MANILA, Philippines - The Philippines was rated “very weak” in terms of governance and corruption in the 2010 Global Integrity Report released yesterday.
The overall Philippine classification in 2010 was 57 or “very weak,” a downgrade from the 2008 overall score of 71 or “moderate.”
The country was rated “weak” (64) in the category “Anti-Corruption Legal Framework, Judicial Impartiality and Law Enforcement Professionalism” and the “Rule of Law.” This included the sub-categories “Anti-Corruption Law” (89 or strong); “Anti-Corruption Agency or Equivalent Mechanisms” (53 or very weak); “Judicial Independence, Fairness, and Citizen Access to Justice” (62 or weak); “Law Enforcement: Conflicts of Interest Safeguards and Professionalism” (52 or very weak).
The country scored 53 (very weak) in the category “Government conflicts of interest safeguard and checks and balances” (53 or very weak) but rated 71 or “moderate” on “Budget Process Oversight and Transparency.”
Based in Washington D.C., Global Integrity is a leading international non-profit organization that tracks governance and corruption trends around the world.
“While anti-corruption legislation is very strong, the anti-corruption agency does not have the ability to effectively deliver on its remit,” the group said.
The latest Global Integrity Report also showed that the Philippines is “very weak” in providing the public access to government information, scoring only 42 on a scale of 0 to 100.
The Philippines obtained a rating of 57 (very weak) in the category “Government Oversight and Controls.” It included the following subcategories: “National Ombudsman” (45 or very weak); “Supreme Audit Institution” (57 or very weak); “Taxes and Customs: Fairness and Capacity” (50 or very weak); “Oversight of State-Owned Enterprises” (78 or Moderate); and “Business Licensing and Regulation” (54 or very weak).
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