DOHA, Qatar – Philippine Ombudsman Jesus Crispin “Boying” Remulla, speaking before an audience of anti-corruption conference attendees in Doha, touted the Philippine government’s response to a flood control scandal that has taken the country by storm.

“In the past year, our country has uncovered a systemic corruption scheme in flood control projects. We moved quickly, complaints were evaluated, evidence was assessed, and charges were filed. Several high-level officials now face cases before Sandiganbayan, our anti-corruption court,” Remulla told the audience of the 11th Session of the Conference of the States Parties (COSP) to the United Nations Convention against Corruption (UNCAC) on Monday, December 15.

“These actions send a clear message: accountability must reach those who believe they are above the law,” added Remulla, who heads the Philippine delegation to the COSP.

Among those facing cases before the anti-graft court Sandiganbayan are former public works officials and now-resigned congressman Zaldy Co, who is believed to have masterminded the mangling of the national budget. He is currently hiding abroad.

The Philippines also affirmed its commitment to key priorities in the conference, including asset recovery, procurement transparency, information sharing, and countering cross-border and technology-enabled corruption.

In his speech, Remulla highlighted the Philippines’ passage of a new government procurement law in 2024, a new legal framework that was approved after two decades of efforts to reform the procurement process. The United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime once described as a “crucial step towards enhancing transparency, accountability and efficiency in the public sector.”

The measure mandates digital procurement, upgrades Philgeps from a document repository to a transaction platform, and supports standardization of procurement data formats.

Journalists and anti-corruption advocates back home, however, have yet to feel the impact of digitization. They continue to face challenges in navigating a clunky Philgeps website and also have no access to beneficial ownership registry forms of companies.

Aside from Remulla, other members of the Philippine delegation include Sandiganbayan Presiding Justice Geraldine Econg, as well as ranking officials from the Department of Budget and Management, Procurement Service, Commission on Audit, Commission on Civil Service, and the Office of the President.

The Philippines ratified the UNCAC in 2006, ensuring its commitment to UNCAC’s anti-corruption standards, and submitting itself to an implementation review mechanism where other countries can review the Philippines’ compliance and identify gaps and weaknesses in its anti-corruption response. – Rappler.com