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OMBUDSMAN Maria Merceditas Gutierrez vowed to
pursue reforms in the country’s anticorruption strategies by
involving all sectors in the campaign against corruption after she
was elected vice-president of the 22-member Asian Ombudsman
Association (AOA).
The AOA is a regional grouping
that aims to improve multilateral cooperation among Asian countries
in the fight against corruption. It seeks to promote the concepts of
ombudsmanship and encourage its development in Asia; develop
professionalism in the discharge of the functions of ombudsman; and
facilitate exchange of information and experiences among the
ombudsmen of the region.
The AOA was formed on April 16,
1996, in Islamabad, Pakistan, upon the initiative of the then Wafaqi
Mohtasib (Ombudsman) of Pakistan, Justice Abdul Shakurul Salam, who
also became AOA’s first chairman.
Also elected officers of the AOA
were Wafaqi Mohtasib (Ombudsman) Javed Sadiq Malik of Pakistan,
president; Ombudsman Alice Yuen-Ying Tai of Hong Kong, secretary;
Chief Ombudsman Song Chul Ho of Korea, treasurer; and Supervision
Minister Li Zhilun of China, Gen. Inspection Organization head
Justice Mohammad Niazi of Iran, Administrative Evaluation Bureau
Director General Satoshi Kumagai of Japan, Public Complaint’s
Bureau Director General Chua Hong Teck of Malaysia and Ombudsman
Poonsup Piya-Anant of Thailand as members of the Board of Directors.
The idea to form the AOA was
hatched during a meeting of the Board of Directors of the
International Ombudsman Institute (IOI). Representatives from
Europe, Australia and Pacific, North America, Latin America and
Africa noted that they had established regional ombudsman
associations, except for their Asian counterparts.
Besides the Philippines, AOA’s
member-countries include the China; Hong Kong (People’s Republic
of China); Macao (People’s Republic of China); India; Indonesia;
Iran; Japan; Republic of Korea; Malaysia; Pakistan; Democratic
Socialist Republic of Sri Lanka; Thailand; Republic of Yemen;
Republic of Azerbaijan; Vietnam; and the Kyrgyz Republic.
In 2005 President Arroyo
appointed Gutierrez as “anticorruption czar,” envisioning
the need for a comprehensive plan that would unify and streamline
the government’s anticorruption plan of action.
Gutierrez initiated the
establishment of the National Anticorruption Program of Action (NACPA)
“out of the recognition of the need for a convergence strategy for
collective action in a coordinated fashion to achieve national
anticorruption goals with clear and accountable performance
targets.”  --Jomar
Canlas
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