AMID the national controversy over massive corruption in infrastructure projects, a former Sandiganbayan judge spotlighted the importance of personal integrity among public officers.
Former Sandiganbayan presiding justice Amparo Cabotaje-Tang, also an academic staff of the UST Faculty of Civil Law, reminded Thomasians that the fight against corruption starts with themselves.
“Even the best designed laws and systems will fail if the people within them lack personal integrity. This is why the fight against corruption begins with individual choices,” Cabotaje-Tang said.
“It begins when a clerk refuses a small bribe, when an engineer refuses to participate in a ghost project, when a lawyer refuses to subvert the law, when a judge refuses to bow to pressure, when a student chooses honesty over convenience,” she said.
Cabotaje-Tang said that more than being an aspiration, integrity among public officials is a “binding constitutional command” that should be practiced at all times.
“Public officers and employees must at all times be accountable to the people, serve them with utmost responsibility, integrity, loyalty, and efficiency, act with patriotism and justice, and lead modest lives,” she said.
The former magistrate said fixing the system must start with the government agencies involved in the flood control scam, which revealed “institutional failure.”
“Each of these bodies plays a part in creating an ecosystem where corruption is not tolerated, where wrongdoing is swiftly detected, where consequences are certain,” Cabotaje-Tang said.
“A culture of accountability is not built by one heroic institution. It is built by interlocking systems of oversight and consistent enforcement,” she added.
Cabotaje-Tang said the people must not “accept things for what they are,” while striving to “remain hopeful and passionate.”
“Let us not become cynical and closed to reforms or initiatives towards the betterment of our country,” she said.
Cabotaje-Tang earned a degree in political science from Manuel L. Quezon University in Quezon City in 1975 and bachelor of laws from San Beda University in 1979. She passed the bar exams in 1980.
She started a career in law in 1982 as a legal assistant at the Supreme Court. She later served as the assistant solicitor general at the Office of the Solicitor General.
Cabotaje-Tang was appointed associate justice, and later, presiding justice, of the Sandiganbayan anti-graft court, where she served until her retirement in 2024.
UST Rector Fr. Richard Ang, O.P. said the lecture was held so that the acts to denounce the corruption are “informed” and “grounded in understanding.”
“Before we raise our voices in the public square, we must first seek clarity to learn, reflect, and shed light on the issues before us with reason, truth, and a deep sense of responsibility,” Ang said in his speech.
“Our University stands for truth, justice, and accountability, and for the protection of the generations that will come after us. We affirm that education must not be confined to the four walls of a classroom,” the rector added.
The lecture on integrity and accountability in public service was part of UST’s “Day of Prayer for Truth and Good Governance” on Oct. 21.
A Eucharistic Celebration and candle-lighting ceremony were held in the afternoon at the Santisimo Rosario Parish Church.
Campus landmarks were lit in the evening, symbolizing the “Light of Truth.”
