Group pushes perks to encourage ethical business practices

MANILA, Philippines - The group pushing to promote an ethical business environment in the country is clamoring for government perks to encourage local companies to eradicate illicit practices.

Ramon del Rosario Jr., chairman of the Integrity Initiative Inc., said practicing ethical business standards remain a challenge among local companies and would likely continue without the necessary support from the government.

“There are still companies who feel that the path of integrity is a costly and difficult path. Many companies in the past feel the only way of doing business, particularly with government entities, was to pay off people who would make the decisions,” Del Rosario said in an interview at the Integrity Summit 2015 yesterday.

“There are those who think that adhering to integrity initiative is costly. It’s a competitive disadvantage in the view of some because it forces them to be honest on their deal as opposed to their competitor paying bribes or is not paying value added tax,” he added.

He said, it is only until it has been proven that integrity pays off that a completely level playing field would be achieved.

As such, Del Rosario said firms behind Integrity Initiative are urging the government to provide incentives to companies which have been certified of practicing ethical standards in doing business.

“What we need is to put in place a certification like an ISO certification. We don’t want companies to be recognized just because they sign the pledge. We want them to be recognized based on certified adherence to real integrity practices,” Del Rosario said.

“Once this certification is in place, I am hoping that the Finance department through the Bureau of Internal Revenue and Bureau of Customs will recognize these companies through things like faster processing of income tax returns, less intensive scrutiny of their income tax returns and on the Customs side, facilitated lanes for importers with good track record and who have certificates in this kind of program. That’s the kind of recognition I think which will be useful. Once we get that, there will be much stronger interest in participating in the integrity initiative from private companies,” he added.

Del Rosario said the group’s call has slowly been gaining ground, with several government departments taking part in the Integrity Initiative campaign.

He said the Department of Public Works and Highways is now requiring contractors to participate in the campaign while the Department of Education is also requiring its suppliers to be participants.

Del Rosario said agencies such as the Philippine Economic Zone Authority, Subic Bay Metropolitan Authority and Clark Development Corp. are requiring locators to be participants of the initiative as well.

Since its establishment in 2009, the Integrity Initiative now has a total 3,000 corporate signatories.

“While we recognize the substantial progress our campaign against corruption has achieved, we acknowledge that there is still a long and bumpy road ahead. But through our unified effort, a more ethical Philippines is within reach,” Del Rosario said.