Citizens’ Battle Against Corruption (CIBAC) is a nationwide party-list organization “dedicated to fighting graft, corruption and cronyism” in all levels of government. It represents the youth, women, overseas contract workers and the urban and rural poor. The group’s acronym is a play on letters for the vernacular word “sibak”, which means to chop off or to remove.
CIBAC has been approved by the COMELEC to run for Party List congressional seats in the May 2010 elections. Its nominees for the 2010 polls are Cinchona Cruz-Gonzales and Emmanuel Villanueva, who held the party-list's seats in the 14th Congress. The latter is the son of Presidential standard-bearer of the Bangon Pilipinas Movement Eddie Villanueva. The third nominee of the party is Armi Borje, a lawyer.
CIBAC can be reached at the congressional offices of its representatives in the Lower House.
PLATFORMS AND OBJECTIVES
CIBAC advocates transparency in government and seeks to expose and prosecute corrupt public officials. In reforming the government, it hopes to enable government agencies to regain misappropriated public funds to be able to function and provide the services they are supposed to give. In doing so, it hopes to reestablish public trust in good government.
ACHIEVEMENTS
CIBAC representatives have authored and co-authored several House Bills and Resolutions, including a Bill establishing the Bambang National High School in Bulacan. They also passed the Civil Aviation Authority Act of 2008, the University of the Philippines Charter of 2007, the Magna Carta for Women, and the Anti-Torture Act of 2008, as well as the Pre-Need Code of the Philippines and the Anti-Red Tape Bill, in accordance with CIBAC's focus on fighting corruption and pushing for transparency.
CIBAC representatives also authored anti-corruption bills which are still pending in Congress. Among them are the Anti-Corruption Whistleblowers and Witnesses Act of 2008 and the Freedom of Access to Information Bill, as