RP lags behind neighbors on governance – World Bank

MANILA, Philippines – The Philippines lags behind its regional neighbors in terms of good governance and anti-corruption efforts, a World Bank (WB) report said.

In its Worldwide Governance Indicators (WGI) for 1996-2008, the WB said the Philippines has made progress in fighting corruption, upholding the rule of law, and keeping political stability, but its scores are still behind the regional averages.

The Philippines’ score in anti-corruption efforts improved to 26.1 percent last year from 22.2 percent in 2007, which was below the 45.1 percent average for the region, the WB report showed.

In terms of upholding the rule of law, the country’s score was 39.7 percent last year, an improvement from the 33.8 percent in 2007 but still below the regional average of 52.9 percent.

In terms of keeping political stability, the Philippines scored 10.5 percent last year from 10.1 percent in 2007 vis-à-vis the regional average of 59.4 percent.

With regard to the soundness of its regulatory policies, the Philippines scored 51.7 percent last year, which was above the regional average of 42.1 percent. Its score the previous year was 50.5 percent.

On the other hand, the country’s scores for “government effectiveness” and “voice accountability” fell last year to 55 percent and 41.3 percent respectively, from the previous year’s 56.4 percent and 43.3 percent.

The scores are a summary of per-country rankings provided by think tanks, research firms and survey institutes around the globe.

The WB said that the WGI highlights the serious challenges that remain for rich and poor countries alike, and draws attention to the well-established link between better governance and improved development results.

“The good news is that some countries are recognizing and responding to governance challenges, and are showing strong improvements that reflect concerted efforts by political leaders, policymakers, civil society, and the private sector,” said Aart Kraay, co-author of the report and lead economist in the Development Research Group of the World Bank.

The WGI is a research project initiated in the late 1990s.–Iris Gonzales, Philippine Star