Millennium Challenge Corporation to Arm RIPS with a Case Management System
The Department of Finance’s (DOF) Revenue Integrity Protection Service (RIPS), a program successfully rooting out erring and corrupt officials from government, is set to be equipped with a case management system to augment its aggressive campaign against corruption. With funding from the Millennium Challenge Corporation (MCC), the case management system will boost the efficiency of investigations and operations against corrupt elements in government.
In a speech at the kick-off event held 26 November, 2014, DOF Undersecretary of the Revenue Operations and Legal Affairs Group Carlo Carag said, “We are fully convinced that applying technology and innovation in public sector solutions significantly boost desired governance outcomes. With the new IT system in place, we believe RIPS will be an even more effective program.”
The case management system will ease case tracking and monitoring, secure documentary evidence safely, shorten the period of time for net worth analyses, increase our sources of leads, and significantly reduce information leakages. It also features an automated investigation tool with a “red flag system” that will help prioritization and generate leads by processing information in the RIPS database.
All of these are significant upgrades as the DOF seeks to institutionalize more robust and sustainable ways to reform government. The improvements are part of a wider MCC project called the Revenue Administration Reform Project, a 5-year grant which started in May 2011 and will end in May 2016. The MCC funding for RIPS amounts to $4 million, while the case management system itself costs $1.3 million. Development of the system began last month and is expected to go online mid-2015.
Undersecretary Carag stressed the importance of sustainability, saying, “As this administration draws to a close in less than 2 years, we look towards ensuring sustainability of our reforms as a key priority. We welcome innovations and partnerships with civil society and the private sector as we expect RIPS to continue the long, hard work of eliminating corruption in government.”
“Your continued support of our project of reform strengthens our resolve in government to ensure that every Filipino has access to quality public goods and services. As our philosophy, “good governance is good economics,” continues to bear fruit to the betterment of millions of Filipinos, we shall likewise continue to push on and fight the good fight we started,” Undersecretary Carag added.
As of 25 November 2014, a total of 428 personalities have been investigated by RIPS, a staggering 351 of which happened in the 4 years since this administration took office. Of these, a total of 232 were charged, and 45 cases have achieved successful resolutions.
The event was also graced by the presence of the Ambassador of Vietnam to the Philippines Mr. Truong Trieu Duong, Mr. Burak Inanc, the Resident Country Deputy Director of the Millennium Challenge Corporation, Ms. Ma. Victoria Añonuevo, the Managing Director and CEO of the Millennium Challenge Account – Philippines, and Mr. Charlie Villegas, the Executive Director of Kaisa Consulting.
