Sadly people are often unable to take the public statements of their government at face value. Way too often people see leaders saying and promising one thing while privately doing the other -perhaps even laughing at the naivety or impotence of the electorate. Not here in the Philippines though. Not in August 2010. Not on the issue of corruption and accountability. Nobody can seriously now question the commitment of the new administration in tackling graft.

It is often said and only half in joke that no new music will ever better what has already been created: no new book or movie ever surpass the best of those already produced: So too many people the world over doubt any inaugural speech by a new president will ever match that given by John F Kennedy on January 20, 1961.

We’ve received a response from the Office of the Ombudsman to our April 21 request to access and publish all the Statement of Assets and Liabilities and Net Worth (SALNs) that they hold.

Representatives of Kidapawan media and civil society organizations met with the Philippine Public Transparency Reporting Project (PPTRP) staff in North Cotabato on May 24 as one of four pilot project areas to discuss how local communities can push for greater transparency and accountability in local government finances.

Victoria Constantino (not her real name) runs a hardware business in Caloocan City.

There was a time, every tax-filing season when her bookkeeper would ask her for PhP 50,000 (USD 1,111).

The money was for the examiner of the Bureau of Internal Revenue (BIR) who was assigned to assess the income tax returns filed by Constantino’s company.

The diversion of calamity funds into the pockets of public officials rather than helping the victims of natural disasters is surely one of the most heinous kinds of corruption anywhere and a record of how poorly a government cares or is able to look after its most vulnerable citizens.

In his first State of the Nation Address (SONA) last month, President Benigno Aquino III revealed that the PhP 2 billion (USD 44.4 million) calamity fund for 2010 had already been nearly all spent.