As part of the commemoration of the National Day of the Fight Against Corruption, the General Command of the Military Forces, through the Directorate for the Implementation of Transparency and Ethics Standards, held the Conference Institutional Integrity and the Fight against Corruption, which took place in the Auditorium Bicentenary Battle of Ayacucho of the Rafael Reyes Prieto War College.
The event was chaired by the Minister of National Defense, Major General (r) Pedro Arnulfo Sánchez, and General Hugo Alejandro López Barreto, chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, who led this space for reflection and institutional strengthening before an audience made up of officers, non-commissioned officers and civilians of the Military Forces and different institutions of the National Government.
During his speech, the Minister of Defense firmly reiterated the sector's commitment to legality, highlighting that every act of corruption not only diverts resources of the State, but directly compromises national security.
"If the defense sector losses a cent, it is transferred to criminals, and that situation directly hits security,“ he said, emphasizing that ”we must send an absolutely clear message: zero tolerance for corruption."
The minister in the same way, called on all members of the Ministry of Defense and the Military Forces to maintain the legacy of transparency and good institutional Integrity, highlighting that these values should guide daily operation, even in the absence of supervision.
“The Military Forces is the institution with the highest favorability index in Colombia, which reflects consistency with the ethics and values they have taught us. But the threat will always be latent and we cannot led corruption to try to stain transparency and legitimate force," he said.
The conference, in the morning, was attended by leading panelists who addressed the fight against corruption from different perspectives. Among them, the Deputy Prosecutor for the Military Forces, María Paola Suárez Morales, who discussed how to strengthen the mechanisms of prevention, control and punishment of acts of corruption of the inspector's Office. For his part, Juan Francisco Amézquita, coordinator of the Legitimacy, Transparency and Integrity Group of the Ministry of Defense, spoke about the implementation of tools and systems to combat corruption and strengthen line 157 that works for whistleblower protection.
This conference is part of the activities scheduled by the Military Forces within the framework of the Institutional Integrity Week, which takes place from August 19 to 22, reaffirming the institution's commitment to national and international standards in the field of transparency and public ethics.
It should be recalled that the National Anti-Corruption Day was established by the National Government through Law 668 of 2001, with the aim of raising awareness among society about the effects of this problem and reinforcing the duty of all public servants to act with rectitude and responsibility.
With initiatives like this, the Military Forces reaffirm their unwavering commitment to staying at the forefront of institutional Integrity, backed by a military training focused on values, service to the homeland and the defense of legality.
Source: Press – Strategic Communications - general command of the military forces
