TO DRIVE home his seriousness and determination in fighting corruption, President Benigno S. Aquino III has put himself at the helm of the Cabinet Cluster on Good Governance and Anti-Corruption.

“Kung walang corrupt, walang mahirap means that good governance will be our overarching strategy in pursuit of inclusive development. It also means that the President will be leading the charge against corruption,” Budget and Management Secretary Florencio B. Abad said.

“The President is serious and determined in stamping-out corruption through transparent, accountable and participative governance. In the next five years, we intend to strengthen government institutions by opening these more to the people,” he said.

President Aquino has recently issued Executive Order No. 43, which organizes the Cabinet into five Clusters according to five key result areas of the Aquino Social Contract; the first of which is the Good Governance and Anti-Corruption Cluster.

The Cluster is tasked to promote transparency, accountability, participatory governance and the strengthening public institutions. In particular, it will pursue the following goals:

1. Upholding transparency in government transactions and the administration’s commitment to combating graft and corruption;

2. Strengthening the capacity of government institutions to link their respective budgets with performance outcomes and enabling citizens and civil society to evaluate these;

3. Building a professional, motivated and energized bureaucracy with adequate means to perform their public service missions;

4. Improving public sector asset and resource management and revenue performance; and

5. Establishing an improved policy and regulatory environment that will reduce the cost of doing business in the country and improve competition.

The Cluste’s members are Secretary Abad, Finance Secretary Cesar V. Purisima, Interior and Local Government Secretary Jesse M. Robredo, Justice Secretary Leila M. de Lima, Trade and Industry Secretary Gregory L. Domingo, Presidential Legislative Liaison Office Head Antonino P. Roman and Chief Presidential Legal Counsel Eduardo V. de Mesa.

Executive Secretary Paquito N. Ochoa, Jr. and Presidential Management Staff Chief Julia Andrea R. Abad will participate as regular members of all Clusters. Presidential Spokesperson Edwin Lacierda and Presidential Communications Development and Strategic Planning Secretary Ramon A. Carandang have been tasked to attend the meetings of all Clusters.

The Department of Budget and Management will serve as the Cluster’s Secretariat.