Drop in corruption index
motivation for PH to improve: PCOO
By
Azer Parrocha
MANILA -- Communications Secretary Martin Andanar on
Tuesday said the Philippines' lower ranking in the Corruption Perceptions Index
(CPI) last year will serve as a motivation for the government to “improve” in
its efforts to curb corruption.
Andanar
made this comment after the Philippines fell by 14 notches in the 2019 CPI,
ranking 113th out of 180 countries from 99th in 2018.
The
Philippines got a score of 34 on a scale of zero to 100, where zero is
"highly corrupt" and 100 is "very clean".
“We
may have hit a roadblock on our anti-corruption drive, as the dealing with
these offenses become tougher and require bolder actions…However, we will use
this as a motivation for us to further improve the initiatives in our fight
against corruption,” Andanar said in a statement.
Andanar
also dismissed a Jan. 24 article published by American business magazine Forbes
which claims the Philippines is now “more corrupt” under the Duterte
administration as “malicious, poorly-researched, and distorted”.
He
further said the article was meant to discredit and undermine the efforts and
initiatives of the Duterte administration in curbing corruption.
The
Forbes’ article titled “The Philippines is getting a more corrupt and less
democratic state under President Rodrigo Duterte” cited the Philippine ranking
in the CPI.
It
claimed that corruption and political oppression in the Philippines stay
“intact,” supposedly preventing the country from “developing modern
infrastructure, attracting foreign capital, lowering unemployment, sustain(ing)
economic growth, and escap(ing) poverty.”
Contrary
to the report, Andanar said the Duterte administration has placed several
mechanisms and initiatives to curb corruption, including the creation of bodies
such as the Freedom of Information (FOI) Office, Anti-Red Tape Authority, and
Presidential Anti-Corruption Commission, among others.
He
said Duterte has also ordered investigations and suspensions of government
personnel linked to anomalous acts, and bureaucratic reshuffle and abolishment
if needed.
Citing
other rankings, Andanar said the Philippines has improved and placed 95th in
the World Bank 2020 Ease of Doing Business and 3rd in CEO World 2019 Countries
Best to Invest and Do Business.
He
also pointed out that the country achieved a 4.5 percent unemployment rate in
December 2019, the lowest on record since 2005 and lifted 5.9 million Filipinos
out of poverty, as it dropped to a 14-year low in October.
The
PCOO chief, meanwhile, reiterated that weeding out corruption remains one of
the Duterte administration’s utmost priorities since it is also the root cause
of the proliferation of illegal drugs and extreme poverty.
On
Sunday, Presidential Anti-Corruption Commission (PACC) chair Dante Jimenez also
belied the Forbes article saying that contrary to the report, the President’s
anti-corruption campaign has come to fruition.
Jimenez
also said that in just three years since Duterte assumed office in 2016, the
fight against corruption has become “very successful.”
Presidential
Spokesperson Salvador Panelo, for his part, admitted that there is a “struggle”
to fight corruption because due process made the firing of crooked officials
much more difficult.
Before
firing corrupt officials, Panelo said there had to be enough evidence before
charges are filed against them.
He
also belied critics’ allegations that the administration’s fight against
corruption is a failure. (PNA)
