Belmonte: No tolerance for corruption

MANILA, Philippines — Quezon City Mayor Joy Belmonte yesterday reiterated her zero-tolerance policy against corruption following the arrest of an official for alleged extortion.

A certain Joel Avila of the city engineering office was arrested by the Quezon City Police District on March 23 for allegedly extorting P2.6 million from a businessman in exchange for the processing of permits and other documents for his business.

“We won’t tolerate these few bad eggs. We will make sure that they are punished to the full extent of the law to prove that we are serious in eradicating corruption,” Belmonte said.

She maintained that corruption would never be normalized or allowed, especially among city hall employees, “as it erodes all the local government’s accomplishments.”

She urged residents who have encountered or witnessed incidents of graft and corruption to report the incident through a dedicated link created in the city’s e-services portal.

“Reports that are made through the QC e-services site will go straight to the top, and these will be handled with utmost confidentiality and urgency,” vowed the mayor.

Belmonte said the local government has also put in place various online systems under the e-services portal to promote zero contact processes in various transactions.

These include paying for business and real property tax assessments and securing business and building permits, locational clearances, sanitary permits, health certificates and occupational permits.

“If we want to continue in our path as pioneers, the only way to do so is to work with uncompromising honesty, integrity and fairness,” Belmonte said.