Finance department boosting drive versus corruption, says chief

THE DEPARTMENT of Finance (DoF) is bolstering its anti-corruption drive within the agency through lifestyle checks and computerization, according to Finance Secretary Carlos G. Dominguez.

The agency is continuously reviewing its processes to reduce opportunities for graft, he�� said in a statement on weekend.

DoF’s Revenue Integrity Protection Service has investigated 403 officials and employees since President Rodrigo R. Duterte took office in 2016, and administrative and criminal cases were filed against 60 people, Mr. Dominguez said.

Fourteen of the officials have been dismissed, he added.

The agency is accelerating the adoption of digital technologies to further enhance transparency and reduce the margin of discretion “that is ultimately the source of graft in the bureaucracy,” he said.

DoF is also battling “state capture,” which Mr. Dominguez said is “one of the worst forms of corruption” involving private people who try to influence policy-making and undermine the public interest for their own benefit.

DoF has been sharing its knowledge about state capture with regulators and key government officials to help identify the schemes perpetuated by “these grafters and influence peddlers” and stop them in their tracks, he said in a message aired over DZRJ on Saturday.

Mr. Dominguez said he wanted the Justice department, which President Rodrigo R. Duterte had ordered to probe the entire bureaucracy for corruption, to work with the Revenue service group in going after corrupt officials. — Luz Wendy T. Noble