Completed in 2008 after a four-year period of performance, MSI’s USAID-funded ROLE project provided a broad range of assistance to improve Philippines’ judicial and public sector governance. Its partnership with government agencies and civil society dramatically improved the investigative and prosecutorial skills of anti-graft agencies and reduced the scope of and opportunities for corruption in high-risk offices. It also made the court more efficient and improved the enforcement of laws to combat money laundering, intellectual piracy and human trafficking.

The implementation of a continuous trial system is enabling the court to finish pilot cases much faster. These efforts are complemented by the introduction of an automated case management system, which ROLE helped develop for the Sandiganbayan, the anti-graft court. The project also assisted a number of executive agencies to develop and implement integrity development action plans. In recognition of its work in this area, MSI was asked by the Supreme Court to conduct a corruption vulnerability assessment of the judiciary and to recommend measures to improve institutional integrity of the court system. In addition, its partnership with civil society resulted in the publication of anti-corruption tools and manuals and its partnership with local educational institutions produced pioneering courses.

Major accomplishments of the project included:

• ROLE's assistance to the Ombudsman helped them to more than double its conviction rate in the anti-graft court (Sandiganbayan). Parallel assistance to the anti-graft court paved the way for the adoption of a continuous trial system in selected graft cases involving high government officials;
• ROLE introduced an automated case management system into the Sandiganbayan, the Supreme Court, the Court of Appeals and the Court of Tax Appeals;
• Assistance was provided to the regional trial courts of the autonomous Region of Muslim Mindanao (ARMM) in order to promote the use of, and increase access to, the formal justice system in the region;
• In the area of anti-money laundering, ROLE's assistance to the Anti-Money Laundering Council was credited by the agency for removal of the Philippines from the list of non-cooperating countries and its membership in the Egmont Group;
• ROLE produced resource materials on corruption prevention, investigation and prosecution. In partnership with civil society organizations, it published manuals on whistle-blowing and a toolkit for monitoring the construction of public school buildings; and
• ROLE provided the GRP with technical assistance to implement key anti-trafficking interventions including nine road show campaigns, training of officials on anti-trafficking, and in design of interventions at the airports.

After receiving an extension for excellent work, ROLE's period of performance ended in September 2008.

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