Rule of Law and Effectiveness Program (ROLE)

Under the USAID-funded Philippines Rule of Law Effectiveness (ROLE) project, MSI provided technical assistance to support Government of the Philippines anti-corruption, anti-money laundering and anti-trafficking initiatives.

The project supported Philippine efforts to make key courts more efficient and accountable, to improve the investigative and prosecutorial capabilities of anti-corruption agencies, and to strengthen the legal and regulatory regime to combat money laundering, intellectual piracy and trafficking in persons.

The project introduced an automated case management system to the Sandiganbayan, the Supreme Court, the Court of Appeals and the Court of Tax Appeals.

Assistance to the Sandiganbayan paved the way for the adoption of a continuous trial system in selected graft cases involving high-profile government officials.

The projects capacity building assistance to the Ombudsman helped to more than double the conviction rate in the Sandiganbayan.

The Anti-Money Laundering Council credited the ROLE project with removing the Philippines from the international list of non-cooperating countries.

ROLEs support to the Interagency Council Against Trafficking and its partner organizations contributed to the removal of the Philippines from the US State Departments Trafficking in Persons watch list in 2006.