By Brian Jules Campued
The Philippines “slightly improved” its score by a notch higher as it got a 34/100 score in the 2023 Corruption Perceptions Index (CPI) of the organization Transparency International.
The country’s recent CPI score is one point higher than its score in the past two years, but still below the global average of 43 points, according to the Berlin-based social group.
“The CPI ranks 180 countries and territories around the globe by their perceived levels of public sector corruption, scoring on a scale of 0 (highly corrupt) to 100 (very clean),” Transparency International said in its website.
In the 2023 report, which gauged how corrupt a country’s public sector is perceived by experts and people from the business sector, the Philippines ranked 115th among 180 countries, up from 116th.
Executive Secretary Lucas Bersamin said in a statement on Friday that the government “takes note of the slight improvement” of the country’s standing and reiterated its commitment to provide efficient and transparent public service.
“In line with the President’s clarion call for the entire government “to show in deeds, not in words, that it is deserving of the people’s trust,” earnest efforts are already being undertaken to implement the digital transformation mandate of the Administration in order to streamline institutional processes and curtail opportunities for graft and corruption,” Bersamin added.
Since 2012, the country’s highest CPI score was 38 in 2014, while the lowest score was 33 both in 2021 and 2022.
The Philippines shared the same 2023 score with Indonesia, Ecuador, Malawi, Sri Lanka, and Turkey.
Meanwhile, Denmark scored the highest at 90, followed by Finland (87), New Zealand (85), Norway (84), and Singapore (83). Somalia got the lowest score of 11.
Transparency International noted that only 28 of the 180 nations in the index improved their corruption levels over the last 12 years, while the perception of corruption in 34 countries “significantly worsened”.
Transparency International chairperson François Valérian urged national leaders to fully invest in and guarantee the independence of institutions which uphold the law and fight corruption, reminding that only the people will suffer when justice is compromised.
“Corruption will continue to thrive until justice systems can punish wrongdoing and keep governments in check,” said Valérian. -avds
