CEBU CITY — Executive Secretary Eduardo Ermita recently officiated the oath-taking of members of the newly launched Visayas chapter of the multi-sectoral anti-corruption council (MSACC) in Cebu.

Ermita, in his keynote speech said fighting corruption is not for the faint-hearted. "Corruption is a hydra that poses impediments to our continued development as a country,” he declared.

He also warned that there will be sectors that will always have something to say against our campaign against corruption.”

“We have to plod on because we have missed grants from the U.S. and the United Nations for failing short on the evaluation of our anti-corruption efforts in the country," Ermita said.

According to the Executive Secretary, the establishment of the MSACC is a convergence of opinion, comments and ideas on how to solve corruption.

Rather than talk against government, he encouraged the academe to conduct symposia in schools, and the religious sector to expound on how society could combat corruption at the pulpit. “This is the time to express your thoughts, comments and opinions to the MSACC,” Ermita stressed.
“This (the MSACC) is the forum.”

Director Edsel Nuguit of the Evelio Javier Foundation, Inc., briefed the MSACC members on the need for a national anti-corruption program of action through a convergence approach strategy.

Nuguit said the MSACC hopes to converge all anti-corruption efforts to bridge the gaps of implementation and to establish an anti-corruption roadmap that will be submitted to the UN as the country's commitment to the UN Convention against Corruption (UNCAC).

The MSACC was launched in Manila, Davao and now in Cebu as a mechanism and monitoring body that will pursue anti-corruption measures and it will serve as the coordinating body of the National Anti-Corruption Program of Action (NACPA) in the country.