The U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) whistleblower program was enacted into law by the U.S. Congress to incentivize whistleblowers to report specific, timely, and credible information about possible violations of federal securities laws. The Commission is authorized to provide monetary awards to eligible individuals who come forward with high-quality original information, leading to an SEC enforcement action in which over $1 million in sanctions is ordered. The range for awards is between 10% and 30% of the money collected.
In a recent press release, the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission announced a payment of $37M to a whistleblower.
Fiscal year 2023 was a record-breaking year for the U.S. SEC’s Whistleblower Program. The SEC issued whistleblower awards totaling nearly $600 million, the most ever awarded in one year, including a record-breaking $279 million awarded to one whistleblower.
Thus far, the closest permutation of a whistleblower law in the Philippines is Republic Act No. 6981, otherwise known as the Witness Protection, Security and Benefits Act. As of this writing, the whistleblower effort in the Philippines is embodied piecemeal within the segments of the bureaucracy without a unifying overarching legislative enabling law. None of these approaches resemble even remotely the whistleblower law in the U.S.
Pending legislation provides up to Php400,000 (Php200K on admission, Php100K of filing charges, Php100K on completion) plus 10% of the recovered amount. These paltry sums are hardly sufficient incentives for Filipinos to come forward, given the recent history of whistleblowers being ‘nabaligtad,’ ending up being kidnapped and themselves sued.
“There exists anti-corruption software can monitor and prevent corruption if only Philippine government officials were willing to implement such software – considering the staggering financial losses and foregone social welfare and development that otherwise would have been possible.”
In the Philippine setting, the whistleblower reward should be 100% of the recovered amount or total cost of the exposed project. This is the only way to induce the makapili and encomiendero DNA of the Filipino. There should also be asylum to a country based on the whistleblower’s choosing that includes members of his family – the government should negotiate such asylum agreements with willing foreign governments who would be inclined to accept such asylum seekers since they will bring their financial windfall with them – effectively a sort of investor’s visa. Whistleblowers should be permitted to make revelations at the embassy or consulates of their chosen country. They should never have to set foot on Philippine soil again if they decide for fear of retribution and accompanying death threats.
With this reward mechanism, every corrupt Philippine government official will have second thoughts about signing nefarious contracts. Every Filipino within and outside of the bureaucracy will be so incentivized as to deter prevailing corrupt practices.
There exists anti-corruption software can monitor and prevent corruption if only Philippine government officials were willing to implement such software – considering the staggering financial losses and foregone social welfare and development that otherwise would have been possible. Such software can be deployed throughout the bureaucracy, starting with the most notorious branches of government, such as the Department of Public Works and Highways, Bureau of Internal Revenue, Bureau of Customs, and more recently, the egregious abuses at the Bureau of Immigration and the Philippine Statistics Authority that have come to light during Senate hearings into Philippine Overseas Gaming Operators.
