CORRUPTION IN ASIA[PHOTO - Professor Jon S.T.
Quah began doing research on corruption in 1977 when it was not fashionable or
politically correct to do so. Today, more than 30 years later, he is still
writing and giving presentations on Corruption and Governance in Asian
Countries, Public Personnel Management in Asian Countries, Administrative
Reforms in Singapore, and Public Policy in Singapore. He retired as a Professor
of Political Science at the National University of Singapore in June 2007 after
35 years of teaching and research, and he is devoting his time now to
consultancy work on the abovementioned topics.]
PHNO DESK, FEBRUARY 28, 2012
(SYNOPSIS)
Curbing Corruption in Asia is a turning point in the debate over
corruption.
Professor Jon S.T. Quah combines broad comparative concepts with a
detailed account of corruption and reforms in six countries to spell out
critical policy choices Asian societies face. His analysis of three patterns of
corruption control is a welcome departure from the many reform proposals that
emphasize the same factors everywhere, and thus do not really fit anywhere.
Not only can corruption be controlled; Professor Jon S.T. Quah
shows how several Asian societies have done it. At the same time, he identifies
critical points at which controls can fail. Anyone concerned with corruption and
development in Asia should give the lessons in his article a very careful
thought.
The government is not the sole responsible for curbing corruption,
citizen of a particular country also have duties to watch over their leaders.
Reading this column entitled Best Practices for Curbing Corruption in Asia" has
been an eye opener in many ways. Different countries are faced with different
scenario of corruption and each needs a special attention.
The Philippines for example, even if a separate agency will be put
up for monitoring corruption what's the assurance that this agencies will really
do its function. It happened before, the Philippine Government establish the
PCGG but lately they're found out that the most of its members were corrupt,
this only mean that in order for a government to solve corruption the root of
the problem should be looked up.
Also according to the column a certain government should punish
those guilty of corruption, this is something true, unfortunately here in the
Philippines by the times Former President Estrada was pronounced guilty of the
crime Plunder he was sent to prison but several years later the government just
to pleas all the followers/supporters of the former President decided to free
Erap of his crimes.
The primary reason why there is a big difficulty for countries to
curb corruption is because there is no unity to achieves maximum tolerance for
corruption.
A lot of civilians and government employees sees corruption as a
daily occurring thing that is not in any way wrong.
To fight corruption in the Philippines is to adopted a tough
anti-corruption policy targeted at ensuring sustainable and equitable
development.
The objective is to combat corruption through its general work on
market liberalization and public sector reform; by providing explicit support
for selective anti-corruption initiatives; and by ensuring that its own staff
and projects adhere to the highest levels of integrity.
The objective of these was to raise awareness of the seriousness
of the corruption problem and to identify effective anti-corruption strategies.
The pernicious effects of corruption:
corruption erodes confidence in political institutions and
endangers public sector reforms;
exacts a disproportionate cost on the poor who may be deprived
of basic public services;
distorts the allocation of resources and undermines
competition in the market place.
Empirical evidence demonstrates that corruption has a devastating
effect on investment, growth, and development.
Agreed on the necessity to fight all types of corruption on all
levels and recognized progress made in some countries to develop effective
anti-corruption programmes.
Recognized the need to address the international dimension of
corruption, organised crime and money laundering.
Identified priority measures to fight corruption including:
strengthening state institutions by improving enforcement and
monitoring;
providing for transparency and accountability;
enabling independent investigative and judiciary bodies;
building public/private partnerships and networks to monitor
anti-corruption activities and underpin reform efforts;
establishing participatory and proactive strategies to enhance
anti-corruption efforts of all parties concerned;
empowering civil society and media to galvanize community action,
generate political commitment and create a pattern of honesty in business
transactions;
improving basic education and literacy levels, and educating
society to the costs of corruption.
Agreed that anti-corruption programmes must be supported by
political will and that building private/public sector coalitions is critical to
developing and sustaining reform measures.
The need for changing the business environment because corruption
interferes with competition on the basis of price, quality, and service and
erodes the integrity of managers and employees.
Stressed the importance of promoting ethical standards in business
and good corporate governance.
Recognized the value of international instruments to encourage and
strengthen anti-corruption programmes at national and regional levels and to
provide a benchmark of best practices.
Encouraged donor organizations to develop synergies in programme
design and implementation on the basis of long-term partnership.
Implementation strategies: Public Sector
We need to:
develop comprehensive national strategies for combating
corruption;
strengthen law enforcement mechanisms, including the role of the
judiciary and provide witness protection programmes;
increase transparency through the establishment of competitive
public procurement procedures and encourage the adoption of international rules
in this area;
improve conditions for international investment through
simplification of government procedures,
improve transparency and accountability in budget preparation,
execution, and oversight of expenditure,
develop codes of ethics in public administration to be enforced by
strong sanctions;
strengthen procedures for an effective and merit-based civil
service, particularly recruitment, promotion and pay,
adopt "Freedom of Information" laws and provide access to public
information,
strengthen parliamentary oversight, independent audit and
investigative bodies to be backed by sufficient human and financial resources.
Implementation Strategies: Private Sector
We need for:
establishing public-private partnerships to develop
anti-corruption strategies, goals and processes;
promoting good corporate governance on the basis of international
standards and principles;
strong commitment by top management of companies to implement
anti-corruption strategies;
developing and implementing codes of ethical conduct and ensuring
their effectiveness through internal control mechanisms, training of personnel
and sanctions;
accounting and auditing rules and standards to ensure transparency
in business transactions;
building coalitions for business integrity, including business
ethics centers.
Implementation Strategies: Media and Civil Society
The urgency of:
•mobilizing civil society (media, NGOs, business, labor, and
professional associations) to monitor good governance;
•creating an
anti-corruption network of NGOs to share information on regional/country
anti-corruption initiatives;
•conducting surveys of businesses,
consumers and public opinion to provide feedback for delivery of public services
and fostering competition;
•implementing education programmes
aimed at fostering an anti-corruption culture in society;
•enabling the
media to effectively exercise public scrutiny;
•improving ethical and
professional standards of journalists and promoting training in investigative
journalism.
Follow-Up
exchange information and experience on national, regional and
international programmes to measure progress and encourage further actions;
analyze issues relating to anti-corruption activities and develop
recommendations;
monitor the progress achieved in the implementation of these
recommendations.
These are my recommendations if the body satisfy we will widely
disseminated to all parties concerned with the fight against corruption.
roy
dante ogurida
Chief News Editor: Sol Jose Vanzi
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