Why should Filipinos care about COSP11, UN’s anti-corruption summit?

Representatives of 192 governments and anti-corruption advocates from civil society, media, and the private sector are in Doha, Qatar for an important summit held every two years.

It’s the 11th Conference of the State Parties to the United Nations Convention against Corruption (UNCAC), or COSP11. If COP is the world’s biggest climate summit, COSP is the international anti-corruption gathering under the UN framework.

But why should Filipinos care?

The Philippines has a delegation to the week-long event from December 15 to 19. Ombudsman Boying Remulla, Sandiganbayan Presiding Justice Geraldine Faith Econg, and ranking officials from the Office of the President, Commission on Audit, Civil Service Commission, and the Department of Budget and Management are expected to attend.

Their presence ensures that the country has a voice in the the highest global forum on anti-corruption. It is a stage for Philippine officials to explain what they are — or not — doing to address issues of graft.

COSP resolutions are not legally binding. Whatever is agreed upon in the week-long summit won’t mandate governments to pass measures when they go back home.

It will, however, apply pressure on signatory states like the Philippines to meet global standards that have been set.

Numerous resolutions are expected to be tabled in this year’s conference, including:

• the Doha declaration on artificial intelligence
• the future of the UNCAC review mechanism, a key tool because what gets reviewed is what governments are ultimately pushed to fix
• a resolution that seeks to recognize corruption as a major cause of environmental crimes, urging signatories to develop strong domestic frameworks on transparency, open government participation, and access to information
• a proposal to allow anti-corruption investigators to access data from financial intelligence units, as they often work separately
• a resolution on stronger political finance transparency

The last one is important, not only because civil society organizations say it is the top priority in COSP11, but because political finance transparency is highly relevant to the Philippine context in light of the flood control and overall public works scandal.

The proposed resolution, forwarded by Albania, Ghana, Mongolia, and Norway, seeks access to beneficial ownership information of donors of politicians. Investigations by the media in the Philippines in the past months have uncovered problematic ties between politicians and public works contractors, but journalists often have to resort to unconventional, expensive, and creative ways to establish conflict of interest due to data that are not readily accessible.

The draft resolution also seeks a timely publication of a list of election candidates’ campaign donors at least once before election day. It’s a proposal that would be a game-changer in the Philippines if implemented, given that candidates’ campaign donors are only disclosed a month after the polls.

Civil society organizations attending the COSP11 are asking their members to talk to their government delegates to convince them to back the political finance resolution, as some of the provisions remain points of contention that might be watered down or removed in the final version.

The Philippines’ approach to the negotiations will signal whether it is serious about long-term reforms aimed at preventing a repeat of flood control corruption. – Rappler.com