The 2nd Integrity Summit to be held on September 18 2012 at the Hotel Intercontinental in Makati City comes at a time when the Philippines is perceived to be reaping the fruits of improved governance and increased awareness on the need to foster a culture of integrity in the country.

 

With the theme “Driving Culture Change,” the Summit will highlight the initiatives of public and private-

sector organizations to transcend the culture of corruption and how the implementation of integrity practices and controls in the workplace and how they conduct business have yielded concrete results. 

 

The Summit is being organized by the Integrity Initiative, a private-sector led campaign that aims to promote common ethical standards among various sectors of society. The campaign is jointly implemented by the Makati Business Club (MBC) and the European Chamber of Commerce of the Philippines ECCP in partnership with the Management Association of the Philippines (MAP), American Chamber of Commerce of the Philippines (Amcham), Asian Institute of Management AIM and Financial  Executives Institute of the Philippines (FINEX).

 

There will be two keynote speakers at the Summit. President Benigno S. Aquino III, who was also the special guest of honor at the 1st Integrity Summit in September 2011, will again grace this year’s event. The second guest of honor will be newly appointed Supreme Court Chief Justice Maria Lourdes P.A. Sereno, who is expected to discuss the judicial reforms she will undertake.

 

In addition to the two keynote speeches, the summit organizers have lined up a program that will underline the progress that has been made by the multi-sectoral campaign. The summit will kick off with a report from Integrity Initiative chairman Ramon del Rosario Jr. (also chairman of the Makati Business Club) on the latest developments and milestones marked by the Integrity Initiative since it was launched in December 2010.

 

Siemens Philippines CEO and president Jacky Chan will discuss global trends in enforcing ethics compliance programs and establish the link between the institutionalization of integrity standards in the private sector and the creation of competitive market conditions. Social Weather Stations (SWS) president Mahar Mangahas will present the results of the 2012 SWS Annual Enterprise Survey on Corruption, which measures how the business community perceives the extent of corruption in government agencies.

 

Public Works Secretary Rogelio Singson will share how he was able to reform the agency that used to be perceived as one of the most corrupt government agencies, while the president of a local construction company will relate how his firm successfully put in place critical reforms that qualified the company to bid for World Bank funded public works projects.

 

Philippine Economic Zone Authority Director General Lilia de Lima will expound on the good governance

and ethical practices inside economic zones, while representatives of provincial and regional business groups based in Cebu Iloilo and Mindanao will share their corporate governance practices as well.

 

From the public sector Budget Secretary Butch Abad and BIR Commissioner Kim Jacinto-Henares will reiterate government efforts to promote transparency and accountability in the use of public funds at all levels of the bureaucracy and to encourage the private sector to be responsible and honest taxpayers.