MANILA, Philippines -- The political noise about the alleged corruption in the government, particularly the scrapped National Broadband Network deal with China’s ZTE corporation, is a good exercise to protect public funds, according to Vice President Noli de Castro.

De Castro said the fight against corruption should involve everyone, not just those in government and political parties, but should not be for the political gain of those who pursued it.

Speaking at the national convention of the 4th Liga ng nga Barangay (League of Villages) in Intramuros, Manila recently, De Castro said that public discussions of corruption charges against people in government could result in more enlightened governance.
However, he said the people should not be “narrow-minded” in discussing this issue so that they could better understand the problem and effectively deal with it.

"The issue about corruption in government should not be pursued simply for the political gain of one party or one group. This should be about protecting and advancing the welfare of the entire Filipino people," the Vice President stressed.

He said that the village, the smallest political unit of the country, played a strategic role in understanding and addressing corruption, and leading the country towards development.

De Castro urged village leaders present to lead the fight against corruption in all layers of the government and give back to the people a good government which they truly deserved.

He likewise acknowledged the presence of corruption in some branches of the government, but hastened to add that the government had been initiating corrective measures to minimize, if not to totally eradicate, this menace.

“Kung gusto nating wakasan ang korapsiyon, alisin natin ito sa lahat ng antas ng government service, mula sa baba, hanggang sa taas [If we want to end corruption, let’s remove it from all levels of government service, from the bottom up to the top]," De Castro said.

"Kayo po ang frontliners ng gobyerno. Kung gusto nating muling ibalik ang tiwala ng mga mamayan sa pamahalaan, kailangan ay magkaroon din sila ng tiwala at kumpiyansa sa inyo. Kailangan natin ito upang tuluyang makarating sa bawat pamilyang Pilipino ang ipinangakong pag-unlad [You are the frontliners of government. If we want to bring back the trust of the citizens in our government, the citizens would have to regain their trust and confidence in your service. We need to restore trust and confidence if we are to deliver to every Filipino family the progress we have been promising to each one of them]," he added.

De Castro said that based on the scaling up approach, he expected reforms to start in small units such as the individual Filipino, the family and the barangay.

“It is the best compliment to the strategic and direct interventions that government pursues, and should pursue more extensively, to address poverty," he said.

De Castro also called on the league’s members to heed the challenge of the times and become genuine movers of development.