U.S. President Joe Biden's top diplomat has recognized Pasig City Mayor Vico Sotto as among the State Department's partners in promoting transparency in government to the world.
Secretary of State Antony Blinken called Sotto one of Washington's "partners in government" as he outlined America's approach in helping maintain a "free and open" Indo-Pacific region.
"We’re finding partners in government, too, like Victor Sotto. He’s the mayor of the city of Pasig in the Philippines. Victor set up a 24/7 hotline for constituents to report cases of corruption," he said.
"It has made the awarding in public contracts more transparent, has given community-based organizations a say in the way the city spends its resources. He’s part of the State Department’s first group of Global Anti-corruption Champions that we announced earlier this year," he added.
Sotto and 11 others were named Global Anti-Corruption Champions last February, having "worked tirelessly, often in the face of adversity, to defend transparency, combat corruption, and ensure accountability in their own countries."
Blinken said in Jakarta that the U.S. sought to "deepen [its] treaty alliances" with Japan, the Republic of Korea, Australia, Thailand, and the Philippines.
He said Washington would make sure problems in this part of the world "will be dealt with openly, rules will be reached transparently and applied fairly, goods and ideas and people will flow freely across land, cyberspace, and the open seas".
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