The Office of the Ombudsman initiated the agreement to help promote transparency in government and strengthen the mechanisms of democratic accountability

The Office of the Ombudsman has signed a memorandum of agreement (MoA) with the Commission on Higher Education (CHED) and the University of the Philippines (UP) for the creation of a three-unit elective subject on Ethics and Accountability in the Public Service.

Present during the signing ceremony held at UP Diliman in Quezon City were Ombudsman Samuel Martires, CHED Chairman Prospero de Vera III and UP System President Danilo Concepcion.

Aside from creating a three-unit course, CHED is also mandated under the MoA to facilitate the production of information and education materials on ethics and accountability and disseminate these materials for the use of professors and support the activities of university based youth groups that promote ethics, accountability and good governance, among others.

The Office of the Ombudsman initiated the agreement to help promote transparency in government and strengthen the mechanisms of democratic accountability.

For Martires, corruption could be prevented if the government will educate the youth.

“Let us teach the youth 9-years-old, 8-years-old of the right values. Let us teach them that it is not only stealing that is bad. To kill is also bad,” Martires said.

De Vera lamented the lack of localized teaching materials relative to the subject.

He said with the memorandum, the Office of the Ombudsman could help the commission in educating the youth about the lives of outstanding officials as well as corrupt politicians.

According to De Vera, the commission will look at how they could develop the ethics course under the General Education curriculum in compliance to the memorandum.

He however said the commission needs more time to create a separate three-unit course on Ethics and Accountability in Public Service.