Group formed to expose, fight corruption in gov’t

MANILA, Philippines - Days before President Gloria Macapagal Arroyo’s State of the Nation Address, 100 local leaders and concerned citizens nationwide formed an organization to campaign against the alleged widespread corruption in the Arroyo administration. During a press conference on Mother Ignacia Avenue in Quezon City on Thursday, the Citizen’s Movement for Good Governance (CMGG) said it would “provide a broader venue for Filipinos to demand transparency and accountability" from the administration. “The real state of the nation exposes realities on the government's failure to deliver equitable, sustainable, and people-centered development… A government that is not transparent and accountable does not deserve to govern," said CMGG secretary general Conrado Navarro, who is also president of the non-government Philippine Rural Reconstruction Movement. According to Vicente Jayme, CMGG founding member and former Finance secretary during the Aquino administration, graft and corruption are the major reasons why Filipinos remain poor. Incidence of corruption in the Philippines is worst in East Asia, according to the World Bank’s 2008 Worldwide Governance Indicators. In the Transparency International’s 2007 Corruption Perceptions Index (CPI), the Philippines ranked 131st out of the 180 countries surveyed. Denmark, Finland, and New Zealand all ranked first, which meant that corruption perceptions in these countries were the lowest. There has been a trend of slippage in the Philippines’ CPI rank under the Arroyo administration: 65th in 2001; 77th in 2002; 92nd in 2003; 102nd in 2004; 117th in 2005; and 121st in 2006. Jayme said CMGG would not only pressure the government in “doing its job properly," but also “actively participate in the planning and implementation of sustainable development projects and programs." He said the organization would help local government units “mainstream" sustainable development projects in their development plans “through advocacy, and capability-building activities." CMGG will focus its anti-corruption campaigns in the provinces of Nueva Vizcaya, Bataan, Camarines Sur, and Albay. - Kimberly Jane T. Tan, GMANews.TV