The National Anti-Corruption Program of Action (NACPA) is an initiative for the convergence of anti-corruption efforts in the Philippines. It is spearheaded by the Office of the Ombudsman under the leadership of Ombudsman Gutierrez. One of the major objectives of the NACPA is to undertake the social marketing of anti-corruption efforts for greater public support and investor confidence.

It was launched on March 17, 2006 through the signing of the Covenant to Support to the NACPA by representatives of the Executive Department, Legislature, Judiciary, Constitutional Bodies, Local Governments, Business Sector, Civil Society and Academe. Their anti-corruption programs and projects are integrated under the NACPA.

The Multi-Sectoral Anti-Corruption Council (MSACC) serves as the advisory and consultative body of the NACPA. It is composed of members from sixteen sectors, both public and private, who act as focal persons to synchronize the projects under NACPA.

Updates:

2008

Series of Anti-Corruption Roadshows were held, in Cebu City on March 13-14, 2008 involving more than 10,000 participants, and, in Urdaneta City on July 18, 2008 with 12,000 participants.
Rolled-out trainings on four key cities were conducted: San Fernando City, La Union, Legaspi City, Cagayan De Oro and Iloilo on Anti-Fixing, Anti-Red Tape totalling 105 participants while 123 participants took part in the trainings on Whistleblowing.
Five part series of Focused Group Discussions (FGDs) on several thematic areas were held involving the civil society, academe, professional groups, business sector, youth, media, religious sector and government agencies in order to make the initial assessment as to the Philippines’ compliance with the United Nations Convention Against Corruption (UNCAC). Thematic areas include: prevention, criminalization and law enforcement, asset recovery, international cooperation and technical assistance.
On December 9, 2008, in commemoration of the International Anti-Corruption Day, Ombudsman Gutierrez led the MSACC and more than 6,000 members of the media, youth, business, civil society and participating government agencies in an Integrity March at Pasig City, with a public report (Ulat-Bayan) on the MSACC’s initial assessment of the country’s compliance with the United Nations Convention Against Corruption (UNCAC).

The Philippines is a signatory to the UNCAC which was ratified by the Philippine Senate in November 2006

United Nations Convention Against Corruption (UNCAC)

BACKGROUND:

UNCAC was adopted by the UN General Assembly on October 31, 2003 at the United Nations Headquarters in New York after it decided that an effective international legal instrument against corruption is needed for an effective global fight against corruption.

The Philippines is the second Southeast Asian Country and the fifth Asian country to ratify the UNCAC.  UNCAC outlines four pillars for an effective campaign against graft and corruption: preventive measures directed at both the public and private sectors, criminalization of a wide range of acts of corruption, international cooperation in every aspect to fight against corruption and asset recovery of the fruits of corruption.

As a State Party to the UNCAC and as part of its commitments to the 1st and 2nd Conference of State Parties (COSP), the Philippines is bound to comply with its compliance review on the implementation of the Convention in the country.

In the 1st COSP of 2007, different State Parties were made to respond to a Self-Assessment Checklist involving the 15 mandatory provisions of the Convention.  As an outcome of the 2nd COSP of 2008, an expanded Self-Assessment included a peer review mechanism among State Parties and on-site field validation of the UNCAC Compliance Review of each State Party.  Come November 2009, the 3rd COSP will be held and compliance report is still wanting in substance and inputs.

The Office of the Ombudsman as lead convenor of the Multi-Sectoral Anti-Corruption Council or MSACC, spearheaded the initial assessment in the Philippines (as State Party to the UNCAC), the country’s compliance with the mandatory provisions of main requirements of the Convention.  Facilitators mostly from the Office of the Ombudsman took charge of facilitating five separate Focused Group Discussions (FGDs) on each thematic pillar of the UNCAC such as the Criminalization and Law Enforcement (Nov. 4-5’08); International Cooperation (Nov. 6-7’08); Asset Recovery (Nov. 11-12’08); Corruption Prevention (Nov. 13-14’08); and Technical Assistance and Information Exchange (Nov.25’08), all held at the Office of the Ombudsman except for Asset Recovery which was held at Banko Sentral Ng Pilipinas.

The initial assessment results obtained during the Nov. 2008 FGDs are needed to be validated before the holding of the UNCAC Summit this May 27, 2009 and the 3rd COSP in November 2009. 

            Five separate validation-write-shops with crucial agencies identified to have specific mandated and obligations under each of the 15 mandatory provisions.  Validation-write-shops will be done by thematic pillar of the UNCAC.  Each validation-write-shop will be led by a key government agency that has the mandate to respond to the pertinent provisions of the UNCAC under each thematic pillar.  Dissemination of the Compliance Review for General Validation on the occasion of the 1st UNCAC Summit, taking into consideration the importance of drawing the attention of the whole bureaucracy to the anti-corruption standards provided in the Convention and the need for commitments by government leaders so that full compliance with the Convention’s mandatory and main requirements will be effected as soon as practicable.

The Validation-write-shops and the Dissemination of the Assessment are expected to result in the preparation of a comprehensive Country Compliance Review of the implementation of the UNCAC in the Philippines that will be used for submission to the UNODC/3rd COSP for peer review, basis for the Technical Assistance Program to be submitted to the UNODC, and basis for the UNCAC Implementation Road map in the Philippines.

Review of Philippine Compliance with the UNCAC on Criminalization and International Cooperation