DND decries corruption claims by TI

From the Philippine News Agency (Jan 30): DND decries corruption claims by TI

Defense Secretary Voltaire T. Gazmin Wednesday denied claims by Transparency International United Kingdom, which claimed the Philippines is one of the countries whose defense sectors have very high risk of corruption.

"We have been very transparent since the time of President (Benigno) S. Aquino III (which started in 2010). We made a lot of reforms in the bidding process to make it more transparent," he added. Gazmin said they even invited members of the media, civil society groups and even the Makati Business Club when bidding proceedings are ongoing.

The DND chief added they even provided interested civilians with Defense System Management seminars to give the latter more understanding on how the bidding process in the military goes on. He also stressed that accountability is emphasized in the DND bidding process as timelines are strictly followed. Gazmin also added he was unsure on what time frame TI used in its surveys on the Philippines but emphasized that it could not be during 2010.

The Philippines, according to TI, is among the countries whose defense sectors were at “very high risk” of corruption as it has inadequate safeguards to prevent graft. Eighty-two countries were surveyed in this study.

http://www.pna.gov.ph/index.php?idn=&sid=&nid=&rid=492384