Vice President Leni Robredo stressed anew her disdain for corruption in government, even naming the government agencies her administration will investigate first for allegations of corruption if she wins the presidency in the upcoming polls.
During the CNN Philippines Presidential Debate at the University of Santo Tomas (UST) on Sunday, February 27, Robredo said her administration will first investigate the Bureau of Customs (BOC) for corruption allegations. The BOC was also the top pick of the other seven of eight presidentiables who attended the event.
After the BOC, the Vice President said she would also look into the Bureau of Immigration (BI), the Bureau of Internal Revenue (BIR), and the Department of Public Works and Highways (DPWH).
For the first question in the debate, the candidates were asked how they dealt with corruption cases in their office or if they encountered anybody trying to offer them bribes or kickbacks. In response, Robredo said she immediately initiated measures so this could be avoided.
"Pagkatapos nang ako nahalal bilang Congresswoman, kinausap ko yung aking mga taga-distrito-- mga negosyante, mga kasama ko sa distrito. Sinabi ko na kaklaruhin natin, walang makikipag-usap sa akin tungkol sa mga kontrata (When I first became Congresswoman, I talked to the people from my district, including the businessmen. I told them that to be clear, I will not talk to anybody about contracts)," she said.
"Walang makikipag-usap humihingi ng mga favors, bibigyan sila ng mga special preferences (No one will be talking to me asking for favors or asking for special preferences)," she added.
Robredo said when she was a Congresswoman, she filed bills that would address the problem of corruption in government.
"Hindi (It's not) enough for a public official to be good but there has to be a system that will force him to be good," she said.
"Yung mga panukalang batas na finile ko, lahat anti-corruption measures. Merong (All of my of the bills I filed were anti-corruption measures. There were) measure on transparency, full discretion law, freedom of information law, accountability measures, people empowerment measures dahil palagay ko eto talaga yung pinakamahalaga para mabawasan yung corruption (because I believed these were the most important so we can eradicate corruption)," she added.
Robredo, lastly, cited that the Office of the Vice President (OVP) getting the highest audit rating from the Commission on Audit (COA) for the past three years.
"I am very proud to say that in the past consecutive three years, nakukuha namin ang pinakamataas na COA audit rating. Unqualified opinion lagi (We got the highest COA audit rating. It was always an unqualified opinion)," she said.
"Pagpapakita na ang resibo nandiyan dahil ayaw namin sa corruption (It shows that the receipts are there because we hate corruption)," she added.