MANILA, Philippines – The Office of the Ombudsman claimed yesterday that corruption ranking of the Philippines according to the latest Washington-based Millennium Challenge Corp. (MCC) index is based on “mere perception.”
Assistant Ombudsman and spokesman Jose de Jesus Jr. said the agency believes that it is doing a good job at keeping an eye on government officials and prosecuting those who violate the Anti Graft and Corrupt Practices Act and other laws.
De Jesus was reacting on how the international community still sees the Philippines as a corrupt country following reports that the government might not get an additional $500 million worth of poverty reduction fund from the United States after Manila failed anew the MCC, which initially granted $21 million to the Philippines under the agency’s threshold program in 2007 to fund anti-corruption projects.
Foreign Affairs Secretary Alberto Romulo, however, blamed the country’s low rating on “technicalities in the evaluation” based on how the Philippines was designated from the low-income country (LIC) category in 2008 to the lower middle-income (LMIC) category in 2009 based on improved per capita income.
“On the CoC (Control of Corruption) indicator, the Philippines’ ranking has actually improved by six notches, from 39th to 33rd, above the 37th rank of the median country out of the 73 countries in the LIC list of the MCC,” Romulo said.
De Jesus told The STAR that no less than the Political and Economic Risk Consultancy (PERC) survey declared that corruption in the Philippines has gone down in 2009.
He said results of the study released last April showed that the Philippines is now in 7th place, an improvement from 9th place (with 10 being the worst).
The survey asked business managers who placed the country ahead of Indonesia, Thailand, Cambodia, India and Vietnam in efforts to stop corruption.
De Jesus said PERC reported that the problem of corruption in the Philippines is highly politicized with political mudslinging as a common occurrence.
“The extent of this political reality is enough for PERC to state that ‘the actual level of corruption in not as bad as it is often portrayed’ and ‘that corruption in the Philippines has to be discounted since many of the accusations either are grossly exaggerated or completely false’,” he explained. –Michael Punongbayan (The Philippine Star)
September 18 –
International Equal Pay Day
“Increase wages now,
more than other cost items.
For widespread, practical equality!”
Invoke Article 33 of the ILO Constitution
against the military junta in Myanmar
to carry out the recommendations of the 2021 ILO Commission of Inquiry
against serious violations of protocols of
Forced Labour and Freedom of Association.
Accept the National Unity Government (NUG)
of Myanmar. Reject Military!
#WearMask #WashHands
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October –
Monthly Observances:
Industry and Commerce Safety Month
National Statistics Month
Local Government Month
Consumer Welfare Month
Cooperative Month
National Quality and Productivity Improvement Month
National Health and Wellness Tourism Month
National Indigenous Peoples Month
Weekly Observances:
Week 1: Elderly Filipino Week
Week 2: National Health Education Week
Local Government Week
National Mental Health Week
October 17-23:
National Week for Overcoming Extreme Poverty
October 18 – 24:
United Nations Week
Last Week:
Nurses’ Week
Consumers’ Protection Week
Week of the 4th Sunday:
Barrio Farmers’ Week
Daily Observances:
First Monday (Oct 4): Universal Children’s Day i
n the Philippines
Oct 5: National Teachers’ Day
Oct 10: Local Government Day
Third Thursday (Oct 14): Conflict Resolution Day
Oct 21: Tenants’ Emancipation day
Oct 24: United Nations Day
Oct 29: National Indigenous People’s Thanksgiving Day
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