Johnalen Mae Alcantara

Gift Giving and Bribery

Bribery is a serious criminal offence, so you should immediately report to your

organisation anyone who attempts to give you something with the expectation that you
will give them favourable treatment in return. If you do not deal with offers of gifts and
benefits appropriately, you could face a loss of salary, fines, dismissal or jail time. It has
demonstrated that the involved set out to create false friendships and used gifts and
benefits to manipulate the someone is punishable.

If bribery spreads throughout a society, it will undoubtedly be corrupt and

doomed to destruction. Man undertook the trust that was offered to the heavens and the
earth but they refused to bear it. If the trust is lost, it results in the corruption of the
society and it becomes disordered and disunited. Nothing is wrong with gift giving unless
this kind of gesture has deeper meanings.

I have once work for the government and one of my superiors took a gift from her
clients. You can feel, even you are an outsider, that there is no hidden agenda. A client
wants to extend her appreciation on how she did well on her job. It is just a piece of food
for public servant who needs to be appreciated. But if you were a public official and I
came to your house for Christmas and bought a diamond necklace and Rolex watch along
with the wine and chocolates, it is clearly not a gift, it is likely to influence someone in
your position.
Ma. Angela G. Daguio

Gift Giving and Bribery

There is no doubt that the giving and accepting of gifts and hospitality has an
important role in facilitating business relationships and practice. A meal out with a
supplier can help build a relationship; a pen with your firms name on it can remind a
customer of you when they need a quote.

This is particularly true for employees of companies operating in countries where

gift giving is an important and instrumental in building professional relationships. Some
companies have not to implement a gift giving ban, but rather they have set out locally
determined limits for the value of gifts and hospitality that may be given or received.
At times however, the line between what constitutes a gift or hospitality and what
constitutes a bribe, can be unclear and the acceptance of gifts, services and hospitality can
leave an organisation vulnerable to accusations of unethical, or even unlawful conduct.
 There is a difference when gifts are just gifts with no intention and gifts that have
influence your decision making. If the business manager or the public official can
without a second thought to acknowledge and justify the giving and receiving of a gift
and its size and nature in a public forum without any impact on the company's work and
reputation then and only then is it a gift within the culture of the host country. It is on us
whether how we judge their gifts. It is choice to think that the gifts have a hidden
intention or agenda. But bribery of course is also a different issue.Maricel D. Malabanan

Gift Giving and Bribery

A person offers, promises or gives financial or other advantages to another person

with the intention of inducing that person to perform improperly a relevant activity, or to
reward them for such poor behaviour. It does not matter whether or not the person being
bribed is the one to carry out the task or whether the offer is made directly or via a third
party. This offence can also be committed where acceptance of an advantage itself
constitutes improper performance of an activity. Maximum penalty that may be imposed
on a guilty organisation is an unlimited fine. On the other hand, there is also loss in terms
of tarnished reputation.

Giving gifts or hospitality to certain persons, for example public officials, is often
construed as a facilitation payment and arouses suspicions. However, definitions of what
constitutes a public official can vary. In many countries, it can be difficult to tell the
difference between an employee in a state owned enterprise and a member of the
government who is also working within the state owned company.

There are forms of gift giving. If these gifts are the ones traditionally given during
festivals and are not meant to create an obligation on behalf of the public official to
provide some benefit in return at some point in time, then it is not a bribe. Bribery is a
serious offence which often relates to the offering and receiving of gifts or rewards in
monetary or non monetary terms.
Ma. Eva E. Portugal

Gift Giving and Bribery

Bribery can take various forms, sometimes these are obvious, for instance in the
form of a commission, a consulting fee or facilitating payment. When determining
whether a bribe is a gift or vice versa executives need to consider three major things - the
size, the nature and the motive behind the offering.

Employees need guidance on the companys protocol on giving or accepting gifts

or hospitality. This includes seeking approval from their line manager or someone more
senior, recording it in a gifts and hospitality register. Sometimes gifts of a high value
might be required be donated to charity or to the company. Gifts of high value can then
be auctioned at the end of the year to raise funds for charity, for example.

Guidance is usually found in a companys code of ethics or gift and hospitality

policy. This will outline the companys position on gifts and hospitality, what constitutes
gift giving and hospitality and set out good practice for employees. A gifts and hospitality
policy needs to be consistent with all other aspects of an organisations ethics programme
in encouraging high standards of honesty and integrity in decision-making and behaviour.

This will save both sides embarrassment and, potentially, your organisations reputation.
Kim Alyssa E. Vidal

Gift Giving and Bribery

Gift giving by business managers, and gift receiving by public officials is not
always condemned, nor is it considered unethical in many countries around the world, yet
there is a fine line dividing a gift from a bribe in business transactions and not all gift-
giving is bribery. If the objective of any of these acts is to seek a benefit, create a
relationship or generate an understanding which will benefit the giver privately then it is
a bribe, regardless of what it is called.

If you do not deal with offers of gifts and benefits appropriately, you could face a
loss of salary, fines, dismissal or jail time. It has demonstrated that the involved set out
to create false friendships and used gifts and benefits to manipulate the someone is
punishable. There should have regular assessment from both inside and outside the
organisation the nature depending to the extent of their exposure to bribery. Some
industries and some overseas markets are viewed as, being more susceptible to bribery
and hence risk assessments in these areas should be even more strict.

Organisations should perform due diligence procedures in respect of those who

perform services for the organisation or on its behalf, to offset the risk of bribery. Anti-
bribery policies and procedures should be rooted within the culture of organisation and
communicated with both internal and external staff. Policies and procedures with regard
to anti-bribery should be regularly monitored and reviewed. Amendments and
improvements must be made as deemed.