Presidential aspirant Vice President Leni Robredo said Friday, Dec. 10, that those who committed graft and corruption in the current administration, whether or not rivals in politics, will be punished under her presidency.

In a press briefing in Quezon City, Robredo stated that if she wins the presidency in 2022 elections, the public can expect that corrupt officials will be punished but she made it clear that she will not invest time and political capital to go after her rivals.

"Ako, ang ie-expect nila na yung mga nagkasala ay mapaparusahan. Hindi tayo mamimili na dahil kalaban sa pulitika, hindi na tayo magse-spend ng oras at political capital para balikan yung mga kalaban sa pulitika. Pero ang sisiguraduhin natin na patas ‘yung pagpapatupad (They can expect that those who committed violations will be punished. We will not choose just because they are our rivals in politics, we will not spend time and political capital just to get back at our rivals in politics. But we will make sure to implement a fair enforcement)," the Vice President said when asked if officials being dragged into corruption and graft under the present administration will be charged under her leadership if she wins the elections.

The presidential aspirant explained that her campaign against corruption will be about intensified law enforcement and shutting down opportunities to commit corruption within the government.

She added that the existing mechanisms to weed out corruption in the government must be supplemented with more measures.

"Dagdagan natin ‘yung mga mechanisms para mahirap, mahirap mailusot ‘yung korapsyon. Halimbawa, tignan natin ‘yung iba’t ibang opisina. Saan ba maraming mga butas na doon pumapasok ‘yung korapsyon at dapat i-plug natin iyon (We should add more mechanism to make it harder for corruption to happen. For example, we should check the various offices and identify where do corrupt practices happen and plug those holes)," Robredo said.

Aside from this, transparency and accountability must be promoted and improved, the Vice President reiterated, stressing that transparency works as a deterrent to corruption while accountability allows the public to know where to advance their sentiments and demands.

Robredo further said that the most important measure to curb corruption is by empowering the public through providing a feedback mechanism to report corrupt practices in any office of the government.

"'Pag nakakareklamo ang tao na hindi siya natatakot magreklamo, yung mga public officials napipilitan na mag-perform in the manner na kinakailangan nilang mag-perform (If people are not afraid to lodge their complaints, public officials will be forced to perform in the manner that they must perform)," she said.

The Vice President also said that she will push for the elimination of person-to-person transactions, especially in top revenue-generating agencies in the government like the Bureau of Customs (BOC) and Bureau of Internal Revenue (BIR), in order to shut the doors for potential corruption activities between the government and the players.