day.  

“Defeating corruption is a matter of national survival. That is why our prosecutors are being trained to spot fraud, auditing, forensic accounting, forensic engineering, environmental and anti-money laundering laws, among others,” Martires said.

Martires then said the Office of the Ombudsman has entered into agreements with relevant agencies such as the Civil Service Commission, Philippine National Police, Philippine Competition Commission, Department of Justice, among others, to effectively perform its punitive, preventive and proactive function.

“My only request is they learn to keep their mouths shut during the period of investigation,” Martires, a retired Supreme Court justice, added.

Concepcion, for his part, noted that eradicating corruption cannot be simply studied, but moreover watched in a form of teleseryes emphasizing integrity in public service to be shown in schools.

“Hindi lahat, napag-aaralan. Iyong iba, napapanood. Napakalakas ng hatak ng media. We cannot eradicate corruption by simply putting people behind bars,” Concepcion said.

“We have to change the way society thinks. In UP, we are supposed to shape the minds of the students and their loge for country. That is why our motto is honor and excellence. Honor always comes before excellence because honesty and integrity are paramount virtues,” he added.

In closing, Concepcion warned that public service should have no place for crooks.

“Excellence is meaningless without integrity, and public service without honor and excellence is worthless,” he said. —KBK, GMA News