Corruption Rises Fast Under Arroyo, Int’l Watchdog Says

BY BULATLAT.COM

Amid charges implicating Philippine presidential husband Miguel Arroyo in a money-laundering web, the Philippines fell sharply to rank 92 from rank 77 in an index of 133 countries rated for corruption by the London-based Transparency International (TI).  This Corruption Perceptions Index (CPI) 2003 places the Philippines in the top quarter of the most corrupt countries, as analyzed by the top international experts on corruption.  The Philippines scored 2.5 on a scale of 1 to 10, just 1.2 points off the world’s most corrupt country, Bangladesh. 

The index reflects the perceptions of the business people, academics and risk analysts, both resident and non-resident.   The statistics are computed by a group led by Prof. Dr. Johann Graf Lambsdorff at Passau University in Germany. 

The ratings raise questions about the image-building efforts of the administration of Philippine President Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo, who has cited an alleged clamor by investors as the reason for backtracking on a decision announced in December 2002 not to run for president in 2004. In most surveys, foreign and local investors point to government corruption as among the chief business problems discouraging investment.

The same survey shows that corruption in both rich and poor countries is highly pervasive.  The 2003 index concludes that corruption is rampant in nine out of ten poor countries, as well as in the rich countries in the form of corporate bribery by transnational corporations (TNCs).  The findings complement that of TI’s Bribe Payers Index (BPI), which shows high levels of bribery in the third world by companies based in Russia, China, Taiwan, south Korea, Italy, Hongkong, Japan, U.S. and France.

For full details of the TI CPI  2003, visit http://www.transparency.org/cpi/index.html#cpi

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