June 2, 2005 · Posted in: Governance, In the News
Perception survey on corruption
THE Social Weather Stations (SWS) yesterday released the results of its fifth Survey of Enterprises on Corruption, asking respondents to share their perceptions of, and experiences with, corruption in both public and private sectors. By most indications, as far as business executives are concerned, nothing much has changed: Corruption persists, and the sincerity of most government agencies in fighting corruption largely ranges from mere "moderate" to "mediocre."
Many of the findings of this survey hardly digress from those of earlier rounds done by the SWS also with the help of the Makati Business Club (MBC). Still at the bottom, as the most insincere in fighting corruption, are the Department of Public Works and Highways, the Bureau of Customs and the Bureau of Internal Revenue. (The BIR has been the subject of PCIJ reports, earlier in 2000 and again in 2003.)
The Office of the President was rated mediocre in its sincerity, slipping from a grade of moderate in the previous survey round. The only offices that had "very good" ratings, at the top of the heap in their sincerity to fight corruption, were the Securities and Exchange Commission and Philippine Stock Exchange. (The preceding survey listed the SEC, Supreme Court and Department of Health, the latter two now getting lower grades.)
It may thus seem that we are moving backward. Yet there are those who remain optimistic about the prospects for combating corruption and are taking steps beyond acknowledging that corruption exists. These include NGOs engaged in the monitoring of the procurement of, for example, medicines by the health department or books by the DepEd. Good governance practices can also exist at the level of local government units, involving bureaucrats themselves. Amid the grimness these initiatives continue to give us hope.
5 Responses to Perception survey on corruption
jojo
June 3rd, 2005 at 12:32 pm
A Social Weather Stations survey of May 14-23, 2005 finds 59 percent of Filipinos dissatisfied and only 26% satisfied with the performance of President Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo, giving her a net satisfaction rating of negative 33, which is a new record low for Presidents since 1986.
The SWS also said that a separate survey rating on the government’s performance in fighting corruption, cited by the Philippine Star in its headline item on June 2, 2005, was already published by SWS over two months ago, contrary to the paper’s claim of a scoop.
benign0
June 5th, 2005 at 8:54 pm
The reason why corruption is such a deep-rooted problem is that we consider it to be a root issue.
I beg to differ.
Corruption is a mere symptom of what ails Pinoy society. The real issue is our society’s lack of trust.
Trust is progressively eroded in a society afflicted by endemic corruption. When trust among a people is reduced, more control measures are applied. And as more control measures are applied, the more the atmosphere of mistrust thickens. More control measures mean slower processes and more human intervention in these processes breeding more opportunity for corruption. The grotesquely convoluted systems and procedures that paralyse our nation’s bureaucratic processes are a legacy of this runaway positive feedback loop — corruption breeding mistrust, mistrust breeding controls, controls breeding more corruption.
Corruption –> Reduced Trust –> Draconian bureaucratic controls –> More corruption
Simple equation.
For more views like this visit:
http://www.getrealphilippines.com
jay cynikho
June 30th, 2005 at 4:38 am
now is the time to gain Filipinos’ lost soul
let those who have no soul shake in their boots
let those who wallow in dirty money lose their dreams.
read on countrymen and save yourself, your
children and your friends. democracy is kind
to your kind, democracy is everybody’s
playground, it is the slot machine of gamblers.
democracy is the cathedral of zealots.
read on and let truth set you free.
From the daily tribune
A•N•A•L•Y•S•I•S
BY ALEJANDRO LICHAUCO
Extra-constitutional military junta — with Susan as chairman?
Thursday, 06 30, 2005
What’s what seems most likely to this writer, after hearing and watching Susan Roces unload her thoughts and feelings at Club Filipino yesterday (Wednesday) on the state of the nation even as she demanded the resignation of President Gloria Arroyo — “for having stolen the presidency not once but twice.”
She isn’t for snap elections at this time, because that would only repeat the dirt and the fraud that marred the last one. She isn’t for Noli, because he is part of the conspiracy against the people. She isn’t for people power, because after three people powers — Edsa I, II and III — nothing has changed and the people will still have to study what kind of leadership they really want.
Summing it up, Susan isn’t for the notion of constitutional succession nor is she for another people power.
What does she want then? Well, she won’t commit except to inform us that there are a number of plans brewing and being brewed.
The conclusion of this piece? She would want a junta of idealistic military officers take over temporary political command, clean house, ensure that future elections don’t turn out to be the fraud that the last turned out to be.
Above all, she would want to see such junta of idealistic junior officers consult extensively with the people in order to determine the true popular will.
What is important to her, as this piece reads it, is a process — repeat, a process — by which the true will of the people is determined and since that can’t be determined by elections, it will have to be determined by some other mode.
That spells, to repeat, the concept of a junta of enlightened and idealistic junior officers who will function as the temporary embodiment of the people’s will to see GMA out of Malacañang.
It won’t be, to be sure, an authoritarian military junta. It certainly won’t be a military dictatorship such as the junta of generals that now presides over Myanmar. It will be a junta inspired by the idealism of Oakwood which, far from being the instrument of the military, will function as the instrument of the people in search of what is best for the nation while holding the nation together.
What more can one ask for — except, of course, to as whether such junta has any chance of emerging.
But why not? It almost emerged at Oakwood. There’s no reason why it can’t emerge again, this time smelling the sweet smell of success.
What does this piece think?
This piece thinks, it is the only way out of the dirt and the mud of traditional politics in which this country has been mired since time can remember. It means a chance to breathe at least the air of hope and to escape the room of dark despair. It means, in a way, reviving the original spirit of Edsa I, except that this time around the people know or should know better.
As Susan Roces pointedly reminded, we have had three Edsas and nothing has happened. Which is one way of saying this time we should dispense with people power and take a gamble on the young and idealistic junior officers waiting in the wings. If such group exists.
But do they exist or are they mere fiction borne by wishful thinking of those who want to see change — a change from traditional politics and the governance of politicians and special interests.
Well, that’s the challenge — for those who would have us believe that such class of officers in the military do exist and that they are merely waiting in the wings.
If such faction emerges, it could effect arrest the members of Congress as well as the old foggies in the military and do so “in the name of the people,” install Susan as their honorary chairman, immediately announce plans to create a real congress of the people composed of representatives from various sectors of society and constitute a commission that would reconstruct the nation’s rickety elections laws that have made the last one a downright fraud, this writer could be tempted to bet his left arm that the scenario will capture the imagination of the people, and then the change can finally begin and this writer can finally stop writing.
jay cynikho
July 2nd, 2005 at 6:01 pm
here is the answer to
Alejandro Lichauco’s Analysis.
THIS IS THE WAY TO DO IT!
WITH MALICE TOWARDS NONE THIS FORMULA IS
OFFERED TO THE PCIJ READERS AND THE FILIPINO PEOPLE:
INTERIM GOVERNMENT COUNCIL OF THE REPUBLIC OF THE PHILIPPINES (IGCRP)
RATIONALE
Upon resignation or removal of Mrs. Gloria M. Arroyo, the people of the Republic of the Philippines shall request the UN Secretary General Kopi Anan through the UNDP resident representative to appoint immediately a UN Secretary General Representative
(SGR- R.P.) to the Philippines (just like in Timor Lorosae) to carry out the duty of organizing the Interim Government Council of the Republic of the Philippines (IGCRP) and the Interim Criminal Courts (ICCRP) to conduct the trial of violators of the election law and relevant laws during the 2004 elections.
The primary function of the (SGR-RP) thru the help of local UNDP staff and UN Volunteers from overseas shall be to help the various sectors of society select their representative to the Council (IGRCP) in terms of impartial policy and methodology, necessary administrative materials and administrative staff.
The Interim Government Council of the Republic of the Philippines (IGCRP) shall have a lifespan of one year unless extended by the UN Secretary General.
IGCRP’s primary function and responsibility shall be the preparation and conduct of a national election under UN supervision, nine (9) months after its formal creation and to issue interim policies to reform the bureaucracy. Its second important function is to organize an interim criminal court (ICC) to conduct trials of violators of the election law and if the IGCRP so decides to try those who have violated the Anti-graft Laws.
IGCRP shall effect the speedy reform of the Philippine bureaucracy by issuing policies governing resignation, compensation, and appointment to vacated positions.
IGCRP shall consider for decisions the possible resignation of the
FOLLOWING;
PC I J bloggers please recommend WHO ARE TO BE ASKED TO RESIGN, WHICH OFFICES SHOULD BE ABOLISHED BY THE COUNCIL.
ACTION
The Interim Government Council of the Republic of the Philippines (IGCRP) shall be composed of eleven members who are citizens only of the Philippines, who shall represent eleven sectors of the society and shall have been selected by the sectoral organizations and communities. A chairman/woman shall be elected by the eleven members from among themselves.
The UN SGRP shall determine the modus operandi of the Council.
The eleven members (11) shall come from the following:
1) representative of all political parties, preferably non-elected and not appointed to any office by former Presidents Ramos, Estrada, and Arroyo;
2) representative of all NGOs which have not received any funding from the government from the time of former President Ramos;
3) representative of all business organizations who have not accepted any government position from the time of Prseident Ramos;
4) Representative of all Students Regent, Student Council Presidents of private and public Universities and Colleges;
5) Representative of Labor Organizations who have not held any elective or appointive position in the government from time of President Ramos;
6) Representative of the religious sector from the Catholic, Protestant, Iglesia ni Kristo and other sects;
7) Representative of Women’s Organizations who have held any elective or appointive office in the government
8) Representative of University Presidents of public and private universities who have not obtained their appointment from time of President Ramos;
9) Representative of the Employers Association of the Philippines who have no accepted any government position from the time of President Ramos;
10) Representative of Overseas Filipino Workers (OFW) who have worked as OFW for at least 5 years;
11) Representative of Philippine Arts representing dance, music, theatre, cinema, literature.etc. who have not accepted any government position from the time of President Ramos.
SAFEGUARDS ON MEMBERS OF IGCRP
1) Members of IGCRP are not allowed to run for any elective office for at least two elections after the termination of IGCRP.
2) Members of IGCRP are prohibited from accepting any appointment in the government for at least five years from the termination of IGCRP.
3) As a reward for their patriotic service, IGCRP eleven members are automatically members or delegates to the constitutional convention IF CALLED BY by the elected officials in the first national election.
Something more follows:
SO MUCH HAS BEEN SAID BY BLOGGERS AND COMENTATORS ABOUT THE NEED FOR CHANGE.
BLOGGERS ARE NOW CHALLENGE TO OFFER THEIR OWN FORMULA.
SO MUCH HAS BEEN SAID ABOUT THE HOPELESSNESS OF THE PHILIPPINE SITUATION. THE SITUATIONS IN RWANDA, IN EAST TIMOR, IN DARFUR, IN AFGHANISTAN, IN RAQ, IN HAITI, ETC. WERE MUCH WORSE.
THIS IGCRP FORMULA IS ONLY THE FIRST SPERM FOR CHANGE, LET OTHERS PUT FORTH THEIR SPERM AND CONTEND TO FERTILIZE THAT ELUSIVE OVUM OF
HOPE FOR THE COUNTRY.
ASK YOUR QUESTIONS, IF YOU WANT TO KNOW MORE
ABOUT THE IGCRP FORMULA. IF YOU THINK THIS FORMULA IS A GOOD START, SPREAD IT AROUND.
DO YOU THINK FILIPINOS CAN DO IT? I KNOW UN WILL HELP US DO IT.
SO IF YOU THINK THE FORMULA IS OKAY, LET US ALL, repeat LET US ALL WRITE KOFI ANAN FOR HELP AND LET THE WHOLE WORLD KNOW ABOUT IT.
jay cynikho
July 2nd, 2005 at 8:10 pm
HEY GUYS, DID I SEE ANY CV OR BIODATA
BEING POSTED HERE. OKAY NO HARM DONE.
JUST CAVEAT EMPTOR. REMEMBER
QUALIFICATIONS MEANING EDUCATION,
TRAINING AND EXPERIENCE DO NOT
GUARANTEE GOOD PERFORMANCE,
NOR DOES CVs INDICATE ANYTHING
ABOUT HONESTY AND INTEGRITY.
READ THE CV OF GLORIA AND BE
SURPRISED.