Many Filipinos already accept the fact that our country is corrupt. To us, it’s already common knowledge and according to one survey, Philippines is ranked number one as the most corrupt country in Asia. According to the survey, Singapore was ranked as the least corrupt country in Asia. Japan and Hong Kong held the same ranking next to Singapore. This survey was conducted by the Political and Risk Consultancy that is based in Hong Kong on January and February of the year 2007. The people who took this survey are the 1,476 expatriate executives from different countries in Asia. In a scale of zero to ten, with zero being the least corrupt, they rated each country in Asia. The Pshilippines got a whopping 9.40!

An expatriate executive who also answered the survey stated that: “The Philippines has the distinction of being perceived in the worst light this year," the survey stated. "People are just growing tired of the inaction and insincerity of leading officials when they promise to fight corruption.” It is said that in the year of 2006, Indonesia was the one that was ranked as the most corrupt country in Asia with the Philippines being second. The Philippines score in the survey that was conducted in the year of 2006 was 7.80. The score of Indonesia improved in the year of 2007. Their score was 8.03, making the Philippines as the most corrupt country in Asia. Some say that Indonesia was able to improve their score because of their anti-corruption campaigns. A person who took the survey stated that Thailand, Indonesia, and the Philippines really has a close “fight” as becoming the top corrupt country. Another stated that: "The Philippines has been getting the least amount of foreign direct investment, and the level of foreign capital flowing to its stock market is also less than in either Indonesia or Thailand."

Some of the questions in the survey are: "How effective is the judicial system at prosecuting and punishing individuals for corruption when abuses are uncovered?", and "To what extent is corruption a deterrent to your willingness to invest and expand your business?" For the first question, respondents answered a score of 9.06 for the country of the Philippines with the number ten being the most ineffective. Take note that ex-President Gloria Macapagal Arroyo was our president on that year. Gloria Macapagal Arroyo even said that their projects or camapaigns against corruption are effective. Gloria Macapagal Arroyo even hired a Hong Kong national who was famous for being an anti-corruption crusader in Hong Kong to be an adviser in the year of 2005. For the later question, the Philippines got a score of 8.5, with ten being very preventive. It is evident that graft and bribery in the Philippines are abundant. Local corruption monitors can even confirm it. Even we can with our experiences with them. Corruption is already present in every level of our government, from Bureau of Customs down to the police officers who are lurking in the streets who demand bribes from law offenders. And lastly, According to the United Nations Development Program, thirteen percent of the Philippine’s annual budget is lost because of corruption every year.

Do you think the Aquino Administration will be able to keep his promise to eliminate political corruption here in the Philippines? What has he done so far? Did we vote for the right person to LEAD our country?

Source:http://www.nytimes.com/2007/03/13/business/worldbusiness/13iht-peso.4891792.html