Noy’s fight vs corruption marks modest progress

MANILA, Philippines – The anti-corruption campaign of President Aquino has led to the arrest of a string of top officials, including three senators, a former national police chief and even his predecessor.

But a few prominent people who have been indicted have evaded jail time and are in no danger of imminent conviction. Some experts doubt Aquino’s campaign has had wider impact and question his effectiveness in tackling the scourge that has plagued the Southeast Asian nation for generations.

Although corruption remains entrenched, Aquino has made progress by several measures, improving the country’s image among international investors.

The Philippines’ ranking in the World Economic Forum’s Global Competitiveness Report, which analyzes various factors, including corruption, rose to 47th out of 140 economies from 87th among 133 before Aquino took office in 2010. Corruption, previously the top problem, dropped to third behind an inefficient government bureaucracy and inadequate supply of infrastructure, it said.

In Transparency International’s Corruption Perception Index, a widely used yardstick, the Philippines rose to 85th out of 175 countries last year from 134th place out of 178 in 2010.

And corruption cases against “high ranking officials and their cohorts” jumped from 189 in 2009 to 961 in 2013, the most in 18 years, according to Ombudsman Conchita Carpio-Morales, who prosecutes state employees and officials involved in graft. More than 400 more cases were filed last year.

“This president has walked his talk,” said Peter Angelo Perfecto, executive director of the Makati Business Club, an influential group of millionaire CEOs that has championed good corporate governance and clamping down on corruption.

Others say Aquino’s efforts were spotty and that he failed to target many others, leading them to conclude he only went after his rivals.

Ramon Casiple, a prominent political analyst, said Aquino’s campaign “hardly made a dent” because it targeted mainly high-profile opponents and held back on members of his own party, friends and associates.

Casiple praised the arrest of former Senate President Juan Ponce Enrile. He was one of three senators arrested on plunder charges for allegedly receiving huge kickbacks in a scam to divert hundreds of millions of pesos from state anti-poverty and development funds.