MANILA, Philippines – The perception on the prevalence of corruption in government rose in the final year in office of former president Benigno Aquino III, the latest survey of the Social Weather Stations (SWS) and National Competitiveness Council (NCC) showed.
The 2016 Survey on Enterprises Corruption released yesterday revealed that Filipino businessmen who think there is “a lot” of corruption in the public sector increased to 63 percent this year from only 43 percent in 2012 and 56 percent in 2013—the only periods that such question was asked in the three surveys conducted under Aquino’s term.
The extent of corruption in the public sector as viewed by businessmen under the final year of the Aquino administration placed it at almost the same level as the last round the survey was conducted under the term of former presidents Joseph Estrada (63 percent in 2000) and Gloria Macapagal Arroyo (64 percent in 2009).
The survey, which polled more than 950 executives from small, medium, and large businesses, was conducted from Feb. 2 to May 6 this year.
“There was a great drop in the perception of corruption from 2009, the last round under Arroyo, and the first round under Aquino, it’s only 43. However, the following year it went up to 56. We don’t have data in the next two years but in this year’s data, it’s back to 63 so that’s a disappointment. There was a backsliding in the perception of businessmen,” SWS president Mahar Mangahas said.
When asked on when was the last time they had personal knowledge of a corrupt transaction between a company and the government, 21 percent of businessmen said last month, while 14 percent answered two to three months ago.
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Meanwhile, 13 percent of executives said “almost all” companies in their sector allot a percentage for bribes to win public sector contracts, while 29 percent answered “most.”
These results are higher than last year’s outcome of 11 percent for those who answered “almost all” and 28 percent who said “most.”
When it comes to government agencies’ sincerity in fighting corruption, meanwhile, only the Securities and Exchange Commission received a “very good” rating.
The Social Security System, Office of the President, and Department of Trade and Industry received a “good” rating this year, but it was a downgrade from last year’s “very good” ranking the agencies received.
Other agencies that got the “good” rating this year were Civil Service Commission, Department of Education, Supreme Court, and the Office of the Ombudsman.
The Bureau of Customs for the second straight year was the sole agency given a “very bad” net sincerity in fighting corruption.
