Business Review - Vol. XXVII No. 7 - October 2011 Issue (Preview)

Contents

Business Review

www.eccp.com

October 2011

Volume XXVII No. 7

Cultivating a Culture of Integrity Integrity begins at the top

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editorial

10 EVENTS

30 MEMBERS’ CORNER

The Integrity Initiative: Clean business is good business

Join the BIGGEST Corporate Football Cup in Manila!!!

Imperial Palace Waterpark Resort & Spa Cebu Turns 2!

RHC – special forum on Building Retirement Communities

Lingo24 Press Pack - APAC

“Business as you please”@ Harolds Hotel

6 CHAMBERS@WORK

NCC – WG on Judicial System – Sept 30

National Competitiveness Council – WG on Anti-Corruption

European SME Week 2011 – 3-9 October

Equipment Engineers, Inc. (EE)

Networking with the Philippine Norway Business Council

Helping EU industries to speed up carbon efficiency

ICCO partner in Sustainable and Fair Economic Development

EU Economic Forecast 2011-2012

35 RETIREMENT AND HEALTHCARE

EU Policy Dialogue on Energy

19 FEATURE

Meeting with Senator Manny Villar

Meeting with Cardinal Rosales

Meeting with USec Gerardo Bayugo

Meeting with Senator Escudero

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12 Europe News

October 2011

Cultivating a Culture of Integrity Integrity begins at the top

19 BUSINESS REVIEW

Quality & Safety in Healthcare Forum: A Pre- Requisite to Medical Travel, Retirement and Tourism

32 IMPRESSUM

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Editorial

The Integrity Initiative: Clean business is good business By: Hubert d’Aboville

O

n September 14, President Benigno Aquino III delivered the keynote address at the Philippines’ “1st Integrity Summit” jointly organized by the Makati Business Club (MBC) and the European Chamber of Commerce of the Philippines (ECCP).

Martial Law, which began 39 years ago, is credited with accelerating the pace of the political and bureaucratic corruption that bedevils the Philippines to this day.

By turning a blind eye to massive corruption to secure its political survival, the Marcos regime effectively embedded corruption into the fabric of Philippine society. Worse, corruption aggravated poverty and negated economic growth by scaring away badly needed foreign investments and aid.

It also led the world to view the Philippines, quite unfairly, as a corrupt society in which foreign business is not welcome unless corruption “oils” the wheels of business.

Supporting Pres. Aquino It is also entirely appropriate that Pres. Aquino delivers the keynote as the fight against corruption is one of the hallmark pillars of his administration.

The President is to be lauded for his persistence in rooting out corruption at the highest levels.

More important, however, the President must receive solid support for his brave and heroic efforts to stomp out corruption.

The 1st Integrity Summit is the private sector’s call to arms in the fight against corruption both

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October 2011

within the private sector and against political and bureaucratic corruption.

It is the clearest indication that the private sector no longer considers corruption a part of “business as usual” but an essential ingredient for turning around the declining global image and competitiveness of the Philippines.

By boldly declaring that “Clean business is good business,” the more than 700 private companies and government agencies that have joined the “Integrity Initiative” by signing the “Integrity Pledge” are leading the fight against corruption.

We expect to have 1,000 signatories to the “Pledge” by the end of this year.

Also, 13 cabinet secretaries, the Bureau of Internal Revenue (BIR) commissioner, the chief of the Bureau of Customs (BOC), and other government departments have signed the Integrity Pledge.

The pledge has been signed only by chief executive officers, chief operating officers, managing directors, country representatives, or other senior company officials to set the “tone from the top” and oblige all members of the organization to likewise behave with integrity and carry on their responsibilities ethically.

With the highest levels in government supporting the “Pledge”, what we want is to get signatures from the other ranks: from the under secretaries, assistant secretaries, directors, and managers. The same will go for the private sector.

BUSINESS REVIEW

In all organizations, lower ranking officers must comply with the “Pledge”. Of course, the “Pledge” must be well understood. It is not just a matter of signing a piece of paper- it is a culture change with a commitment to do the right thing always.

Signatories of the “Pledge” will be asked to abide by a Unified Code of Conduct, thereby embedding integrity at all key levels in government and the private sector and agreeing to implement control measures within their organizations.

By removing business firms from the corruption equation, the Integrity Initiative aims to effectively grow a ‘collective action’ or ethical community against corruption and to create fair market conditions by leveling the playing field for doing business.

There will, hopefully, be no bribe givers or takers among those who have signed the “Pledge”.

Those that would misbehave after signing the “Pledge” and agreeing to the Unified Code of Conduct will have to leave the Integrity Initiative and face the consequences of their wrong doings.

In my view, being part of the Integrity Initiative has to become a competitive advantage for all company. In this respect, we urge government to implement green lanes for BOC and blue lanes for the BIR for Integrity Initiative signatories that fulfill the minimum requirements for such lanes.

Of course, there will be cynics out there who will insist that the Integrity Initiative will never

Chamber@Work

Meeting with Senator Manny Villar

Meeting with Cardinal Rosales

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CCP met with Senator Villar on 5 October and here are some highlights of the meeting:

• The Committee Report on Competition Legislation / Anti-Trust is ‘close’ to be presented ‘on the floor’. He stressed that the new legislation must be used fairly; singling out foreign investors or particular sectors must be avoided.

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He supports initiatives to open up the retail sector by reviewing the Retail Trade Act.

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He believes that the National Government has to draw a clearer line in support of mining; the present ‘hesitancy’ in coming out in favor of responsible mining encourages LGUs to move against mining and other potential investment areas.

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In order to move the country forward, he supports the initiatives to amend the economic provisions of the Constitution.

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He agreed that the country needs IT / BPO / KPO focus through a Department of ICT; the DICT should also supervise the implementation of a National IT e-government framework.

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He signed the Integrity Pledge of the Integrity Initiative.

Meeting with USec Gerardo Bayugo

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ointly with representatives of the Board of Airlines Representatives (BAR), we met with Department of Health (DOH) executives led by USec Gerardo Bayugo on Sept 20 to discuss the issue of quarantine overtime charges (ICQ) charged to airlines. Some highlights of the meeting are: ·

USec. Bayugo agreed that the overtime charges should be carried by the DOH and not by the airlines;

·

Given the relatively small amount for health quarantine, he is convinced that the DOH can absorb the charges; he will discuss it with DOH Sec. Ona.

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October 2011

E

CCP met with Cardinal Rosales on Sept 26 to discuss issues on mining and integrity. Cardinal Rosales confirmed that the Church is in favor of responsible mining and that he is willing to sign the Integrity Pledge.

He will even recommend to the Catholic Bishops Conference of the Philippines (CBCP) that all bishops sign when they meet in January 2012.

Meeting with Senator Escudero

E

CCP had a long and refreshing meeting with Senator Escudero on October 11. The discussion covered a number of topics as follows: ·

With reference to the existing court cases re Naia Terminal 3 and the Laguna Lake Rehabilitation, and potential court case re RoRo, he feels that there is no use to promote PPP for infrastructure projects;

·

In order to get responsible mining off the ground, he recommended an intensive dialogue of the mining industry with the stakeholders; he fully understands that small-scale mining, supported by LGUs providing the permits, damages the industry; he suggested an export levy for minerals in order to promote local processing; and he is looking at options to create a sovereign fund, leveraging the mining deposits;

·

Sen. Escudero maintained his positive view on ‘incineration’ (as supported by the Supreme Court) and endorses the respective amendment to the Clean Air Act;

·

Re CIQ, he agrees that government has to provide 24/7 services; he is looking at amending the Immigration Bill in the Senate by removing the paragraph on overtime; he strongly suggested that all fees are added for leaving passengers (without exemptions) are accumulated in one payment to the airlines which they add into the ticket pricing;

·

Re opening the economic provisions of the economy, he sees the need but doubts that this will happen; he is toying with different concepts for long-term land lease and 60:40 limitations;

·

Concerning the Integrity Initiative, he recognizes that the Philippines needs a law against corruption and requested information on the US and UK legislation; he is studying the Integrity Pledge and will hopefully sign it.

BUSINESS REVIEW

Feature Cultivating a Culture of Integrity

Integrity begins at the top

By Art Villasanta

C

ultivating a culture of Integrity has to begin at the top, and at the highest level. At its core, a company’s leadership bears the ultimate responsibility for upholding Integrity and banishing corruption from its corporate culture. And as experience in the now low-corruption countries such as Singapore and Hong Kong have shown, the top is the most effective starting point for cultivating a culture of integrity.

Clean Business is Good Business In his opening remarks, Ramon del Rosario, Jr., Integrity Initiative and MBC Chairman, described the 1st Integrity Summit as the private sector’s call to arms in the fight against corruption within the private sector and against political and bureaucratic corruption.

“Our message today is that the private sector no longer considers corruption ‘business as usual.’ We are declaring here and now that we can and fully intend to be both successful and honest in business! Let our mantra be ‘Clean Business is Good Business’.”

Del Rosario said the initial strategy was to get the commitment of CEOs and senior executives, and heads of government agencies, to support the

campaign in order to set the tone from the top and pave the way for the desired culture change and inculcation of ethical behavior to permeate all levels of their organizations.

“Eventually, we will also seek the support of the next level of leaders—the managers, supervisors, undersecretaries, assistant secretaries—and invite them to sign the Integrity Pledge.”

Many of the 14 executives who spoke at the country’s groundbreaking “Integrity Summit” held September 14, which included Pres. Benigno Aquino III, concurred that the “Tone from the Top” is the a key factor that influences the success of any organized effort to affirm integrity and root out corruption.

Pres. Aquino is leading the “Tone from the Top” at the highest level in government. He reminded his audience that Integrity was one of the battle cries of his presidential campaign last year.

For the past 15 months, his administration has “. . . taken that battle cry to heart—working to foster a culture of integrity in government. In this regard, I am proud to announce that we have made some progress.”

BUSINESS REVIEW

October 2011

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Integrity Initiative

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October 2011

BUSINESS REVIEW

Impressum

Business Review Published by European Chamber of Commerce of the Philippines (ECCP) Main office: 19/F Philippine AXA Life Centre Corner Sen. Gil Puyat Ave. and Tindalo St., Makati City, Philippines Tel: (02) 845 1324, 759 6680 Fax: (02) 845 1395, 759 6690 Cebu branch: 3/F C. L. Center 14 Juana Osmeña St., Cebu City, Philippines Tel: (032) 253 3389

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ECCP Board of Directors Hubert d’Aboville - President Erik Moeller Nielsen - Vice President Michael Raeuber - Vice President Cyril Rocke - Treasurer Edgar Chua - Director Anthony Cripps - Director Richard Eldridge - Director Consuelo Garcia - Director Rico Gonzales - Director Guenter Matschuck - Director John Miller - Director Bernard Poplimont - Director Jose Luis Romero-Salas - Director Ernst Wanten - Director

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October 2011

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