PH Explores Possible Anti-Corruption Cooperation with HK
Commissioner Simon Peh Yun-lu of the Independent Commission Against Corruption (ICAC) makes a presentation at the Exchange Session for the Consular Corps at its main office in North Point.
27 February 2018 HONG KONG – The Philippines is looking into the proposal of Hong Kong in forging an anti-corruption partnership together with other parties of the United Nations Convention against Corruption (UNCAC) following a proposal broached by Hong Kong on the matter.
Commissioner Simon Peh Yun-lu of the Independent Commission Against Corruption (ICAC), which is largely credited for transforming into one of the least corrupt places in the world, has offered tailor-made training and consultancy services to the Philippines’ counterpart agency, the Office of the Ombudsman.
He made the proposal at a recent Exchange Session held by the ICAC to around 50 consuls general and consuls from 45 consulates in Hong Kong SAR at its main office in North Point.
According to Commissioner Peh, the Session was intended to brief the Consular Corps on the city’s probity environment and on its initiatives to renew training collaboration with anti-corruption agencies in different jurisdictions as a way to further enhance international cooperation and collaboration in the fight against corruption.
Peh, who has been an ICAC commissioner since July 2012, held a similar exchange in 2015 focusing on means to strengthen partnership between ICAC and the business sector in promoting business ethics.
He noted that ICAC’s “three-pronged” strategy of law enforcement, community education and corruption prevention is successful in keeping the overall corruption situation in Hong Kong “well under control” and keeping public support for the ICAC strong.
According to the Commissioner, the ICAC received 2,835 corruption complaints in 2017, 66 percent of which concerned the private sector, 27 percent involved government departments, and 7 percent the public bodies, excluding election-related complaints. Such a distribution pattern has remained the same in the last decade.
It has made efforts to entrench probity culture and enlist public support in the fight against corruption through face-to-face contact and effective use of mass and social media.
Peh credits international cooperation and joint efforts for making Hong Kong’s achievement possible. In this connection, the ICAC will strengthen cooperation with overseas counterparts and anti-corruption agencies, in particular those in the Belt and Road countries in terms of capacity building.
As a UNCAC state-party, Hong Kong has been transformed from a graft-ridden city into one of the cleanest places in the world, as recognised by international institutions such as the World Bank, The Heritage Foundation, Transparency International and the World Economic Forum, among others.
Like Hong Kong, the Philippines is one of 183 states-parties to the UNCAC, having signed the legally binding multilateral treaty on 9 December 2003 and ratified on 8 November 2006. END
For more information, visit www.hongkongpcg.dfa.gov.ph or https://www.facebook.com/PHLinHK/
Philippines Deputy Consul General in Hong Kong Roderico C. Atienza poses with ICAC Commissioner Simon YL Peh after the Exchange Session at the ICAC Head Office.