EDITORIAL - 99th place

It’s surely no coincidence that the countries that were rated the cleanest in the latest Corruption Perceptions Index are among the most prosperous and progressive. Denmark ranked No. 1 followed by New Zealand. Sharing third place were Finland, Singapore, Sweden and Switzerland. Norway, the Netherlands, Canada and Luxembourg rounded out the 10 best.

At the bottom are some of the poorest countries as well as those that suffer from armed conflict and political and social repression. Rated the worst among 180 states and economies was Somalia. Next were Syria, South Sudan, Yemen, North Korea, Sudan, Guinea Bissau, Equatorial Guinea, Afghanistan and Libya.

The Philippines was rated 99th alongside Albania, Bahrain, Colombia, Tanzania and Thailand. Among members of the Association of Southeast Asian Nations, the Philippines ranked below Brunei (31st), Malaysia (61st) and Indonesia (89th) apart from the usual top achiever Singapore.

At least the Philippines ranked ahead of Vietnam (117th), Laos and Myanmar (132nd), with Cambodia getting the worst rating at 161st. It was a 12-notch improvement for the Philippines, from 111th place in the previous year. Even administration officials, however, stressed that much remains to be done in the fight against public sector corruption – a priority of President Duterte.

Transparency International, which draws up the corruption index, noted the improvement in the Philippines’ ranking, attributed to ongoing efforts to improve governance and deal with corrupt individuals. But TI also pointed out that the Philippines’ score was still below the regional average in the Asia-Pacific.

TI also cited the role of strong democratic institutions in ensuring the success of any campaign against corruption. This is where the weakness lies in anti-corruption efforts in the Philippines, and where more focus is needed. The campaign must not only succeed but also be sustained.