EDITORIAL - Corruption and development

The transparency ranking of the Philippines has improved – by two notches from the previous year, to 139th out of 180 economies. The 2009 Corruption Perceptions Index or CPI, compiled by Transparency International, is based on data from business leaders and country experts in 10 institutions including the World Bank, World Economic Forum and Economist Intelligence Unit.

With minor movements, the Philippine ranking in the CPI has been largely unchanged over the past years. This says a lot about the administration that rose to power on the wings of public outrage over a series of corruption scandals that rocked the government of Joseph Estrada. The Arroyo administration was supposed to be different, leading the charge against an entrenched culture of corruption. Instead corruption scandals have also hounded Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo, with the first anomalous deal alleged to have been sealed barely a week into her presidency in January 2001. 

Corruption is not unique to the Philippines. The difference is how countries deal with the problem. It is no coincidence that countries that have addressed the problem decisively are faring better in economic growth and many other human development indicators, as shown in other international studies.

The world’s cleanest countries are also among the most prosperous, ranking consistently high in surveys on quality of life: New Zealand, Denmark, Singapore, Sweden and Switzerland. At the bottom of the CPI are areas of conflict, burdened with weak governments: Iraq, Sudan, Burma, Afghanistan, and the bottom dweller, Somalia.

At 139th place, the Philippines has little to crow about. In this part of the world, the country ranks behind economic achievers Hong Kong (12th), Japan (17th), Taiwan (37th) and South Korea (39th). China fared better at 79th place, and so did Macau (43rd), Bhutan (49th) and Mongolia (120th).

In Southeast Asia, the Philippines was ahead only of Cambodia and Laos, which tied for 158th place, and the usual tail-ender Burma, which ranked 178th. Faring better than the Philippines in Southeast Asia, apart from Singapore, were Brunei (39th place), Malaysia (56th), Thailand (84th), Indonesia (111th) and even Vietnam (120th). Surely there’s a co-relation between corruption and economic development, but it’s a link that Philippine officials appear unable to see.