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RP still among most corrupt in Asia-Pacific — TI

11/19/2009

The country’s ranking in Transparency International’s (TI) corruption perceptions index (CPI) improved by two notches this year to 139th from 141st last year out of 180 countries in the list but remains among the 10 perceived to be the most corrupt in Asia-Pacific.

The Philippines was given a score of 2.4 out of 10 in the annual corruption barometer.

TI also hit out at shady banking practices all over the world as it published its annual rankings naming and shaming the world’s most corrupt nations.

The group slammed developed countries that are otherwise relatively free from corruption for

allowing dirty money to be parked in their banking systems and said that no region in the world could claim to be corruption-free.

“Corrupt money must not find safe haven. It is time to put an end to excuses,” said the Berlin-based group’s head Huguette Labelle.

“Even industrialized countries cannot be complacent: the supply of bribery and the facilitation of corruption often involve businesses based in their countries,” the report said.

The Philippines landed in a tie for the 24th position with Bangladesh and Pakistan in Asia-Pacific CPI ranking.

Among the major economies of the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (Asean), the country was perceived to be the most corrupt with Singapore ranked the second to New Zealand, ranked the most clean in the region.

Brunei landed 7th with South Korea, Malaysia was in a tie with Samoa at 11th, Thailand landed in a tie with India at 14th, Indonesia was ranked 19th along with Kiribati and Solomon Islands, while Vietnam was 22nd.

Malacañang claimed the latest TI ranking was an improvement as Executive Secretary Eduardo Ermita said government agencies such as the Bureau of Customs, Philippine National Police, Bureau of Internal Revenue, among others, have shown improvements in their operating procedures.

Ermita also cited a Department of Foreign Affairs (DFA) statement that said at the Control of Corruption indicator of the US-based Millenium Challenge Corp. (MCC), the Philippines’ ranking has actually improved by six notches, from 39th to 33rd, above the 37th rank of the median country out of 73 countries in the list.

Comparing the results with last year’s MCC scorecard, the DFA pointed out that the country would have showed improved performances had it not been elevated to a higher income category. The failing marks, it stressed, resulted chiefly from the country’s transition from a low-income country (LIC) in 2008 to lower middle-income (LMIC) in 2009, based on its improved income per capita. He said higher income countries are measured using more stringent standards.

The improvement in the country’s income category is a clear reflection of the government’s sustained commitment to economic and governance reforms amidst the global financial crisis, the DFA added.

In the wake of the financial crisis, the Group of 20 (G20) industrialized countries turned up the heat on tax havens, targeting rich countries with long-held banking secrecy laws like Liechtenstein and Switzerland.

But Labelle said extra efforts were imperative, calling for more bilateral treaties on information exchange in order to “to fully end the secrecy regime.”

Stepping up efforts against corrupt money is all the more important given the billions being injected into economies around the world to bolster the global financial system, Transparency International added.

“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,” added Labelle.

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