When we had a dialogue with the chairman and the Commissioners of the Philippine Competition Commission (PCC) to discuss areas where cooperation with the private sector makes sense in achieving the “level playing field,” we all agreed that a level playing field involves besides fair competition, anti-corruption, a fair taxation regime, data privacy protection and cyber security. It became obvious that compliance officers/security managers will play an increasingly important role in business and the government as we move forward.
We also raised and discussed the need to encourage whistle-blowers to move forward and expose fraud, tax evasion, data breaches and other misdeeds. However, without whistle-blower protection it is understandable that these potential heroes will not step forward. While we have encouraged Congress for many years to pass “whistle-blower protection legislation”—without success—the group agreed that it is absolutely necessary that whistle-blowers will have to be given protection from retaliation.
In this connection, there is some big news: the European Union is poised to take a historic step to protect whistle-blowers across Europe. A new EU-wide directive could have a dramatic impact on the ability of whistleblowing to work in all our interests.
But, something is moving in the wrong direction:
While we are excited by the new directive overall, we are very concerned that the EU is about to agree a directive that, as it stands, will dangerously reinforce the status quo and make it even harder for individuals to report wrongdoing. Why is this?
In negotiating the directive, the EU Council is insisting that whistle-blowers should report internally first in order to be protected under the law. This could put whistle-blowers at risk and lead to cover-ups when those responsible are alerted by internal reports.
This so-called mandatory internal reporting in the directive needs to be deleted!!
Whistle-blowers play an essential role in exposing corruption and other wrongdoing that threatens public health and safety, financial integrity, human rights, the environment and the rule of law. By revealing such misdeeds, whistle-blowers have helped save countless lives and billions in public funds.
We have been advocating for years to gain strong protections for whistle-blowers in the EU and the Philippines, to give those brave enough to speak out adequate protection from retaliation.
Transparency International said the EU proposal was a bold step in recognizing the importance and rights of informants, provided the so-called mandatory internal reporting is deleted.
The Association of Chartered Certified Accountants (ACCA) said increasing whistle-blower protection will help businesses.
“Companies have to see speak-up as something that would help them manage risks and avoid more serious issues, such as violation of law, inappropriate conduct, crime or any type of harms,” ACCA Head of Corporate Governance Jo Iwasaki said.
Given these movements in Europe, it may be highly opportune to restart the dialogue with the Senate and the House regarding whistle-blower protection legislation; the bills are there to be acted upon—of course without the mandatory internal reporting.
Comments are welcome—contact me at Schumacher@eitsc.com.