US state secretary lauds Pasig mayor
MANILA, Philippines — US Secretary of State Antony Blinken lauded Pasig City Mayor Vico Sotto for adopting a city program aimed at promoting anti-corruption and transparency.
During his visit to Jakarta on Tuesday, Blinken said Sotto put up a hotline that made awarding in public contracts more transparent and gave community-based organizations a say in the way the city spends its resources.
Only last February, the state department bestowed Sotto with an anti-corruption champions award.
In outlining US priorities in the Indo-Pacific region, Blinken said advancing an open and free Indo-Pacific not only involves defending the rules-based order in the region but also promoting “free places” that are open to criticism, to self-reflection, as well as to renewal.
