Senate Minority Leader Alan Peter Cayetano
14 March 2012. Senate Minority Leader Alan Peter Cayetano urged the government to step up its efforts in fighting corruption the country if the government wishes to attract more foreign investments.
The senator lamented the Philippines’ ranking as the third worst among 142 countries in terms of procedures to start a business in the latest World Economic Forum Global Competitiveness Report.
He cited the report’s findings that the country still performed poorly in containing diversion of public funds, irregular payments and bribes, favoritism by public officials and the burden of customs procedures.
The minority leader also echoed the call of the Asian Development Bank to fight corruption as a means to effectively promote the public-private partnerships (PPPs) in the country.
He pointed out that it is important for investors in the country to see that the government operates with transparency and accountability.
The lawmaker noted that enacting laws like the pending Freedom of Information (FOI) bill would go a long way in ensuring that transparency and accountability are upheld in the government.
“The FOI bill will provide the public access to government information including transactions and contracts.”
