Canadian group to hold Aquino on no-graft vow By Jason Faustino 06/14/2010

Canadian group to hold Aquino on no-graft vow

By Jason Faustino 06/14/2010 A Canadian-based group of legislators is holding President-elect Benigno “Noynoy” Aquino III on his vow to rid the government of corruption and likewise in fulfilling his promise not to steal a single centavo from the government coffers. The Global Organization of Parliamentarians Against Corruption (GOPAC) called on Aquino III to make sure that he keeps his campaign promises to rid the country of the stigma of corruption and elevate the country from its humiliating standing as one of the world’s most corrupt nations for most of the nine-year term of outgoing President Arroyo.  Sen. Edgardo Angara, who attended the GOPAC executive committee meeting where the international anti-corruption group voted to hold its biennial conference in 2013 in Manila, called for a national strategy to fight corruption, involving both the public and private sector. GOPAC is the only parliament-ary network with the singular focus on combating corruption. Its current 900-strong membership represents over 90 countries. “Multilateral institutions like the World Bank, IMF and ADB have long come to the conclusion that there is a linear relationship between corruption and development; that the public sector cannot do it alone — the private sector and civil society must get firmly on board. But most importantly, there should be a national strategy so that the various sectors can perform their roles in a concentrated and coordinated manner,” he said. The GOPAC executive board asked Angara, who is also an executive board member of the organization, to convey the mes-sage to the newly elected Aquino administration. “Hosting a conference that would gather the world’s parliamentarians to unite behind fighting corruption perfectly fits the Aquino agenda of fighting corruption in government. This would be an opportunity to link up with parliaments all over the world who are confronting the same challenge of eliminating corruption from our institutions,” he said. Philippine envoy to Ottawa Jose S. Brillantes supported and provided necessary staff support during the Executive Board Meeting and welcomed the hosting of GOPAC’s biennial conference in Manila.... MORE     Source:  The Daily Tribune URL: http://www.tribuneonline.org/headlines/20100614hed5.html

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