RP among most corrupt countries - watchdog

Stamping out graft can save lives
By Thea AlbertoINQUIRER.net, Agence France-Presse

MANILA, Philippines -- The Philippines has been listed as being among the most corrupt countries in the world, according to the anti-corruption watchdog Transparency International (TI).

In its latest Corruption Perceptions Index, with zero being the most corrupt and 10 as being the cleanest, the Philippines had a score of 2.3, and was ranked 141st out of 180 countries surveyed.
The poll was based on perceptions of business people and country analysts, the watchdog said.
Somalia, the east African nation without a functioning government since 1991, is considered the most corrupt country with an index score of 1.0, followed by Myanmar (1.3); Iraq (1.3); Haiti (1.4); and Afghanistan (1.5).

Meanwhile, Denmark, Sweden, and New Zealand had a score of 9.3, followed by Singapore with 9.2. The score is based on perceptions of the degree of corruption as seen by business people and country analysts.

TI said stopping practices such as cronyism and embezzlement can save lives in poor countries.
"In the poorest countries, corruption levels can mean the difference between life and death, when money for hospitals or clean water is in play," TI said. "The continuing high levels of corruption and poverty plaguing many of the world's societies amount to an ongoing humanitarian disaster and cannot be tolerated," the non-governmental organization's head Huguette Labelle said.

Rampant corruption in low-income countries also jeopardizes the global fight against poverty and threatens to derail the UN Millennium Development Goals (MDGs), the report published in Berlin said.

This "calls for a more focused and coordinated approach by the global donor community to ensure development assistance is designed to strengthen institutions of governance and oversight in recipient countries, and that aid flows themselves are fortified against abuse and graft," TI said.

It estimates that unchecked levels of corruption would add $50 billion -- or nearly half of annual global aid outlays -- to the cost of achieving the MDGs on water and sanitation. The African Union has estimated that corruption costs the continent $148 billion annually, equal to the gross domestic product of Kenya, Tanzania and Cameroon combined, TI said. TI was also critical of some wealthy nations that registered significant drops in the global rankings, such as Britain, whose score fell to 7.7 points from 8.4 in 2007, and Norway, which dropped to 7.9 points from 8.7.

Britain fell to 16th in the rankings from 12th in 2007, and Norway slipped to 14th from ninth.
The continuing emergence of foreign bribery scandals indicates a broader failure by the world's wealthiest countries to live up to the promise of mutual accountability in the fight against corruption, TI said.

"This sort of double standard is unacceptable and disregards international legal standards," said Labelle. "Beyond its corrosive effects on the rule of law and public confidence, this lack of resolution undermines the credibility of the wealthiest nations in calling for greater action to fight corruption by low-income countries."

Substantial improvements in the rankings were recorded for Albania, Cyprus, Georgia, Mauritius, Nigeria, Oman, Qatar, South Korea, Tonga and Turkey. The United States saw its score inch up to 7.3 points from 7.2 points in 2007, putting it at joint 18th place with Japan, whose score fell from 7.5 a year ago.

China was on 3.6 points at 72nd, up from 3.5 points and just ahead of India, whose score dropped to 3.4 from 3.5 to put it in 85th position. Russia, in 147th place, also saw its score fall, from 2.3 points to 2.1 points. Germany's rose to 7.9 to 7.8, putting it in 14th position, while France's dropped to 6.9 from 7.3, making it 23rd.

Why I'm Running For President

It’s more than 40 years now that past Philippine presidents, senators, congressmen, governors, mayors, have been in Malacanan and other government offices, yet Filipinos are still poor, not being respected (specially overseas – just check how immigration officers in Hong Kong and China are treating ordinary Filipinas either working or just getting a tour in this country. You can hear sarcastic remarks or just simply raising their (immigration officers) eyebrows as if me nakakahawang sakit na nakadikit sa kanilang mga pasaporte dahil me marking “Pilipinas” ang mga ito. Pati pasaporte natin, hindi rin nirerespeto ng mga dayuhan. Kawawa talaga ang ating mga kababayan na lumalabas sa ating bansa. Hindi lang sa Hong Kong o China ito nangyayari. Pati na rin sa iba pang bansa na basang-basa na ang imahen ng Pilipino dahil sa corruption, mga krimen, at instability ng ating bayan. Dito sa Hong Kong, yung lola, anak ng lola, at ang kanyang apo ay tatlong henerasyon na ng mga katulong! Para bang wala na talagang pag-asang makaahon sa hirap an gating mga kababayan. Para bang ito na ang talagang future ng mga Pilipino, mga trabahador ng ibang bayan!

Last week, I got a chance to go around Metro Manila to donate my new book, Mga Bagong Bayani sa iba’t-ibang schools, colleges, universities, public libraries including the National Library in Manila. To my disbelief, I discovered the sorry state of our national library, the economic frustrations of its staff as well as the dilapidated facilities from its cranking 40-year old elevator (only one in the whole building at me oras lang ang pag-operate) to old books and shelves na naiwanan na ng panahon. Some rooms are too dark to visit kasi walang ilaw o kung meron man madilim pa rin. Nakita ko rin ang lungkot na nababahid sa mukha n gating mga librarians dahil professionally, they have been serving the government for more than 20 or 30 years, and yet sobrang pobre pa rin ang kanilang buhay. “Magkano lang naman kasi ang kinikita naming buwan-buwan as public librarians,” sabi ng isa sa mga nakausap ko. Samantalang sa baba ng building, dumaan si mayor na naka-Pajero.

Sa lobby ng building, me nakausap din akong isang prvate school teacher na galling pa sa probinsiya at dumaan lang sa national library. “Hay naku,” sabi pa niya. “Mas maganda pa ang aming library sa probinsiya kaysa rito!” Mukhang totoo ang sinabi ng teacher na ito dahil ng bumisita rin ako sa amng probinsiya sa Bicol para mamigay ng free copies ng aking libro sa mga schools doon, I found out na walang hamak pwedeng ikumpara ang library ng dati kong school sa Bicol kaysa sa ating national library. Samantalang an marami sa ating mga senador, congressmen, governors, mayors at iba pang opisyal ng gobyerno ay naka expedition at iba pang luxury cars na kung minsan ay dalawa-dalawa pa o tatlo! Magkano lang naman ang suweldo ng presidente o mga matataas na opisyal ng ating bansa? P60,000 lang a month on the average! Kung government cars nga ang mga ito, bakit walang nakalagay na “For Official Use Only” sa mga sasakyang ito?

From there, I finally realized the extent of corruption that has been going on in our country. For more than 40 years, our country has been plagued by this cancer and made a personal commitment and determination to not only minimize but eradicate corruption and give back to the Filipinos the dignity and sanctity of their career, their worth, and their self-respect by combating this cancer from the top down. Once again, the immortal Ninoy cry: "Tama na! Sobra na! Palitan na!" And this thing's gonna happen in 2010!