RP 4th in anticorruption flunkers in SEA

THE Philippines ranks No. 4 in 10 countries in Southeast Asia that flunked in their campaigns to control corruption in government in 2010, an antigraft group said on Wednesday.

Leaders of the Center for Antigraft and Corruption Prevention Inc. (The Center) said the top No. 4 standing of the Philippines with a failed mark in war against corruption was appraised by the World Bank Institute and contained in its 2010 report to the Millennium Challenge Corp. (MCC), a US government agency created to reduce poverty in poor countries through sustainable economic growth.

Meanwhile, the Transparency International (TI) in Berlin, Germany, reported that the Philippines ranks No. 8 in 33 countries with high corruption perception index (CPI) in the Asia-Pacific region.

“It is also at No. 6 slot in Southeast Asia, and worst, it occupies the No. 41 spot in 180 countries throughout the world with highest CPI record as reflected in TI’s 2009 report,” Lane Afable, the Center secretary-general, said.

The Southeast Asian countries include Brunei, Burma, Cambodia, Indonesia, Laos, Malaysia, the Philippines, Singapore, Thailand and Vietnam.

Afable, said the Philippines only posted 26 percent score in anticorruption efforts, way, way below the passing grade, called median score, of 50 percent.

Afable said the top 5 that failed in their corruption efforts include 1) Burma, with 3 percent score; 2) Laos, 15 percent; 3) Cambodia, 21 percent; 4) the Philippines, 26 percent score, and 5) Indonesia at 41 percent.

The remaining five countries in the region, namely, Brunei, Malaysia, Singapore, Thailand and Vietnam, have all passed the anticorruption campaigns in 2010.

Other crucial data where the Philippines got corresponding failing marks in performance include: a) Rule of Law at 47 percent; b) Immunization Rates, 41 percent; c) Health Expenditure at worst score of 6 percent; d) Primary Education Expenses, 27 percent; e) Girl’s Primary Education Completion, 49 percent; and f) Business Start-Up, 34 percent.

The Philippine government posted passing marks in the following categories: a) Political Rights at 53 percent; b) Government Effectiveness, 79 percent; c) Voice and Accountability, 59 percent; d) Natural Resources Management, 84 percent; d) Regulatory Quality, 74 percent; e) Land Rights and Access, 58 percent; f) Trade Policy, 64 percent; g) Inflation, 48 percent (at 15 median); and h) Fiscal Policy, 56 percent. –Businessmirror