LEADING THE CHARGE:

A ROADMAP TO FIGHT CORRUPTION

HEAD-ON
By Conchita Carpio Morales
2016 Ramon Magsaysay Awardee
Presented at the 58th Ramon Magsaysay Awards Lecture Series
5 September 2016, Manila, Philippines

I am pleased to share with you the efforts, gains, challenges and

aspirations of a country reeling for decades from the scourge of
corruption. By presenting the various aspects of the workings of the
Office of the Ombudsman as the Philippines premier anti-graft body, I
hope to demonstrate how the Constitutions article on Accountability of
Public Officers has traversed the divide from text to context, from form
to function, and from semantics to pragmatics. It has insinuated its way
into the national discourse, and found its proper niche at the top of the
national agenda.
As an independent constitutional office tasked to uphold and promote
integrity, transparency and accountability in public service, the Office of
the Ombudsman has, throughout the years, assumed various roles as
protector of the people, watchdog of the bureaucracy, mobilizer of
public services, dispenser of justice, and official critic of the
government.

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While the Office of Ombudsman is an independent constitutional body,

it does not operate in a vacuum. The institution is guided by national and
international framework on good governance and anti-corruption in
crafting its programs and projects, specifically:
the Philippine
Development Plan (2011-2016) and the United Nations Convention
Against Corruption (UNCAC). Guided by these local and global
frameworks, the Office formulated its own policy thrust and priority
agenda geared towards enhancing efficiency, effectiveness,
transparency, accountability and responsiveness in the performance of
its mandate and functions towards the improvement of corruption
prevention and control. Within the realm of this thrust, the Office has
been extensively advocating and pursuing the following 8-point
priorities:
1.
2.
3.
4.
5.
6.
7.
8.

Disposition of high profile cases;

Zero-backlog;
Improved survival rate of fact-finding;
Enforced monitoring of referred cases;
Improved responsiveness of public assistance;
Improved anti-corruption policy and program coordination among
sectors;
Rationalization of the functional structure of the Office; and
Enhanced transparency and credibility.

Let me highlight the importance of having a plan and establishing the

basis for its development. In our case, we have the UNCAC at the
international level, the Philippine Development Plan at the national
level, and the Policy Thrust and 8-Point Agenda at the institutional level.
All these are interdependent frameworks that translate into action plans
toward the attainment of various development objectives.

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In discharging its Constitutional mandate and functions, the Office has

adopted a three-pronged approach as operational strategy through
punitive, preventive, and promotional means.
PUNITIVE APPROACH
The punitive approach covers investigative and prosecutorial functions.
It includes the duties to build up cases, initiate lifestyle checks, conduct
preliminary investigation and administrative disciplinary proceedings,
prosecute criminal and forfeiture cases in court, and monitor the
implementation of penalties. Certainty of punishment aims to end the
culture of impunity in corruption.
Five years into my seven-year term, the Office has prioritized resolving
so many high-profile cases. The Office has resolved in part the cases
involving the controversial Makati Parking Building against the then
Vice President and his son-mayor of Makati, partly because the Office
resolved the cases only with respect to certain aspects; the PDAF
scam against legislators including three incumbent Senators and
nineteen former Congressmen and a number of public officials and
private individuals; the President Arroyo cases involving the NBN-ZTE
deal and PCSO Intelligence Fund; PNP cases involving the eurogenerals, rubber boats procurement, chopper deal, light armored vehicle
ghost repairs, courier deal and the SAF 44 incident; PAGCOR cases
including the Baler movie, repackaged relief goods, and diverted
funds to favored organizations; DBP behest loans case; Pestao murder
case; TESDA scam; Cebu Balili land deal; Gen. Ligots perjury cases;
the perjury and forfeiture cases against the former Chief Justice and his
wife; a number of Quedancor, tax credit scam, fertilizer fund cases; and
graft cases involving governors and other local officials.

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No one is spared. No one can claim that he or she is beyond the reach of
the long arm of the law. Not even our own Ombudsman employees. One
of the priority orders that I issued was the reorganization of the
Ombudsman Internal Affairs Board (IAB), which is tasked to investigate
all criminal and administrative complaints against erring Ombudsman
personnel. For the longest time, the IAB did not have any record
management system and no case inventory to speak of. For us to gain a
measure of credibility, we had to show to the public that our own
internal disciplinary mechanism was working. Thus, we have been able
to effectively discipline our own ranks. To cite a few examples:
a.
A former Deputy Ombudsman was convicted of perjury for
nondisclosure of a property in his SALN or Statement of Assets,
Liabilities and Net Worth;
b.
A former Deputy Ombudsman was fined and barred from public
office due to grave misconduct;
c.
A former Deputy Ombudsman and a former Assistant Ombudsman
were charged for tampering with official documents;
d.
An associate graft investigation officer was ordered dismissed
from the service for attempting to extort money from a customs official;
e.
An Ombudsman records officer was also dismissed from the
service for demanding and receiving facilitation money amounting to
P30,000 in 2007 for the issuance of an Ombudsman
clearance/certification;
f.
An Ombudsman process server was also dismissed from the
service after an NBI entrapment operation caught him in the act of
unlawfully demanding money with threats of initiating an Ombudsman
case against a government employee involved in a gun-toting incident.
Inspiring people to toe the line necessitates instilling discipline among
the ranks. Ombudsman employees are not immune from public scrutiny.
Integrity starts with every Ombudsman employee. Grand motherhood

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statements touching on accountability, transparency and integrity do not

mean anything if simple office rules and regulations are not followed.
When I assumed as Ombudsman in late July 2011, the total pending
docket that year was a massive 19,814 cases. To address the backlog, we
rationalized our case evaluation and records management system in
2012, and effectively reduced the case intake by weeding out frivolous
and unmeritorious complaints at the first instance. The result is that we
were able to direct our resources to resolving pending cases and
significantly reduced the total workload by half. The Office also issued
several circulars and orders to its investigators and lawyers to monitor
compliance with our self-imposed deadlines and directives to resolve
pending cases with dispatch. In 2015, total pending cases was down to a
more manageable 7,328 cases. There is, of course, still room for
improvement as we aim to further reduce our pending caseload by onehalf this year as well as target a zero-backlog docket in 2018 when my
term expires.
In 2013, the Office filed the highest ever number of Informations with
the Sandiganbayan at 961. Between the period 2011-2015, the
Ombudsman had filed around 2,685 Informations with the anti-graft
court alone. Our conviction rate at the Sandiganbayan is now at a high
of 75 percent compared to 41 percent in 2011. Close coordination of our
investigators and prosecutors, from case build-up until trial proper, is
key to improving our case disposition and prosecution performance.
PREVENTIVE APPROACH
In the second approach, the Ombudsman is not acting as a prosecutor or
a disciplining authority. This time, it goes by the dictum that an ounce
of prevention is better than a pound of prosecution. This approach is
consistent with the constitutional and statutory mandate of the Office.

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Preventive measures aim to engage the various sectors of society in

corruption prevention efforts.
Multi-sectoral coordination is necessary in supporting moves to assess
internal systems and procedures of government agencies in terms of
corruption vulnerabilities, legislative reforms in anticorruption laws, and
strengthening partnerships with various stakeholders. To mobilize the
support of all stakeholders for a more coherent anti-corruption program,
the Office is spearheading or participating in dialogues in various
working groups and fora.
As there is yet no absolute cure to corruption, prevention appears to be
the only antidote against the spreading of this social malady.
Under this preventive approach, the Office, through the flagship
corruption prevention method called Integrity Management Program
(IMP), continues to review and assess systems and processes of key
government agencies in terms of their risks and vulnerabilities to
corruption, whereby the Ombudsman recommends corrective and
preventive measures to the heads of agencies. As of July 2016, about
fifteen national government agencies, a state university and government
corporation have implemented the IMP.
Ombudsman officers have also been monitoring unliquidated cash
advances and utilized transportation resources in a number of agencies,
for purposes of immediate liquidation, deduction or restitution.
Moreover, institutional reforms on integrity and good governance across
various agencies have been identified by the output of the review
mechanisms under the UNCAC.
The Office is also undertaking a Blue Certification Program and Red
Tape Assessment designed to revalidate the anti-red tape standards

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prescribed for Business Permits and Licensing Offices (BPLOs) in

twelve local government units (LGUs) including cities and
municipalities in the NCR, Luzon, Visayas and Mindanao. The Program
has established a multi-level certification to compliant LGUs similar to
the International Standards Organization-certification for management
system standards.
The Office continues to enhance the rendition of public assistance to
people who complain about inaction, delay or impropriety committed by
public functionaries. It directs any public official or employee to
perform and expedite any act or duty required by law, or to stop,
prevent, and correct any abuse or impropriety in the performance of
duties. Two specialized programs on environmental concerns and
investment matters have been revitalized under the concept of a quick
response team.
The Environmental Ombudsman program was revived in July 2012. The
Environmental Team of Investigators and Prosecutors is primarily
tasked to ensure the proper implementation and enforcement of
environmental laws, and handle complaints against public officers and
employees for violations of environmental laws. One related project in
full swing is the Solid Waste Management Compliance Program where
the Office has partnered with environmental groups and civil society to
monitor the environmental compliance of local government units.
The Investment Ombudsman program was launched in June 2014. It
aims to encourage local and foreign investments in the country and
improve global competitiveness through prompt action on investorrelated grievances and speedy resolution of investors complaints. It
ensures that licensure and other business regulatory mechanisms
conform to a speedy system that is free from delay, fraud, bribery and
red tape. It provides an accessible avenue for the redress of grievance in

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the processing of business permits, licenses and other investment-related

government services. This mechanism also encourages the immediate
reporting of corrupt and inefficient practices.
The concept of a dedicated complaints desk readily engages the
deployment of focal persons on site. The Investment Ombudsman may
direct the various public assistance and field investigation units of the
Office and even mobilize other government agencies to look into the
matter with close supervision and monitoring. If the investors grievance
remains unresolved and ripens into an administrative or criminal
offense, the Investment Ombudsman may finally endorse the filing of an
appropriate case against the erring public officers or employees in
accordance with the regular procedure.
In line with the anti-corruption policy and program coordination among
several sectors, the Office has revisited and strengthened its guidelines
in the accreditation of private sector, civil society and non-governmental
organizations in becoming Corruption Prevention Units (CPUs) that
identify and implement anti-corruption projects in partnership with the
Office.
The Office has also improved the guidelines in accrediting Campus
Integrity Crusaders (CIC, formerly known as Junior Graftwatch Units).
This program enhances the capacity of, and partnership with, and
participation by the youth sector in promoting a culture of integrity by
developing their leadership skills and instilling the values of social
responsibility and good citizenship.
There is also the need to equip the governance sectors. The development
of the Integrity, Transparency and Accountability Program (ITAP)
answers the need for customized training modules for public officials
and private individuals. The ITAP seeks to utilize the latest information

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and communication technology in a training facility under the

Ombudsmans National Integrity Center.
Another corruption prevention project is the enhancement of the income
and asset declaration system in the country by improving the
effectiveness of the system of filing and analyzing Statements of Assets,
Liabilities and Net Worth (SALNs). Indeed, the system of SALN-filing
is recognized as a significant tool in detecting and preventing corruption.
The Office has been granted resources to pursue institutional and
technological advances in streamlining the procedure and transforming
the manual-based system into an electronic or IT-based system. It will
thereby enhance the monitoring and enforcement of such reportorial
requirement, and improve transparency and access to the SALN
submissions. I am pleased to share that last May 31, 2016, the Office
launched the Electronic Statement of Asset, Liabilities and Net Worth or
e-SALN.
All these corruption prevention initiatives are in consonance with the
goal to make a positive contribution to the installation of systems that
should make it easier for public servants to do good things and harder
for them to do bad things. Creating the proper enabling environments
develops a higher professional standard in public service.
PROMOTIONAL APPROACH
Lastly, promotional or educational initiatives have been adopted to
spread information and foster awareness about the programs and projects
of the Ombudsman as well as various regulations against corruption and
bureaucratic red tape. Through lectures, trainings, and media exposure,
the message of good governance is communicated not only to
government employees but also to the general public.

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Integrity Caravans where the Office conducts Youth and Multi-Sectoral

Fora as well as Barangay Good Governance Seminars are regularly
conducted by the Office in major cities around the Philippines to serve
as effective promotional tools that communicate and engage the public
and private sectors on the work of the Ombudsman and its various anticorruption programs.
This year, the Office launched its Young Leaders Integrity Development
Camp which is envisioned to be the culmination of the Offices existing
youth programs as well as provide an enabling environment that will
facilitate a deeper realization of self, family and community within a
national development context. It includes a module on understanding the
workings of government within the framework of good governance, the
state of corruption of the country, and anti-corruption initiatives.
Further, an enhanced and interactive Ombudsman website provides the
latest news, statistics, annual reports and other relevant information, and
online filing of complaints and online application of Ombudsman
services. The power of social media has also been harnessed by
maintaining official Facebook and Twitter accounts under
OmbudsmanPH. We have also tapped the extensive network of the
SM group to offer Ombudsman Clearance applications in its forty-nine
malls nationwide.
In recognizing human resource as its most valuable asset, the Office
strives to capacitate its personnel. Ombudsman officials have
participated in numerous trainings here and abroad on trial advocacy
skills, legal draftsmanship, case analysis, and specialized investigative
areas such as fraud audit, forensic accounting, forensic engineering,
environmental assessment tools and anti-money laundering laws. An
Ombudsman Stylebook has also been published as a reference material.

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A Frontliners Manual has likewise been crafted and adopted to enhance

the efficiency of personnel performing frontline tasks.
The Office is also enhancing its credibility by adopting such strategies
and measures in the eventual adoption of a comprehensive
Communication Plan to improve public perception and better facilitate
public information on the Ombudsmans campaign against corruption.
NEEDED REFORMS
To complement these initiatives and capitalize on the opportunities for
reform, the Office continues to push for needed reforms through
legislative proposals to Congress that aim to further strengthen anti-graft
institutions, capacities and processes.
Firstly, we need to strengthen the human resources and fiscal autonomy
of the Office. To reinforce our functional structure, there is a need to
grant the Office authority to reorganize without intervention by the
Executive Department. Currently, it takes an average of three years
before validation and approval is given by the Budget Department and
the Civil Service Commission to reorganize a single office or
department. Moreover, to be able to attract and retain qualified people to
work for the Ombudsman, the Office needs to provide an attractive
compensation and retirement package on a par with that being enjoyed
by members of the Judiciary and prosecutors in the Department of
Justice. Each year, we lose our trained investigators, prosecutors and
lawyers to the judiciary, the prosecution service, private corporations
and even foreign embassies and international agencies where experience
in anti-corruption work is highly valued.
To augment the employment package and subsidize the operational and
capital expenditures, the Office advocates its retention and use of the

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administrative fines and other fees it collects. This allows the Office to
provide health benefits and incidental insurance to its field investigators
and prosecutors, without relying heavily on annual appropriations and in
accord with the constitutional grant of fiscal autonomy.
There is also the need to enhance the Ombudsmans capacity for asset
recovery. The culprits should not be allowed to indulge and squander
their ill-gotten wealth or criminal proceeds while the criminal case pends
for years. They should be immediately paralyzed where it hurts the most.
One way to hasten asset recovery is to allow direct filing of a petition for
forfeiture, without conducting a preliminary examination akin to
preliminary investigation. By doing away with preliminary investigation,
the respondent would not be alerted and prompted to dissipate his or her
assets. Removing from the statute books the stage of preliminary
investigation allows the immediate seeking of provisional remedies from
the court to preserve the unlawfully acquired assets.
Another initial and vital step is the grant of authority for the
Ombudsman to immediately register an adverse claim on the property
before the appropriate government agency in order to put on notice third
parties that the assets are in the process of being forfeited in favor of the
State, thereby averting possible transfer to innocent third persons.
Similarly, the Office advocates the retention of at least 30 percent of
forfeited assets successfully recovered, the fund to be utilized for
forfeiture operations and capacity-building needs. Pending forfeiture
proceedings, the Office proposes a grant of authority in its favor to sell
the forfeited assets when there is a need to preserve the value of the
property which could otherwise devaluate in the long run.

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The Office also proposes to remove the time-bar in going after

unlawfully acquired properties. Eliminating the prescriptive period of
four (4) years from the date of severance from government service
would allow the Office to discover hidden assets here and abroad.
Moreover, lifting the ban on filing petitions for forfeiture during election
period removes the perceived preferential treatment accorded to new
candidates and elective officials seeking reelection.
The Office is also seeking additional powers for the conduct of factfinding investigation, administrative adjudication, preliminary
investigation, and trial prosecution.
The Ombudsmans statutory authority to access bank records needs
legislative clarification, following the Supreme Courts interpretation of
the Ombudsmans Act in the Marquez case that such statutory power to
look into bank records can be invoked only if there is a pending case in
court. In such situation, the power becomes illusory since a court order
or subpoenawhich is already a legally accepted exception to the bank
secrecy lawwould have been readily available for the prosecution. The
Marquez decision has effectively diluted the Ombudsmans explicit
power which was envisioned to be and is internationally recognized as a
vital investigative tool. Re-enacting a clearer provision on the matter
could override the jurisprudential impasse.
Another vital investigative technique is on the regulated use of
wiretapping. There is a need to amend Republic Act No. 4200 in order to
exempt the Ombudsman from the prohibition insofar as conducting
investigation of corruption cases. By utilizing this tool only upon prior
ex parte application for issuance of judicial authority, any concern on the
possible violation of the right to privacy would be addressed and the
consequent use of the gathered evidence would withstand questions on
admissibility.

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Seizing public property to be used as evidence is priority issue that

needs to be addressed since this measure will allow the Ombudsman to
enter public buildings and structures like customs warehouses in the
performance of investigative functions and visitorial prerogatives. No
private rights are involved in this scenario.
Under investigative capacities, the Office is pushing for increased
immunities and legal protection for its investigators, prosecutors and
officers. Another goal is the creation of an Ombudsman Academy which
shall act as both an in-house repository of skills resources and a revenueearning training facility.
These intended measures hold the key to nurture and institutionalize the
sustainable gains thus far achieved. The enactment of such laws shall
enable the Office to carry out its functions more effectively, to thereby
ultimately sustain the gains of good governance.
I am fortunate to have been appointed at a time when the then highest
political figure recognized not only the need to have an independent and
powerful anti-corruption agency, but also the need to significantly curb
public sector corruption in order to speed up economic progress. I
believe this was crucial in our early work at the Ombudsman, knowing
fully well that we will carry out our mandate without interference from
other branches of government when it comes to protecting political allies
and family members from investigation and prosecution.
While it is zealous of its independence, the Ombudsman, well aware of
the need to harness synergies among its fellow stakeholders in good
governance, forged partnerships with agencies having parallel functions,
such as the Department of Justice, Commission on Audit, Philippine
National Police, and the Armed Forces of the Philippines, for proper

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coordination and referral of identified non-graft cases or offenses and

the conduct of joint investigations and audits.
And we have been aware too that strong public support for our work as
well as public sentiment against corrupt practices is essential. People
have become more vocal and proactive in reporting incidents of
corruption, thanks in large part to the phenomenon of social media.
The community, academe, media, civil society organizations, and
business groups all have joined to help the Office and actively
participate in its various programs and action plans.
Gradually, the nation is building and reaching that critical mass of social
awakening in good governance. The people are starting to see the light at
the end of the tunnel. That the impossible is, after all, possible. That
crooks in government could really get punished. And that, in all fairness,
there still remains a growing number of honest and dedicated public
servants.
In the 2014/2015 SWS Survey of Enterprises on Corruption, a recordlow 39 percent of survey participants said that companies in their sector
of business give bribes to win public sector contracts, while another
record-low 32 percent of executives surveyed said that they have
personal knowledge of corrupt transaction in government. In the same
survey, the Office of the Ombudsman registered a good rating of +36, a
far cry from the -8 it garnered back in 2009.
While the Philippines has consistently moved up in the rankings in
Transparency Internationals Corruption Perception Index (CPI) and
other governance indicators such as the World Banks Ease of Doing
Business Survey, the Global Competitiveness Report of the World
Economic Forum, the SWS Net Sincerity Ratings in Fighting Corruption

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and the MBC Executive Survey Outlook the past years, much remains to
be addressed. We are only beginning to scratch the surface of the
problem.
For one, the legal and judicial structure that we currently operate in has
provided the Ombudsman the biggest setbacks in its anti-corruption
campaign. The glacial pace of trial in our courts as well as the creative
legal maneuverings of unscrupulous lawyers and their clients continue to
confound our work.
The Offices mandate became all the more challenging in light of the
recent decision of the Supreme Court in Morales v. Court of Appeals
and Binay where it ruled on the ineffectiveness and unconstitutionality
of the first and second paragraphs, respectively, of Section 14 of
Republic Act No. 6770 or the Ombudsman Act.
As a result, we now see a spate of temporary restraining orders or TROs
and injunctions being issued by the appellate court against our
administrative investigations and findings. This effectively stymied the
policy of limiting judicial interference in the conduct of Ombudsman
investigations, thus further undermining the Offices role as protector
of the people.
A silver lining in this Morales case is the abandonment by the Supreme
Court of the condonation doctrine which condones the administrative
liability of a public official re-elected to the same position for offenses
committed during his/her preceding term.
Moreover, the Office, in addition to its pending cases and other anticorruption programs, has to contend with undeserved accusations of
partiality and selectiveness. The Office is unperturbed, however. Such

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accusations are par for the course. Let it be said that we only adjudicate
on the basis of evidence presented before us.
The existence of standard procedural rules applicable to everyone
ensures the impartiality of the process. In deciding cases, the Office goes
by the evidence. The decisions, resolutions and orders of the Office are
likewise open to any challenge or scrutiny entailed by appellate
remedies availed of by an aggrieved party.
In compliance with the requirements of due process, the Office affords
every party the opportunity to be heard. Regardless of the gravity or
popularity of the case, it is primordial to observe the right of the parties
to be heard. The institution of a case is an avenue for the complainant to
seek redress to a grievance. On the other hand, it should be taken as a
welcome opportunity for the respondent to, once and for all, clear his or
her name. All of these are geared towards the common goal of ultimately
ferreting out the truth.
The Philippines cannot afford to pause and lose the momentum.
Stamping out the forces of corruption is as imperative as granting the
Filipino people the full measure of the blessings of a robust economy.
Good governance leads us closer to achieving inclusive growth,
generating employment, and reducing poverty, and eventually and
ultimately creating greater prosperity for the greatest number of people.
I am confident that the spirit of good governance and integrity will
triumph over the forces that sow social inequities and economic
disparities. Earnest cooperation and collective effort will allow the
nation to attain its development objectives. These undertakings work
toward ending the cycle of impunity and poverty, and cultivate a culture
of integrity and excellence.

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After all, these are not just the gains of the Office of the Ombudsman,
nor the gains of one administration. These gains redound ultimately to
the Filipino people united under one solemn Constitution.
Five years into my work as Ombudsman, I have learned that institutional
independence, fiscal autonomy or law enforcement capability are only
secondary to the most important factor in the success of any anticorruption agencyits human resource. All these grand blueprints of
action will never see fruition unless one has a team of public servants
who are committed and passionate with the work.
While it is important to send the message to the public that the Office is
serious in running after rogues in government, it is equally important to
underscore to Ombudsman personnel that management is likewise
serious in putting in place the cornerstones for efficiency, effectiveness
and integrity in every step of our core processes. It is important as well
to let all employees know the importance of ones contribution in the
overall scheme of things. The success of my terms eight-point agenda
depends on the collective efficiency of the entire human resources of the
Office.
I stand before you today not as the Ombudsman, but as a representative
of the Office of the Ombudsman. I speak for their behalf, in conveying
our shared vision and collective responsibility in carrying out our
constitutional mantra of being the protector of the people.
The Philippine Constitution itself recognizes the familys inherently
essential rights and equally important responsibilities, as it mandates the
State to protect and strengthen the family as a basic autonomous social
institution. The State is constitutionally mandated to support the
natural and primary right and duty of parents in the rearing of the youth
for civic efficiency and the development of moral character. The

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Constitution has an entire article devoted to family, Section 1 of which

reads: The State recognizes the Filipino family as the foundation of the
nation. Accordingly, it shall strengthen its solidarity and actively
promote its total development.
Given the socio-political context, both family and government exist in a
symbiotic and synergistic relationship. The nation channels the provision
of basic services and opportunities that will enable each family to live
and nurture a meaningful life, which will, in turn, install civic
responsibility and contribute to nation-building.
Truly, to be part of the nation is to care about what happens to it. It is to
see our personal lives as indistinguishably linked to national affairs
including the nations progress, successes and failures. This bond allows
us not only to share in the glory of the nations triumphs, but also to be
held accountable for its decline or degradation.
As I wind up my presentation today, allow me to recall the words of
Confucius, a government official himself who believed that a good
government is essential to the attainment of a peaceful society: "To put
the world in order, we must first put the nation in order; to put the nation
in order, we must put the family in order; to put the family in order, we
must cultivate our personal life; and to cultivate our personal life, we
must first set our hearts right"
Indeed, the [t]he strength of a nation derives from the integrity of the
home. The character of a nation is the sum of the collective values that
each family upholds. The virtues of good governance spring from the
attributes of a good family. Integrity, transparency and accountability are
a macrocosm of the basic values of unity, honesty and responsibility. A
nation composed of united, honest and responsible families begets an
upright, transparent and accountable government.

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Maraming salamat po.

Copyright 2016 Ramon Magsaysay Award Foundation