EDITORIAL - Worsening corruption

The Philippines has garnered its worst-ever ranking in the annual Corruption Perceptions Index, falling six spots to 120th place out of 182 countries and economies in the 2025 CPI.

Malacañang said the fall was “expected” amid the budgeting and public works anomalies that were uncovered as President Marcos launched a crackdown on corruption at the joint opening of the 20th Congress last year.

While the lower ranking may have been expected, it is no less dismaying to see that in East and Southeast Asia, the country is now ranked better than only Mongolia, Cambodia, Myanmar and North Korea in terms of perceived corruption.

Rated ahead of the Philippines within the region are perennial overachiever Singapore, who placed third overall in the CPI, followed by Hong Kong at 12th place, Japan (18th), Taiwan (24th), Brunei and South Korea (31st), Malaysia (54th), Timor-Leste (73rd), China (76th), Vietnam (81st), Indonesia and Laos (109th) and Thailand (116th).

The Philippines garnered a score of 32 out of 100 – a failing grade in academics, and the country’s worst since Transparency International, which produces the CPI, began using the 0-100 scale – from “highly corrupt” to “very clean” – in 2012. The 32 was below the regional average score of 45 and global average of 42.

Topping the CPI, for the eighth year in a row, was Denmark, followed by Finland. The rankings are based on data from 13 sources including the World Bank, the World Economic Forum, think tanks and private risk and consulting companies.

An adviser of Transparency International noted that in many Asia-Pacific countries, “good governance is being undermined by weak law enforcement, unaccountable leadership and opacity in political funding.”

Sadly, Filipinos know this only too well. Filipinos can also see that most of the countries and territories rated among the cleanest in the CPI are also among the most prosperous, ranking high in other economic and human development indicators.

But there’s always room for improvement in the rankings, which are based on perceptions not only on the scale of corruption in a state or territory but also on what is being done to address the problem.

Malacañang has maintained that President Marcos is not faltering on his avowed commitment to fight corruption and pursue transparency and accountability. He will have to show more convincing measures and actions in the coming weeks to dispel growing public doubts.