...the OECD commendation

OECD official lauds Philippine anti-corruption mechanisms

But says enforcement of laws is the challenge

 

By ROY C. MABASA

March 2, 2011

Manila Bulletin

 

MANILA, Philippines — The head of an international organization helping governments tackle the economic, social and governance challenges of a globalized economy has hailed the anti-corruption mechanisms put in place by the Philippine government, particularly the anti-red tape law, that promotes transparency and expedites transactions in government.

In an interview with reporters, Nicholas van Benschoten, head of the Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD) Guidelines for Multinationals and the Working Group on Bribery at the United Kingdom's Department for Business, Innovation and Skills, noted that the country boasts of a mature legal environment in terms of the number of legislations being discussed that are designed to address any improper conduct committed by a public official.

"There doesn’t seem to be a lack of legislation here. There is that measure which would provide protection and security to whistleblowers and also the freedom of information bill, and the challenge now I think is in the enforcement and implementation," Benschoten pointed out.

Benschoten leads the UK delegation to the OECD Working Group on Bribery and has contributed to negotiations on the 2009 OECD Anti-Bribery Recommendation.

He was also part of the OECD examination team for the United States phase 3 peer evaluation.
Currently, Benschoten is contributing to the ongoing negotiations for a decennial update to the OECD Guidelines for Multinationals.

Benschoten is in Manila to discuss with Philippine officials what UK is doing in terms of promoting good governance and ethical business among British companies around the world, and how this also reinforces local efforts to promote integrity in business.

According to him, unlike in the Philippines where a lot of corruption cases have been brought forward, it takes a while for graft issues against government officials in the UK to prosper.

However, although there are numerous charges of corruption being filed in the Philippines, this does not mean that the country is corrupt, Benschoten stressed.

“A lot of people have a false perception of the Philippines. It doesn’t have the best ranking on anti-corruption but then again there are other countries that don’t have a good ranking but you can still do business fairly," Benschoten stated.

Benschoten said his visit to Manila is aimed primarily at discussing with local business companies about UK's new Bribery Act of 2010.

“I am here to make sure they understand it, that they understand there is already a crime overseas under UK law which is already being enforced and this law will encourage good business practice and that is important for us," Benschoten said.

He explained that the Bribery Act will replace the existing fragmented law dating from before the First World War and will make bribery easier to prosecute, while being fairer to citizens and businesses in what they can expect from the law.

“It’s very hard to completely eradicate corruption but it doesn’t mean you just tolerate it. You stamp it down so it doesn’t distort the economy," Benschoten said.

He said the Act will replace the existing law’s outmoded concepts with a modern definition of bribery based on an intention to induce improper conduct.

The Act will also introduce new offences of bribing a foreign public official and of failing to prevent bribery on behalf of a commercial organization.

Benschoten pointed out that in the UK they did not have conviction for overseas corruption until 2008.
“It took a while but now we’re having two or three cases every year of conviction. People actually go to jail there for corruption. It takes a while but there is a result.”

He said to date here have been two convictions of British companies for overseas corruption.

One of them involved corruption in Ghana and Jamaica which was UK's first conviction of a company.

He said they did not only convict the individual but also a company as a whole was prosecuted, a first in the UK.

That company no longer conducts business. But it later cooperated with the prosecution to convict and imprison two of its directors, including one of the richest men in Britain.

The second case was a company in Indonesia where the judge made a lot of very angry comments about the company who was bribing him to delay the trial. In addition to the criminal side, there were also some records of accounting offenses where the companies were found guilty of corruption.

“They didn’t know what was going on in terms of their local distributors. That’s not the company being criminal, it’s the company losing control of its business," Benschoten said.

"When you partner overseas you need good partner but you also need to make sure your partner is competent and can actually do what they say they can do," he said.

Benschoten said the UK has a good reputation for openness and honesty.

“By acting professionally and refusing to pay bribes, British businesses defend their reputation for integrity and trade fairly on the value of their products and services," Benschoten said.

"The UK government is committed to target the rogues that seek to win business through bribery and undercut the majority of ethical UK businesses,” he said.