Purisima's ideas on curbing corruption

Former finance secretary Cesar Purisima, who served under the term of former president Benigno "Noynoy" Aquino III, recently posted on his Facebook page a few interesting suggestions on how the government can curb corruption in its financial transactions.

- MARIANNE GO

I found his suggestions interesting enough to share with readers of my column. According to Mr. Purisima, "The recent corruption scandals in the Department of Public Works and Highways (DPWH) have once again laid bare a systemic weakness in the Philippines' fight against graft: the role of cash. Bribes, kickbacks and under-the-table deals thrive in cash precisely because it is untraceable, untaxed and invisible to regulators. As long as cash remains king in illicit transactions, corruption will always find a way."

"If we are serious about curbing corruption, not just in DPWH but across government, we need to go beyond administrative reshuffles and lifestyle checks. We must target the financial lifeblood of corruption: the ease with which large sums of money can be moved around in cash. Fortunately, other countries have shown us the way."

Global best practices we can adopt

Set limits on high-value cash transactions

In the European Union, cash payments are capped at €10,000, with some countries going much lower (France at €1,000, Spain at €2,500). These restrictions make it significantly harder to deliver bribes in plain envelopes or bags of cash. The Philippines should follow suit by setting reasonable caps on cash payments, forcing large transactions into the banking system where they leave an audit trail.

Mandate reporting of large cash withdrawals