Carlos G. Dominguez
Secretary of Finance
Thank you for this opportunity to explain to the public the Department of Finance’s role in President Rodrigo Duterte’s war against corruption.
The principal anti-corruption arm of the DOF is the RIPS or the Revenue Integrity Protection Service. Created in 2003, the unit is mandated to detect and investigate allegations of dishonesty in the Department of Finance and its attached agencies.
Since its inception, RIPS has been conducting rigorous lifestyle checks on our employees. These investigations resulted in the filing of numerous cases before the Office of the Ombudsman and the Civil Service Commission.
Since President Duterte took office in 2016, RIPs initiated investigations against 403 officials and employees of the Department of Finance and its attached agencies.
Administrative and/or criminal cases have been filed against 60 errant public officers. Fourteen of them have been dismissed from the service.
Recently, the Department of Finance launched a page on its website devoted to receiving information from the public about suspected corrupt practices.
Called the “Sumbong Website”, this page encourages all citizens to submit any information regarding cases of possible anomalies in the Department and all the agencies it supervises. Informants may submit evidence showing properties or lifestyles grossly disproportional to the pay levels of our employees.
Beyond penalizing offending public officers, the DOF is advocating a continuing review of processes and procedures in all its offices to reduce opportunities for corrupt practices.
We support the simplification of procedures to enhance transparency. We are accelerating the adoption of digital technologies to reduce the margin of discretion that is ultimately the source of graft in the bureaucracy.
The Department of Finance is also at the forefront in combating one of the worst forms of corruption called State Capture. Capturers of the State operate discreetly, in order to lull the ordinary Filipino into thinking that whatever project they are pushing for will ultimately redound to the benefit of the public.
These capturers are enterprising private individuals who use every resource at their disposal, including the media and political figures. They employ a carrot-and-stick approach to influence politicians. Those who willingly accept grease money are paid off while those who refuse are threatened with litigation. These grafters and influence peddlers play the long-game nurturing a symbiotic relationship with public officers complicit with the capturers and bartering continued political support from powerful individuals. These are done in exchange for wielding government power for a period to last beyond one presidential term.
In most instances, these private individuals infiltrate the government bureaucracy through their chosen appointees to regulatory bodies and implementing agencies. To solidify control over their respective private interests, these capturers position their alter egos in key agencies, leading to lopsided contracts and disadvantageous transactions all to the prejudice of the Filipino people.
On this premise, we have extensively shared our knowledge on the matter with the regulators and the key government officials. This will help government identify such manipulative schemes perpetuated by private individuals and stop them in their tracks.
Public officials and employees should be held to the highest standards of integrity and accountability. Rest assured, the Department of Finance will always be at the forefront of the institution of necessary reforms to achieve the President’s goals of honest and efficient governance.
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