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Friday, July 07, 2006
Business gives less for bribes
By Carmel P. Geverola
CEBU CITY -- The business sector in Metro Cebu is getting less involved in corrupt transactions with government agencies and adhering more to honest practices, according to the 2006 SWS Survey of Enterprises on Corruption.
The same results were reported in Metro Manila, Cavite-Laguna-Batangas (Calaba), Davao and Cagayan de Oro-Iligan.
However, in terms of giving more funds to fight corruption, Metro Cebu dropped to two percent from five percent in 2005. The rest of the areas surveyed showed more or less the same figures, when asked if they were willing to contribute to cut government corruption by half.
Antonio Pineda, president of the Cebu Business Club, said in a forum Thursday that Cebu's businesses may already be active in getting rid of corruption or they think nothing is going to be done about it, so they are unwilling to spend more for anti-graft programs.
The Social Weather Stations (SWS) survey, which was released at the same time in Manila, Cebu, Davao and Cagayan de Oro through videoconferencing Thursday, serves as a guide in "understanding problems and setting policy direction and action," Pineda said.
100 firms
He mentioned the P1-billion funding that President Arroyo allocated for getting rid of graft and corruption in government and for going after those who are accused of bribery and fraud.
The study, under the Transparent Accountable Governance (TAG) project, was done from February 18 to April 27 this year, with 700 enterprises in Manila, Cebu, Davao, Calaba and Cagayan de Oro-Iligan.
In Cebu, 100 small-medium and large-scale businesses took part in the panel-type interview based on a 125-item questionnaire. Sixty-seven of the firms were also surveyed last year, while 33 joined only this year.
The survey also showed mostly unfavorable findings about the government, with huge drops in ratings of most agencies for sincerity in fighting corruption, compared with the 2005 results.
Local church leaders got the highest rating, which the survey classified as "very good" in terms of sincerity, followed by the Supreme Court and the Social Security System (SSS). Both the church leaders and SSS were included for the first time this year.
Rated "very bad" were the Bureau of Internal Revenue, the Commission on Elections, the Department of Public Highways and the Bureau of Customs (BOC).
'Unfair'
Port of Cebu District Collector Ma. Lourdes Mangaoang took exception to the results. She pointed out in the forum at the Cebu City Marriott Hotel yesterday that her agency has been sincere in fighting corruption.
The BOC Port of Cebu, she said, has cut down on red tape in import document requirements.
"It (survey) is unfair. I have been doing a lot of reforms. It (survey) might cost me my job," Mangaoang said.
Although the BOC was among those with "very bad sincerity," the survey in Metro Cebu showed a drop-from 24 to 23 percent-in terms of bribes asked for complying with import regulations.
Elberto Emphasis came to Mangaoang's defense. He said the district collector has won the support of business leaders and brokers in Cebu after she implemented reforms in the BOC.
Emphasis also said the survey must distinguish between perception of corruption and actual corruption. He pointed out that only large-scale businesses, which make up one-third of those surveyed, have direct transactions with the BOC.
Replaced?
In reaction, SWS project director Linda Luz Guerrero said, "This is not just Cebu. It is better to include agencies doing poorly to prod them to improve."
An hour after the forum ended about 3:30 p.m., Mangaoang got a call from a staff member of Customs Commissioner Napoleon Morales that she has been replaced by Ricardo Belmonte, brother of Quezon City Mayor and former congressman Sonny Belmonte.
But until she receives a written order, Mangaoang told Sun.Star Cebu last night that she will stay put.
"Since Day 1, a lot of people have been aspiring for my post. I will not lobby for myself," said Mangaoang, who assumed her Cebu assignment in May last year and who got a court order to stop her transfer last April.
Apart from the BOC, the Bureau of Internal Revenue (BIR) also a scored a "very bad" rating in terms of seriously addressing corruption.
But Asuncion Bernades, legal division chief of the BIR regional office, said that the Cebu office is "doing well" in terms of collecting taxes. In fact, she said, voluntary compliance among firms has increased.
More taxpayers
Firms that pay taxes honestly rose in Metro Cebu, from 14 percent last year to 20 percent this year. The improvement is also seen in companies that keep only one set of books and always issue or demand receipts.
Bribes solicited for paying income taxes dipped from 38 percent in 2004 to 24 percent this year, although it was 22 percent in 2005.
Bribes for local government permits also declined in Metro Cebu, from 33 percent in 2005 to 24 percent this year. Bribes for supplying government with goods and services also fell from 17 percent in 2005 to 13 percent this year.
However, reporting of bribe solicitation to authorities or to anti-corruption groups was low in all five areas surveyed, with two of every three managers who do not report saying it would be futile do so.
About half of those surveyed also said they are afraid of reprisal, it is standard practice or they cannot prove that bribes were solicited.
Roger Lim, director of Cebu Business Club, said in the same forum that the survey is a good starting point for coming up with practical solutions to problems hounding the government.
"We are looking for partnerships in the fight against corruption. The results are a powerful tool because it shows which areas have improved or deteriorated," said Lim, general manager of the Cebu Private Power Corp.
TAG surveys, which started in 2000 in Manila and expanded to Cebu and Davao in 2004 and to Calaba and Cagayan de Oro-Iligan last year, are funded by the Asia Foundation and the US Agency for International Development. (Sun.Star Cebu)
(July 7, 2006 issue)
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