Manila, Phillippines, 19 September - The fourth Integrity Summit, hosted by the Integrity Initiative (Philippines) was held in Makati City, Manila.  The Integrity Initiative, a private sector-led campaign that aims to promote common ethical standards in society, brought together close to 400 participants from the business sector, government agencies, civil society, youth organisations and the Church to advance solutions to corruption and promote integrity practices.

UNITING FOR INTEGRITY
Recognising the cost of corruption, the theme of the 2014 Integrity Summit – "Uniting for Integrity" reflected the Integrity Initiative’s hope and belief, that working together under a common stand is the key towards making an irreversible impact in the rally against corruption.

 “We in the private sector acknowledge that corruption unnecessarily adds to the cost of doing business, and most importantly, continues to perpetuate a skewed system that only favors those who are willing to engage in unethical business practices", said Mr. Ramon del Rosario, Chaiman of the Integrity Initiative.

 The Chairman, who also leads the Makati Business Club continued saying that, "We are in a better position today than in any other time in our history to eliminate corruption, and we will achieve this goal only through a unified front that brings together the public and private spheres of society”.

 In this connection, at the sidelines of the Summit, on Thursday 18 September, the ASEAN CSR Network (ACN) convened the signing ceremony of a memorandum of understanding (MOU) to promote anti-corruption initiatives, cooperate in sharing best practices and technical resources, and building a common strategy against corruption in the ASEAN business community.  The Integrity Initiative (Philippines) together with the Indonesia Business Links, International Chamber of Commerce – Malaysia, Singapore Compact for CSR, and Vietnam Chamber of Commerce and Industry are signatories.

 Announcing the new regional anti-corruption initiative at the Integrity Summit, Ms. Yanti Triwadiantini, Chair of the ACN said, “With the theme of “Integrity Has No Borders”, we are sending the messages that, first, as people and individuals with integrity, our values should extend to everything we do, not just at home but also in the workplace".

Secondly, she remarked that, "as businesses with integrity, our corporate values must extend from within our office walls to our whole operations, value chains and investments. Only then can we begin to build a sustainable, equitable, and inclusive ASEAN community”.

Commenting on this new development, Mr. Del Rosario noted, “We hope that this campaign (Integrity Initiative) will gain acceptance not just at the regional level, but will be a model that is replicated on an international level. We will be taking the Integrity Initiative one step higher as we will be partnering with our ASEAN counterparts.”

INTEGRITY PLEDGE FOR ALL
Participants of the Integrity Initiative are signatories to the Integrity Pledge launched in 2011.  It is a formal and concrete commitment by companies to ethical business practices and good corporate governance.  A total of 2,016 private sector entities have signed the Integrity Pledge.

Dr. Armin Bruck, President and Chief Executive Officer of Siemens Ltd, Singapore, encouraged all companies present at the Summit to sign the Integrity Pledge to show their commitment to clean business. At the same time, he called on companies that have already signed the Pledge to influence their stakeholders to become signatories as well, which is expected to generate a “ripple effect” that will help achieve the Integrity Initiative’s mission of clean and ethical markets.

Aside from private organisations, the integrity campaign also involves the government, with 47 national government agencies becoming signatories of the Integrity Pledge. Senator Grace Poe in his address elaborated that, integrity is said to be indispensable to all leaders, either those who make the law, execute the law, or those who enforce the law.

“A leader with no integrity does not inspire others to do good. On the contrary, leaders without any integrity only seem to inspire others to do bad”, said the Senator.

THE ROLE OF THE CHURCH AND THE ACADEMIA IN BUILDING INTEGRITY IN THE YOUTH
Representatives of the Church and universities recognised integrity as not just part of an individual but a part of the culture with social consequences and is man-made.

President of Ateneo de Manila University Jose Ramon Villarin, SJ said that, similarly besides being institutionalised, integrity could be also shaped through the formation of the schools, the engagement of the family, and the formation in spirituality.

Sharing the same belief, His Eminence, Luis Antonio Cardinal Tagle, Archbishop of Manila noted, “The church’s mission is to live out the faith. Other shapers of culture are the family and the schools”.

In response, the representative from the Youth, Mr. Jose Sixto “Dingdong” Dantes, agreed that society plays an important role in shaping the youth’s truthful self-image. He also called on the youth to ask the right questions in order to be consistent in their just actions and live up integrity values.

The Integrity Summit 2014 is the first in a series of annual events lined up this year by the Integrity Initiative for its 2014 campaign – “Integrity Nation Now: Uniting for Integrity”. Other lined-up events include: 

• Integrity Nation Now Film Festival (October 2014)
• Integrity Nation Now Concert (November 2014)
• Integrity March (9 December 2014, in support of International Anti-Corruption Day) 

Spearheaded by the Makati Business Club (MBC) and European Chamber of Commerce of the Philippines (ECCP), the Integrity Initiative is funded by Siemens Ltd. as part of its settlement with the World Bank to fund over $100 million worth of projects worldwide through Collective Action, education and training that promote business integrity.