BANTAY KORAPSYON NATIONAL SUMMIT:

Participatory Governance
for a Corruption-Free Local Government
and Credible Election

BRIEFER

CORRUPTION

Corruption is commonly defined as “the abuse of entrusted power for private gain1.”
It is taking the authority vested by the public as an advantage for self-interest – may it be
political or socioeconomic – at the expense of the people and its human development.
Corruption arises in many circumstances: in the purchase or sale of goods and services
by the government, in the distribution of subsidies, or in the privatization of state
enterprises.2 It impacts societies and nations in various ways such as poor delivery of
basic social services, low quality of life, human rights violations, organized crimes,
radicalization and violent extremism.

President Rodrigo Duterte has always been vocal with his advocacy of fighting corruption
in the government. In his last State of the Nation Address, he stressed that corruption
must stop. According to him, “Corruption is like a leech that it bleeds the government of
funds programmed for its infrastructure and other social development projects.3”

DILG’s ROLE IN THE FIGHT AGAINST CORRUPTION

Corruption continues to be a major threat to social welfare, economic growth, and

sustainable local community development. In this regard, here comes into play the
DILG’s mandate to capacitate LGUs in ensuring peace and order and public safety, and
improving local governance by providing effective services to the people.

One of the key programs of the DILG is the National Advocacy on the Prevention of
Corruption which aims to increase the awareness on anti-corruption efforts of the
administration and engage the public in the fight against corruption.

In line with this, Bantay Korapsyon – Program Management Office (BK-PMO) was
created on 29 August 2018 by virtue of DILG Department Order No. 2018-874 to take the
lead in all anti-corruption efforts and activities of the Department. In particular, it aims

1 https://www.transparency.org/what-is-corruption#define
2 http://siteresources.worldbank.org/EXTABOUTUS/Resources/Corruption.pdf
3 Taken from the 2018 State of the Nation Address of President Rodrigo Duterte;

https://www.philstar.com/headlines/2018/07/23/1836195/full-text-dutertes-2018-sona-speech

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to reduce corruption, achieve seamless service delivery, enhance administrative
governance, strengthen the civil service and fully engage and empower citizens. It
focuses on the government’s role in building partnerships with the civil society
organizations and highlights the importance of people empowerment in educating,
preventing, and deterring corruption.

PARTICIPATORY APPROACH IN ANTI-CORRUPTION EFFORTS

The fight against corruption is a collaborative effort of the government and its
people. As the direct beneficiaries of the government’s social services, the people should
be engaged in various government processes such as planning and decision-making. In
fighting corruption, active people’s participation is a very vital factor. It is our civic
duty as citizens, as much as the commitment of local officials, to keep governance
corruption-free and to sustain local development for all.

BK-PMO is necessary to mobilize various civil society organizations for Participatory

Governance approach of the Duterte Administration which is anchored on the
Philippine Development Plan 2017-2022, promoting participatory governance
through “establishing mechanisms for citizens to be able to submit complaints on lapses in
government services, and proactively negotiate with the government for delegated power
of services or programs that would be beneficial to their communities.4”

As a flagship program of this Department, it encourages the involvement and

participation of various stakeholders in the fight against corruption. BK-PMO has already
conducted capacity building and development workshops, awareness campaigns, focus
group discussions, consultations, as well as road map planning as regards the anti-
corruption drives of DILG and the government.

BANTAY-KORAPSYON NATIONAL SUMMIT

In this regard, BK-PMO is organizing a national event dubbed as “Bantay Korapsyon

National Summit: Participatory Governance for a Corruption-Free Local
Government and Credible Election” which is a whole-day educational event to
establish national network of existing civil society organizations (CSOs) for mobilization
and active coordination; to strengthen the anti-corruption commitments of the CSOs
under a comprehensive strategic framework; to serve as an avenue for consultations
between the government and the CSOs; and to encourage civil society organizations to
establish corruption-free governance.

This National Summit will also serve as an avenue to encourage the people to actively
participate in the administration’s call for clean and credible mid-term elections and
corruption-free electoral exercise.

The event will be attended by top level management of the Department of the Interior
and Local Government and its attached agencies, concerned national government

4Taken from the Philippine Development Plan 2017-2022; http://pdp.neda.gov.ph/wp-

content/uploads/2017/01/PDP-2017-2022-07-20-2017.pdf

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agencies, and other stakeholders. President Rodrigo Duterte is also invited to grace the
event.

There will be lectures and presentations from the various speakers and representatives
of different stakeholders. A plenary discussion will also be conducted thereafter. A
Summit Resolution will be drafted after the said plenary discussion.

The Bantay Korapsyon National Summit will be the culmination of the anti-corruption
efforts of the DILG for the past year. This Summit will jumpstart the Department’s
anti-corruption efforts in 2019 and will serve as the commitment of DILG to
continue its fight against corruption under people’s participatory approach.

For further clarification on the matter, you may coordinate with the DILG Office of the
Undersecretary for Operations through Mr. Brian Paolo Castillo, Bantay-Korapsyon –
Program Management Office, at 0977 432 7091 or email us at dilg.aksyon@gmail.com.

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