Transparency index: RP 139th

MANILA, Philippines – The Philippines ranked 139th among 180 countries in corruption watchdog Transparency International (TI)’s 2009 Corruption Perceptions Index (CPI) released yesterday.

The country’s ranking slightly improved from last year’s 141, with a score of 2.4 in CPI this year.

The index score relates to perceptions of the degree of corruption as seen by business people and country analysts. The score ranges from zero, which is highly corrupt, to 10, which is very clean.

Sharing the 139th rank with the Philippines in the new index are Pakistan, Belarus and Bangladesh.

The five countries seen as least corrupt are New Zealand, Denmark, Singapore, Sweden and Switzerland.

The bottom five – Somalia, Afghanistan, Myanmar, Sudan and Iraq – show that “countries which are perceived as the most corrupt are also those plagued by long-standing conflicts, which have torn apart their governance structure.”

The most corrupt nation on earth remained Somalia, the impoverished and war-torn Horn of Africa country that has been without a functioning government for two decades, notching up a score of 1.1 points.

TI said it is clear that no region of the world is immune to the perils of corruption as the world economy begins to register a tentative recovery and some nations continue to wrestle with ongoing conflict and insecurity.

“At a time when massive stimulus packages, fast-track disbursements of public funds and attempts to secure peace are being implemented around the world, it is essential to identify where corruption blocks good governance and accountability, in order to break its corrosive cycle,” said Huguette Labelle, chair of Transparency International.

TI said countries at the bottom of the index cannot be shut out from development efforts. Instead, what the index points to is the need to strengthen their institutions.

Investors and donors should be equally vigilant of their operations and as accountable for their own actions as they are in demanding transparency and accountability from beneficiary countries.

“Stemming corruption requires strong oversight by parliaments, a well-performing judiciary, independent and properly resourced audit and anti-corruption agencies, vigorous law enforcement, transparency in public budgets, revenue and aid flows, as well as space for independent media and a vibrant civil society,” said Labelle.

“The international community must find efficient ways to help war-torn countries to develop and sustain their own institutions.”

Overall results in the 2009 index are of great concern because corruption continues to lurk where opacity rules, where institutions still need strengthening and where governments have not implemented anti-corruption legal frameworks, TI said.

Even industrialized countries cannot be complacent: the supply of bribery and the facilitation of corruption often involve businesses based in their countries. Financial secrecy jurisdictions, linked to many countries that top the CPI, severely undermine efforts to tackle corruption and recover stolen assets.

“Corrupt money must not find safe haven. It is time to put an end to excuses,” Labelle said.

Globally and nationally, TI said institutions of oversight and legal frameworks that are actually enforced, coupled with smarter, more effective regulation, will ensure lower levels of corruption. – –Pia Lee-Brago (The Philippine Star) with AP