Philippines a good place for whistleblowers, study says
By Ronnel Domingo - Philippine Daily Inquirer
May 27, 2008

Two of every three local privately held businesses have a support system for whistleblowers to help detect not only business fraud but also violations of company regulations by employees, according to Grant Thornton’s International Business Report 2008.

The IBR 2008, which covers 78,000 businesses in 34 countries and territories, also showed that the Philippines ranked fifth in terms of support for whistleblowers.

Coming in ahead of the Philippines were Brazil (85 percent), Denmark and Sweden (71 percent) and Bostwana (69 percent).

Grant Thornton’s local partner, the auditing and consulting firm of Punongbayan & Araullo, said in a statement the Philippines surpassed the global average of 45 percent to become the only Asian country to land in the top five.

"Many business leaders in the Philippines are aware of the benefits of having formal whistle-blowing policies in place," said Juancho Robles, P&A risk management partner.

"However, sufficient training is needed to increase employee awareness of the presence of such policies in a company," he added. "Adequate measures should (also) be put in place to protect whistleblowers and to encourage reporting."

Greg Navarro, P&A managing partner and chief executive, said he believed that the public hearings in Congress that featured whistleblowers’ testimonies on live television had helped business realize that it was good practice to have some policies in place to encourage and protect whistleblowers.

"Top-level fraud and shenanigans are usually left undetected and could go on for quite sometime as the perpetrators are in positions of power and influence that allow them to cover up their deeds," Navarro said.

"In most instances, such fraud is only discovered because of informers or whistleblowers, as we know them today," he added.

Navarro said the focus on good corporate governance and high ethical standards in business - among regulators, the business community and society as a whole since the decade started - also helped to push the whistle-blowing agenda into the forefront.

"Laws and regulations protecting whistleblowers are being strengthened, and the stigma attached to being one is also slowly being lifted," he said. With editing by INQUIRER.net

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