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Friday, December 07, 2007
Group: RP is most affected by bribery
MANILA -- The Philippines is among the top 10 countries in the world most affected by bribery in exchange for services, Transparency International (TI) reported on Thursday.
In its 2007 Global Corruption Report, TI ranked the Philippines with Albania, Cambodia, Cameroon, FYR Macedonia, Kosovo, Nigeria, Pakistan, Romania, and Senegal as the “countries most affected by petty bribery.”
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Under the 2007 Global Corruption Barometer, more than one in 10 of the 63,199 respondents from 60 countries had to pay a bribe in order to get service, most of them coming from low to middle income brackets.
The survey for the Philippines was done by the Asia Research Organization Inc. on July 17 to August 12.
In the Philippines, 32 percent of 1,000 respondents reported, paid a bribe.
Among the institutions, Filipinos considered the police as the most corrupt. It is followed by the legislature, political parties, tax authorities, legal system/judiciary, and business, the military and the permit and registry systems.
In a country where 85 percent of citizens are Catholics, Filipinos considered religious bodies as the least corrupt.
However, 79 percent of Filipino respondents said corruption would increase in three years, with only 19 percent believing that it would decline, and two percent saying it would stay the same.
About 64 percent said government efforts to fight corruption are ineffective while 35 percent said it is effective.
Worldwide, the police also topped the institution perceived as the most corrupt, with one in every four citizens reporting to have been asked a bribe by a policeman and one of six admitted having paid such a bribe.
Next to the police was the judiciary followed by registry and permit system, the education system, medical services, electricity providers, and the legal system.
Between 2006 and 2007, the proportion of citizens that reported paying bribes in exchange for a service remained at 12 percent. But there has been a marked increase in the Asia Pacific and South East Europe regions.
By institution, political parties are considered to be most corrupt, followed by the legislature, police, private sector, legal system or the judiciary, tax revenue, media, medical services, utilities, education system, registry and permit services, the military, religious bodies, and non-governmental organizations (NGOs).
About 54 percent of those polled believe that the level of corruption would increase in the next three years. Only 22 percent said it would decrease and 26 percent said it would stay the same.
Six of 10 people in the Asia Pacific region said corruption would worsen in the future.
Presidential Anti-Graft Commission chairperson Constancia de Guzman said government is not solely to blame for the perception of corruption because there are also many Filipinos who lack discipline and do not follow government procedures.
For example, de Guzman said many Filipinos would prefer to pay a bribe to shorten the procedure they have to go through to get a driver’s license.
However, she said the situation in the Philippines is not hopeless. (JMR/Sunnex)
For more Philippine news, visit Sun.Star Cagayan de Oro. (December 7, 2007 issue)
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