Politicians most corrupt

Govt fight against graft ‘ineffective’

THE level  of corruption in the Philippines worsened in the past three years as government’s action in the fight against corruption was “ineffective,” according to a Transparency International  (TI) survey.

TI is a global civil-society organization leading the fight against corruption.

In its Global Corruption Barometer 2010 released on Thursday marking International Anti-Corruption Day, the organization said that 69 percent of Filipinos believed that the level of corruption in the country increased over the past three years.

Only 6 percent said that corruption in the Philippines decreased and 25 percent said that it stayed the same.

In terms of the Aquino administration’s action in the fight against corruption, the TI survey showed that 48 percent of Filipinos believed it was “ineffective,” 28 percent, “effective,” and 24 percent, “neither.”

The survey said that the most corrupt in the country were political parties, 3.6 percent; police, 3.6 percent; parliament/legislature, 3.5 percent; public officials, 3.5 percent; judiciary, 3.1 percent; military, 2.9 percent; business/private sector, 2.9 percent; education system, 2.7 percent; and nongovernment agencies, 2.4 percent.

The least corrupt were media, 2 percent and religious bodies, 1.9 percent.

The 2010 Global Corruption Barometer surveyed more than 91,000 people in 86 countries and territories.

Focusing on petty bribery, perceptions of public institutions and views of whom people trust to combat corruption, it was carried out between June 1, 2010 and September 30, 2010.

Gallup International conducted the survey.

The 2010 Barometer also explored who people trust the most to fight corruption in their countries. In the Philippines, 1,000 were surveyed between June 21 and July 7 this year, representing a population of 65.37 million.

In other Southeast Asian countries such as Indonesia, 43 percent believed that the level of corruption in the last three years increased; Malaysia, 46 percent; Thailand, 29 percent; and Vietnam, 63 percent.

According to the TI survey, almost half of all respondents said that they paid bribes to avoid problems with the authorities and a quarter said that it was to speed up processes.

The police were named as the most frequent recipients of bribes, according to those surveyed, with 29 percent of those who had contact with the police reporting that they paid a bribe.

“Most worrying is the fact that bribes to the police have almost doubled since 2006, and more people report paying bribes to the judiciary and for registry and permit services than they did so five years ago,” TI said.

Huguette Labelle, the TI chairman, said that the message from the 2010 Barometer is that corruption is “insidious. It makes people lose faith. The good news is that people are ready to act.”

“It is heartening that so many people are ready to take a stand against corruption. This willingness must be mobilized,” she added.
Labelle said that better whistleblower protection and greater access to information are crucial.

“Public engagement in the fight against corruption will force those in authority to act, and will give people further courage to speak out and stand up for a cleaner, more transparent world,” she added.

Labelle said that corruption is a regressive tax.

“This injustice must be addressed. The marginalized and poor remain the most vulnerable to extortion. Governments should do more to identify corruption risks in basic services and to protect their citizens,” she added.

In its earlier 2010 Corruption Perception Index (CPI) Report, TI said that the Philippines was ranked 134th with a score of 2.4 among 178th countries, better than its 139th ranking in 2009.

In 2008, the country was ranked 141st with a score of 2.3.

Worldwide survey

Meanwhile, TI reported that on a global scale, one person in four paid a bribe during the past year.

In the past 12 months, one in four paid a bribe to one of nine institutions, such as health, education or tax authorities, according to the 2010 Global Corruption Barometer.

Worldwide, sub-Saharan Africa was the region reporting the greatest incidence of bribery with more than one person in two saying that they had made such payments to officials in the past 12 months.

The Middle East and North Africa were the next most corrupt regions with 36 percent of people there reporting having paid a bribe.

This compared to 32 percent in the former Soviet republics, 23 percent in South America, 19 percent in the Balkans and Turkey, 11 percent in the Asia-Pacific region, and 5 percent in the European Union and North America.

Countries topping the list for reported bribe payments over the year were Afghanistan, Cambodia, Cameroon, India, Iraq, Liberia, Nigeria, the Palestinian territories, Senegal, Sierre Leone and Uganda, where more than one person out of two said that they had handed out financial sweeteners to officials.

Lower-income earners reported paying more bribes than the better paid.

The study, the seventh on the matter by TI since 2003, this time involved a greater number of countries, including for the first time China, Bangladesh and the Palestinian territories.

The United Nations established International Anti-Corruption Day in 2003 to raise awareness on graft and promote the global fight against it. –Darwin G. Amojelar, Senior Reporter, Manila Times with report from AFP