Corruption and Development

Corruption has become a global issue of major political and economic significance, brought into sharper focus by the coming into force on 15 December 2005 of the UN Convention Against Corruption (UNCAC). At the recent World Economic Forum in Davos, OECD countries have listed corruption and international bribery as among the biggest global challenges.

The rogues gallery includes political parties, parliament, the police, private business and judiciary seen as the most corrupt institutions in society, according to a Transparency International report. A Gallup Poll recently compared public perception between business leaders and politicians. Many believe many politicians are both incompetent and corrupt but even more people think business leaders are incompetent and dishonest.

The 2nd Session of the Conference of States Parties to UNCAC was held in Bali, Indonesia, where I headed the Philippine delegation. The conference focused on implementation and a review mechanism for UNCAC, which rests on the four pillars of preventive measures, criminalization of corrupt acts, international cooperation and asset recovery.

It took our country almost 18 years to retrieve a small part of the Marcos wealth, estimated to be worth $10 billion of stolen assets. Likewise, Indonesia has not been very successful in tracking down the fortune of the late former President Suharto, valued by Transparency International at $15-$35 billion.

Two years ago at the Global Conference of Parliamentarians Against Corruption (GOPAC) in Tanzania, the head of the Nigerian anti-corruption agency reported he succeeded in convicting five governors and indicting the justice minister and education minister. In a span of six months, they were able to recover US$5 billion.

Recovery of stolen assets is particularly important because it shows plunder does not pay. But it is not possible without international cooperation. Ratified by 107 nations, UNCAC came into force three years ago and requires members to cooperate with each other to return stolen assets. It presents, for the first time in international law, a global consensus on the gravity of the problem of corruption and the need to combat it on an international level.