AnaKalusugan Party-list Rep. Ray Reyes on Saturday pushed for the passage of House Bill (HB) 9054, or the proposed “Anti-Graft and Corruption Education Act.”
The measure seeks to integrate good conduct and ethical standards of public officials and employees in schools.
HB 9054 provides that the Department of Education (DepEd) shall, in coordination with the Office of the Ombudsman, conceptualize and develop modules of instruction relating to the concept, effects, and prevention of graft and corruption for integration in the curricula of basic education.
Once enacted, Reyes said the bill will also “raise the awareness of our youth on the detrimental effects of corruption.”
“It is high time to equip our students with the necessary knowledge, skills, and values to resist and combat corruption,” the first-term legislator said.
He also cited the need to strengthen the country’s moral foundation.
He pointed to the recent 2022 Transparency lnternational Corruption Perception Index, which ranked the Philippines at 116th in the assessment of perceived levels of public sector corruption among 180 countries and territories globally. Maricel V. Cruz
Under the bill, the modules of instruction shall include Republic Act (RA) 6713, or the “Code of Conduct and Ethical Standards for Public Officials and Employees”; RA 3019, or the “Anti-Graft and Corruption Practices Act”; RA No. 6770, otherwise known as the “Ombudsman Act of 7989; as well as the rules and regulations promulgated by the Civil
Service Commission (CSC) regarding disciplinary actions.