The Department of Agriculture has strengthened its campaign against corruption as it launched an anti-corruption panel during the opening of the 1st Anti-Corruption Summit recently.
In a statement, DA Usec. for Special Concerns Waldo R. Carpio said irregularities will not be tolerated as the agriculture officials renewed commitment to serving the public with utmost responsibility and loyalty.
“Our Constitution, the very covenant that is the basis of all our laws and institutions, declared that the public office is a public trust and that public officers and employees must, at all times, be accountable to the people, serve them with utmost responsibility, loyalty, act with patriotism and justice, lead modest lives and uphold public interest over personal interest,” Carpio said.
“With this declaration, we, public servants, are reminded that the very position that we are occupying belongs not to us but to the people, where sovereignty resides. We are but mere custodians and servants.”
The Anti-Corruption Corruption Committee, headed by Carpio, was conceptualized by virtue of DA Special Order 504 issued on July 19, to monitor and report corruption-related cases, investigations and action taken.
The panel also seeks to validate the information from other sources; formulate the agency’s anti-corruption policies, programs and activities; spearhead the agency’s anti-corruption campaign plan of action; identify corruption-prone processes in the agency; create a streamlined complaint action center (hotline); organize stakeholders to complement the committee; and conduct public information campaigns to generate support for the government’s anti-corruption programs.
Last September, the DA and 49 other government agencies signed a memorandum of agreement with the Presidential Anti-Corruption Commission to solidify the whole-of-nation approach of the government to combat graft and corruption by formulating policy, action plans, or systems.
The agreement also seeks to intensify the anti-corruption campaign of President Rodrigo Duterte. – PNA
