Corruption discussed in NGO confab

"Without corruption, we would have wiped out foreign debt." This, Prof. Segundo Romero of the UP School of Economics pointed out when asked just how much government corruption affects the country.

His statement was just one of the disturbing data discussed at the recent National Civil Society Workshop on Anti-Corruption organized by the Transparency and Accountability Network (TAN).

Others were the fact that graft and corruption costs the people at least P2 billion a year and that 20 to 40 percent of DPWH projects is wasted on corruption.

The TAN is a coalition of NGOs seeking to promote transparency and accountability in governance. Organized in November last year, the network emerged with the heightened concern over government corruption that led to People Power 2.

With 19 member-organizations, it is the largest coalition of NGOs ever assembled to combat the corruption menace. For the past few months, it has been conducting regional consultations in Luzon, Visayas, Mindanao and the National Capital Region to draft a comprehensive transparency and accountability agenda.

The network plans to hold focused policy workshops in key government agencies, leading to an Anti-Corruption Summit with President Gloria Macapagal Arroyo and other ranking government officials.