The Philippines slipped 10 notches lower in the latest global corruption index falling to 95th rank from 85th erasing significant improvements over the past three years, an anti-corruption watchdog reported.
The significant drop in the 2015 Transparency International’s Corruption Perceptions Index (CPI) dealt a big blow to the Aquino government’s anti-corruption efforts which saw marked improvements among 168 countries studied by the Germany-based watchdog in the past three years. In 2014, the Philippines ranked 85th, up from 94 in 2013, and 105 in 2012.
The 2015 CPI report also showed a corresponding decline in the Philippines’ score to 35 from last year’s 38.
The index tracks perceptions of public sector corruption in 168 nations and the watchdog says it’s calculated based on expert opinions. Each nation is assigned a score in which less corruption gets a higher number. This year’s survey puts Denmark on top as least corrupt and North Korea and Somalia as most corrupt.
QUESTIONS
However, Guillermo Luz, private sector co-chairman of the National Competitiveness Council, questioned the report citing several ties in scores and ranking. The Philippines has tied with three other countries (Mexico, Mali and Armenia) at 95th.
“You have to look at the data closely, there are many ties. If you add up all the ties, we are not supposed to be at 95th,” he said. “Even the scores have many ties. There were four ties at 35 and six countries at 36,” he said.
Luz further noted that the data were captured in 2014 and 2015 when normally a report should be done one year apart from the last study.
“In that period there were lots of investigations and scandals. Look at 2014-2015 what events occurred then so that will have an impact,” he said.
The past two years witnessed several investigations over corruption charges against prominent government officials, including the country’s Vice President Jejomar Binay. There was also the pork barrel scandal that led to the incarceration of three senators. There were also issues of the DAP (Disbursement Accelerated Program).
Luz also raised credibility issue over the report noting that the CPI is not actually a survey per se where there are raw data gathered. Rather the CPI is a survey of surveys. It incorporates other surveys that a country had been part of.
Luz, however, admitted that the recent CPI is a blow to the country’s efforts to be in the top third this year in the global competitiveness ranking.
“It is definitely a drag,” he added.
The Philippines is already up in eight international surveys but is still down on four including the CPI and the Ease of Doing Business.
Alfredo Yao, chairman of the Philippine Chamber of Commerce and Industry, said the top leaders like the Cabinet of President Aquino have unquestionable integrity.
He said there may be some corruption issues at the lower levels. The perception may be election-related also, Yao said.
MOST CORRUPT
In ASEAN, the Philippines and Malaysia were seen as becoming more corrupt than last year while all others remained the same.
Three Southeast Asian nations – Cambodia, Laos, and Myanmar – rank among the 30 most corrupt countries in the world, while one – Singapore – is among the 10 least corrupt, according to Transparency International’s annual survey.
LEAST CORRUPT
Denmark remained at the top of the closely watched global barometer for the second consecutive year as the country perceived as least corrupt. It scored 91 points out of a possible 100 while North Korea and Somalia remained at the bottom with unchanged scores of 8.
RANGE OF FACTORS
The index is based on expert opinions of public sector corruption, looking at a range of factors like whether governmental leaders are held to account or go unpunished for corruption, the perceived prevalence of bribery, and whether public institutions respond to citizens’ needs.
RISING SPOTS
The US rose one spot this year to 16th place with a score of 76, tying with Austria. The UK rose three spots to place 10th, with a score of 81 that tied it with Germany and Luxembourg. The other top spots, from second to ninth, were occupied by Finland, Sweden, New Zealand, Netherlands, Norway, Switzerland, Singapore, and Canada.
Despite so many countries in the top 10, Transparency said there was still a lot of room for improvement in Europe and Central Asia, which it grouped as one region, saying “in low-scorers Hungary, Poland and Turkey, politicians and their cronies are increasingly hijacking state institutions to shore up power.’’
This entry passed through the Full-Text RSS service – if this is your content and you’re reading it on someone else’s site, please read the FAQ at fivefilters.org/content-only/faq.php#publishers.
No comments:
Post a Comment