High-level corruption in RP abounds – Freedom House

MANILA, Philippines – High-level corruption in the Philippines abound while cronyism and influence peddling are rife in business and government, according to a new country report of the Freedom House.

Freedom House, an independent non-governmental organization that supports the expansion of freedom in the world, has been monitoring political rights and civil liberties worldwide since 1972.

Freedom House said the high-level corruption scandals inhibited governance in 2008 and generated significant public opposition to the administration.

President Arroyo herself was implicated in a multi-million-dollar corruption scandal involving a national broadband contract with the Chinese company ZTE that had been approved by the Philippine and Chinese governments in April 2007.

The ZTE contract also entangled the President’s husband Jose Miguel Arroyo, former economic planning secretary Romulo Neri, former elections commissioner Abalos, and former House speaker Jose de Venecia Jr.

The report also cited the Fraport airport case that is a mix of corruption allegations and international arbitration cases and has now spanned three administrations.

Despite recent economic reforms, the report noted that a few dozen leading families continue to hold an outsized share of land, corporate wealth, and political power.

“Local ‘bosses’ often control their respective areas, limiting accountability and encouraging abuses of power,” the report said.

Freedom House said a culture of impunity, stemming in part from a case backlog in the judicial system, hampers the fight against corruption.

Cases take an average of six to seven years to be resolved in the Sandiganbayan, a government anti-corruption court.

The country’s official anti-corruption agencies – the Office of the Ombudsman and the Presidential Anti-Graft Commission – have mixed records. Many maintain that the former has been compromised under the current administration, as convictions have declined, while the PAGC lacks enforcement capabilities.

The Philippines ranked 141 out of 180 countries surveyed in Transparency International’s 2008 Corruption Perceptions Index.

The report said judicial independence has traditionally been strong, particularly with respect to the Supreme Court, but it remained vulnerable in 2008.

 “Rule of law in the country is generally weak. A backlog of more than 800,000 cases in the court system contributes to impunity, and low pay encourages rampant corruption,” the report said.

It added that the judiciary receives less than one percent of the national budget, and judges and lawyers often depend on local powers for basic resources and salaries, leading to compromised verdicts.

The report also said Muslim separatist conflict has caused severe hardship for many of the 15 million inhabitants of Mindanao and nearby islands and has resulted in more than 120,000 deaths since it erupted in 1972. Both government and rebel forces have committed summary killings and other human rights abuses.

The Philippines remains one of the most dangerous places in the world for journalists to work.

The Committee to Protect Journalists has counted a total of 34 journalists killed since 1992 (with a 91 percent impunity rate).

Freedom House ranked the Philippines as “partly free” for the state of freedom in the country. –Pia Lee-Brago, Philippine Star