Press Release
September 26, 2008

Be transparent, follow procurement procedures, Loren tells government

Senator Loren Legarda batted for the full implementation of the Government Procurement Act (GPA) to avoid too much red tape and lessen corruption in government transaction.

"There should be efficient, spotless and transparent system that will be eliminate complexity of transaction to speed up the completion of projects, big or small," Legarda said.

Legarda lamented the considerable amount that goes either unaccounted or to certain percentage cut in many of the government projects, big or small.

The government would be at the height of its callousness if 15 percent, or 20 and even 40 percent of a certain project is slashed for the benefit of those behind the project, while millions of its citizens are living miserably in abject poverty.

"Imagine 20 percent of one trillion of our budget going to corruption. How many families would benefit from it?," Legarda said

The Philippines lags behind its neighbors, owing to the fact that the budget for food for most of the families is not enough. Evene farmers, Legarda noted, have not enough for their fertilizer needed to boost their harvest. They also do not have extra amount for the needs of their children in school.

She also urged the government to be transparent in the conduct of bidding as well as the purchase of materials, as required in the GPA, which provides for the modernization, standardization, and regulation of the procurement activities of the government.

She also sought the public servants to be transparent themselves to avoid possible conflict of interest, citing constitutional prohibition on lawmakers to propose any law that would be beneficial to their business or their position.

"What's important is your position (in the government) is not used in your business. Politics should never used for enrichment, nor should our position be used to boost our business," she said.

"If your aim in proposing for a certain measure is to promote your business, that's not proper," Legarda explained.

Legarda pointed out that if the country's seemingly culture of corruption goes unabated, the Philippines would one day hog the top spot in the list of corrupt nations.

"What's dismaying is that our resourses are so meager, that we don't know how to break it down among our basic necessities such as health center, needs for farmers, fishermen, our teachers, among others," she said.

In short, Legarda said, the poorest of the poor are the ones who suffer each time corruption is committed.

Legarda, meantime, lauded the Commission on Audit (COA) for carrying outs mandated task of keeping a close watch on every single centavo release to projects.

"COA is commendable. It deserves fair share on budget in its effort to look after the government spending," she said.

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