Corruption eradication to take longer

By Ronilo L. Pamonag

It may take a longer time for President Arroyo to stamp out corruption.

“I say that it probably will be eradicated in six years,” Jose Concepcion Jr. of the group Coalition against Corruption said here Friday afternoon during a forum against corruption, in reaction to Mrs. Arroyo's declaration that she will eradicate corruption in the country before her term ends.

Earlier this week, Mrs. Arroyo gave herself three years to eradicate corruption in the country. She said that, by the end of her term, Philippines will be a transparent country.

“It will be very difficult,” he stressed, pointing out that corruption in the country has been embedded in the system for a long time already. In Hong Kong, he said, it took about 15 years to ensure transparency in governance.

“It's been there,” he said of corruption in the Philippines, “and has gone down to the lowest level.”

“Corruption,” moreover, “has become a part of the culture as if nothing is wrong.”

Concepcion proposed that the first thing on the President's agenda against corruption should be ‘political determination.'

“The first thing on her agenda should be political determination that she is going to carry the burden of ensuring good governance,” he said.

At the same time, he urged the private sector to ‘be involved' in the fight against corruption. “Be involved. By their involvement and by their action, it will inspire others to follow them.”

There is also a need for the people to realize that corruption has damaged the culture and values, he said.

We lose about P400 billion to corruption. Imagine what can be done with that, he observed.