Aquino pledges to intensify measures against corruption

MANILA, Philippines (Xinhua) - President Benigno Aquino III vowed today to strengthen and rationalize government's reform measures to weed out corruption.

Aquino made the pledge at the 2nd State Conference on the United Nations Convention Against Corruption (UNCAC) held in Malacanang, the presidential palace.

Aquino said he has approved the proposal to draft an executive order to institutionalize an Integrity Management Program (IMP) in government agencies based on the UNCAC.

The IMP is the first joint anti-corruption program of the technical working group, composed of the Office of the President ( OP) and the Office of the Ombudsman (OMB), supported by the World Bank.

The program is envisioned to be the primary national anti- corruption prevention framework of the government.

"We are working to rid the Philippines of the corruption that has tainted its reputation and plagued it for so long; we are working to institutionalize a legacy that finds its roots in the mindset of our countrymen, who will never again settle for anything less than true public service," Aquino said.

While the technical working group ended its review of the UNCAC, the president said the government is more driven to institutionalize good governance and push further the administration's vision of treading the straight path.

UNCAC is an international anti-corruption treaty ratified by 173 countries, including the Philippines.