TI puts RP as among Asia’s most corrupt

The country retained its rank as among Asia’s most corrupt even as it slightly improved in its ranking this year in Transparency International (TI)’s yearly global corruption survey which placed the Philippines 134th out of 178 countries ranked.

The rating of the country improved from 139th last year but among its Asian peers it remained dismally at the tail-end as most countries in the region improved remarkably in the ranking.

The Philippines lagged behind most of its neigboring countries in Southeast Asian countries such as Malaysia, 56th; Thailand, 78th; Indonesia, 110th; and Vietnam, 116th, making the Philippines the most corrupt in this region.

In its 2010 Corruption Perception Index (CPI), TI said the Philippines was ranked 134th with a score of 2.4, better than its 139th ranking in 2009. In 2008, the Philippines was ranked 141st with a score of 2.3.

Only Cambodia and Myanmar were below the Philip-pines in the transparency list.

The Philippines is still consi-dered in the survey as “highly corrupt” and at the same level as that of Kenya, Laos, Papua New Guinea, Russia, Republic of Congo, Uganda, Timor Leste, Lebanon, Solomon Islands, Mali, Mongolia, Niger, Libya, Iran, Nepal, Yemen, Cambodia, Venezuela, Honduras, Syria, Nicaragua, Bolivia, Benin, Gabon, Indonesia, Kosovo, Kazakhatan, Modova, among others.

Nearly three-quarters of the 178 countries in the annual survey scored on the sleazier end of the scale, which ranges from zero (perceived to be highly corrupt) to 10 (thought to have little corruption).

“The results indicate a serious corruption problem,” the Berlin-based non-government organization said.

“Allowing corruption to continue is unacceptable; too many poor and vulnerable people continue to suffer its consequences around the world,” said TI’s president Huguette Labelle in a statement.

“There should be nowhere to hide for the corrupt or their money,” she added.

The head of the group’s German section, Edda Mueller, said the overall international situation was “very worrying.”

She added the percentage of countries below average was “a very bad signal for attempts to solve global problems.”

Iraq was fourth from top of the most corrupt ranking, Myanmar shared second place with Afghanistan and lawless Somalia was considered the world’s most corrupt country, with a score of 1.1.

“There are clear indications that the more unstable a country is, the higher the level of corruption,” Mueller said.

Denmark, New Zealand and Singapore tied in the ranking as the most transparent countries with a score of 9.3 each out of a perfect 10.

The 2010 CPI measures the degree to which public sector corruption is perceived to exist in 178 countries around the world. It scores countries on a scale from 10 (very clean) to 0 (highly corrupt).

The 2010 results were drawn from 13 surveys and assessments published between January 2009 and September 2010.

This year’s index ranks 178 countries by their perceived levels of public sector corruption, as determined by expert assessments and opinion surveys. All sources measure the overall extent of corruption (frequency and/or size of bribes) in the public and political sectors.

The CPI helps to highlight the propensity of domestic corruption and its damaging influence.

TI defines corruption as the abuse of entrusted power for private gain.

“These results signal that significantly greater efforts must go into strengthening governance across the globe. With the livelihoods of so many at stake, governments’ commitments to anti-corruption, transparency and accountability must speak through their actions. Good governance is an essential part of the solution to the global policy challenges governments face today,” TI chairman Huguette Labelle said.

Labelle said allowing corruption to continue was unacceptable; too many poor and vulnerable people continued to suffer its consequences around the world.

“We need to see more enforcement of existing rules and laws. There should be nowhere to hide for the corrupt or their money,” Labelle said.

To fully address these challenges, TI said governments need to integrate anti-corruption measures in all spheres, from the responses to the financial crisis and climate change to commitments by the international community to eradicate poverty.

The report said unstable governments, often with a legacy of conflict, continued to dominate the bottom rungs of the CPI.

Afghanistan and Myanmar share second to last place with a score of 1.4, with Somalia coming in last with a score of 1.1.

“The results of this year’s CPI show again that corruption is a global problem that must be addressed in global policy reforms,” Labelle said.

TI said the 2010 CPI covered two countries fewer than last year’s edition.

The slight change resulted from individual sources adjusting the range of countries they assess. These adjustments in coverage made it possible to include Kosovo for the first time, but led to the exclusion of Saint Lucia, Saint Vincent and the Grenadines, and Suriname, for which only two sources of information were available this year.

Mueller stressed the need for the international community to put credible governing structures in place in so-called “failed states.”

“That is at least as important as billions in development aid,” she said.

At the other end of the scale, Denmark, New Zealand and Singapore were seen as the nations least blighted by corruption, scoring 9.3 points.

They were followed by Finland, Sweden, Canada and the Netherlands.

Certain countries were singled out for an improvement in their fight against graft, notably Chile, Ecuador, Macedonia, Kuwait and Qatar.

Mueller said that the performance of these countries should serve as hope and inspiration for countries such as Afghanistan and Iraq.

“There is still hope. We put in some countries that have improved their score precisely to show that there is the chance to improve and that it is possible.”

Criticized for going the other way, however, were the United States, the Czech Republic, Greece, Hungary, Italy, Madagascar and Niger.

The United States was 22nd on the list, while Greece and Italy came in at 78th and 67th respectively. China was level with Greece.

The ranking is compiled from “a combination of polls, drawing on corruption-related data from expert and business surveys carried out by a variety of independent and reputable institutions,” the NGO said.

TI said corruption was hampering efforts to combat “the world’s most pressing problems” such as the financial crisis and climate change.

The watchdog also noted that of the 36 countries that have signed the OECD’s anti-bribery convention forbidding greasing the palms of foreign officials, “as many as 20 show little or no enforcement of the rules.”

This sends “the wrong signal about their commitment to curb corrupt practices,” TI said. –Daily Tribune