Tuesday, October 29, 2013

The Philippines is Dysfunctional



Comment from a reader on Who Are You Kidding? Bugle, lets just review some basic necessities that well functioning, responsible or developed economies typically provide for their citizens: Water that will not kill you or make you seriously ill if you drink it. Electricity that is reliable and reasonably affordable, not 10 times more expensive than California. I have compared my electric bills and that's a fact! Food or rice, being the main Filipino staple, that is actually clean and edible without stones from the national highways that they are dried on. Public schools that are truly free for all students, with adequate textbooks and proper class size. Adequate, affordable clothing for all, not used, donated clothing from other countries that have actually been obtained from international relief agencies and illegally sold to anyone at relatively expensive prices. Ever heard of ukay-ukay? Corrupt free government, business and society. The Philippines is still one of the most corrupt countries in the world. 

From the Bugle: Yawn. Yes plenty of problems, but it is improving, fastest growing economy in Asia, decreasing corruption, blah blah blah. Are you as tired as we are of having this same repetitive conversation? If you don't like it here, go home. 

Philippines Improves Ranking in Latest Transparency International Corruption Index





Philippine Embassy, Oslo, Norway
The Philippines improved its ranking by 24 points in this year’s Transparency International Corruption Perceptions Index (CPI), ranking 105th out of 174 countries measured in the CPI compared to last year’s 129th ranking.
The latest ranking also boosted the Philippines’ position among its Southeast Asian neighbors, moving two (2) points up to 5th place out of the 10 Southeast Asian countries from last year’s 7th place ranking, overtaking Indonesia and Vietnam.
Transparency International cited the following reasons for the improvement in the Philippines’ ranking this year and the change in public perception: the impeachment trials, the declaration of Sworn Assets, Liabilities and Networth (SALN) by all government workers, the transparent process of the Chief Justice replacement, the first year of the new Ombudsman, and the general openness of the Administration in the quest for a transparent government.
The National Competitiveness Council of the Philippines (NCC) also cites the strides made in areas of procurement and reform as well as budget transparency as contributors to the positive change in public perception in the government’s fight against corruption.
Guillermo Luz, Co-chairman of NCC said, “We have long felt that greater transparency will lead to greater trust in the government and economy by the business community.” With respect to improvements in the areas of government procurement, he further adds that there has been “an increase in the number of prospective bidders, many of them first-time bidders, in public works contracts and public-private partnership projects.” Mr. Luz said that the bidding of public works contracts and the improved pace of government spending, coupled with the absence of corruption scandals are positive indicators that reforms are gaining traction and are having a positive impact on the Philippines’ economic growth.
He also cites the improvement in transparency with respect to the government budget pointing out how data was made easily available on the DBM’s and Budget ng Bayan websites. “This year will mark the third consecutive year that a budget will be passed on time and not re-elected in the following year,” Mr. Luz said. Re-enacted budgets, are known to create opportunities for corruption.
The latest CPO ranking demonstrates the current Administration’s serious drive for more transparency and curbing of corruption in all fronts of the bureaucracy. And while the Philippines is still below the median or halfway mark in the global list, the administration is continuing its anti-corruption focus and also hopes to reduce red tape in government.
About 70% of the world’s economies scored below 50 on the 100-point scale, illustrating that corruption is a global problem.
The 2012 Corruption Perceptions Index is an annual survey of Transparency International, a global civil society organization that advocates good governance and fights corruption. The 2012 Index used an updated methodology covering 176 countries. This updated methodology does not enable direct comparisons with prior year’s scores and ranks. The CPI 2012 ranked Denmark, Finland, and New Zealand as least corrupt while Afghanistan, North Korea and Somalia were listed as the perceived most corrupt countries in the world.


2 comments:

  1. Go Home, Bigot, Racist... lots of Bugle "kanto boy" talk. Think about this... Just 50 years ago, the Philippine economy was ranked number 2 in Asia. Bugle says it's improving!!! Since when, 2 minutes ago? A couple years? You can manipulate statistics to say whatever you want. But, the average Filipino will tell you things are worse. Taxes are sky high with nothing to show for it, except more and more corruption. Inflation keeps going up... Yeah, it's getting old. Especially because the kanto boys with all the talk, have done nothing to make it better. Put down your pool stick and darts. Open your eyes and look around... Doing something is obviously beyond your capability.

    ReplyDelete
  2. Go home? Save us! Which one is it? Hypocrites!

    ReplyDelete

All comments are posted anonymously. We don't care who you are, we just care about what you have to say. But let's keep it civil. No slander. Talk about issues, not individuals. No racism. Cool it on the profanity. Like Sinatra said, "You don't need to work blue. You'll never play the big houses with that crap."