Transparency International (TI) spoke to Annie Geron, a union member since 1987, and a whistleblower herself. Geron can identify with the trials and tribulations a whistleblower in the Philippines can face, considering she has personally suffered since blowing the whistle on corruption at her workplace.

Transparency Watch (TW): What was your first encounter with corruption?

Annie Geron (AG): I first experienced corruption – the misuse of entrusted power for private gain – while working at the National Manpower and Youth Council in the early 1990s. The Director General of the organisation abused his appointing power by disregarding proper procedures, in particular with regard to hiring and procurement practices.

TW: You have recently ‘blown the whistle’ on the director general of the Technical Education and Development Authority (TESDA) where you worked. What happened?

AG: In October 2006 I filed a complaint, together with Public Service Labour Independent Confederation (PSLINK), against the director general of TESDA. This was following a complaint of 12 different allegations of misuse of public funds, which was filed by PSLINK’s local affiliate with the Presidential Anti-Graft Commission and the Ombudsman on 1 September 2006.

Once my employer discovered what I had done, I was placed under preventive suspension for 90 days without pay. This is a typical action taken by management to penalise an employee while an investigation is on-going. I was then physically barred from entering my workplace and transferred to another department. When I refused to follow the transfer order by the TESDA director general, I was charged with gross insubordination. After leading a series of peaceful protest actions at my workplace, I was charged with grave misconduct. Finally, in March 2007 I was dropped from the payroll – another way of terminating my employment.

The director general was formally charged with corruption in March 2007 by the Presidential Anti-Graft Commission.

TW: How did you discover that funds were being misused at the Technical Education and Skills Development Authority (TESDA)? What were your first steps?

AG: I was alerted to certain accounting irregularities by looking at the transactions involved in a certain project. What I saw in these documents convinced me I needed to do something. After examining the documents and referring to policies and laws governing the nature of the transactions, I wrote a letter of complaint to the Presidential Anti-Graft Commission and to the Ombudsman to bring the matter to the attention of the authorities.

TW: How does PSLINK support and protect whistleblowers?

AG: In the Philippines there is currently no clear policy or programme to protect whistleblowers, so whistleblowers can be very vulnerable to harassments and intimidation. PSLINK has a small fund – run on contributions – to help whistleblowers financially – for example, for those who have lost their pay by reporting their boss, or to help cover legal fees of court proceedings. PSLINK also has an in-house lawyer who provides legal assistance.

At the moment, both my husband and I are tied up in whistle blowing cases, and are without our regular salaries. For the moment we are just getting by with what savings we have. Until our cases are decided in the courts and we can get our wages back, we have accepted some money from the PSLINK whistleblower fund to cover our legal fees.

The Public Services International, a global union federation to which PSLINK is affiliated, supports PSLINK through an international solidarity fund used for lawyer fees and for filing cases.

TW: Has it become more dangerous in the past few years to be a whistleblower in the Philippines?

AG: I believe it is really unsafe to be a whistleblower at the moment. The government stifles criticism and opposition, any type of opposition is seen as destabilising the government. We don’t see the resolution of reported cases.

This is documented in the report of UN Special Rapporteur Alston, commissioned in February 2007 to investigate the more than 800 killings of activists, journalists, farmers and people tagged as “leftist” in the Philippines.

TW: How do you protect yourself?

AG: I’ve stopped going home at night, because I don’t want my family to be harmed if I am being followed and under surveillance. Of course I can’t guarantee that I am keeping them safe by staying away, but it is a start. I also keep changing my schedules. I spend my time in different places in order to confuse anyone who may be following or looking for me.

TW: What are effective measures to protect whistleblowers?

AG: One way to protect whistleblowers is to make good use of the media. Once the media writes about a case, the awareness they create increases protection. This way, if something happens, the public already knows about the case. Another way to increase protection is to work in coalition with other non-governmental organisations that fight corruption.

Laws also are very important to protect whistleblowers. We are pushing to get a whistleblower protection law in the Philippines, because then we would have a basis to pursue the resolution of cases. The proposed law provides the framework and the legal tools not only to protect myself and people like me, but also to address corruption more generally.

TW: What could the international community do to protect whistleblowers?

AG: It helps create pressure. As a state party to the United Nations Convention against Corruption (UNCAC), the Philippines have an obligation to implement the different provisions of that convention. Also an international body like the International Labour Organisation, to which the Philippines are a member, can help. Trade unions from developed countries like in Europe, registered protests and expressed support to my case at the Philippine embassies and consulate offices in their countries also can help. In this way, they called the attention of politicians and the political leadership here. So the pressure could also come from the international community that is very concerned about the situation in the Philippines.

TW: Do you know any encouraging stories on whistleblowers?

AG: There are other civil servants, union workers, or members of civil society organisations fighting corruption and exposing wrongdoings, who are in the same situation as myself: isolated; harassed. Right now the newspapers are telling the story about Vincent Lazatin from the Transparency and Accountability Network. His group came up with a study by students who attended an anti-corruption course. The case studies show that big cases of corruption have remained unabated. The most influential people, the ones not only stealing big amounts of money but also manipulating elections and engaging in influence peddling, are still free. The network has named five cases of big time corruption that remain unresolved despite overwhelming evidence. Judicial processes tend to move very slowly in these cases.

TW: What about the private sector? How could companies working in the Philippines contribute to protecting whistleblowers?

AG: Companies should, first of all, observe the laws of the country and observe their own corporate ethics. They have a role to play because at the moment the government is trying to attract foreign investment. But this investment should not be attracted at the expense of trade unions and human rights. Companies should conduct business that is more ethical – and not resort to bribery or violation of rights.

TW: What keeps you and your colleagues going?

AG: The citizens of the Philippines want a clean government. The majority of the civil servants are honest and will not accept corruption. That gives me hope. Anyway, this is the only country I have, so where should I go? If I can do something to improve the situation in my country, then I will stay and do something. This philosophy underlines PSLINK as well.