Do firms fight corruption?

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By Mia A. Aznar

Saturday, November 3, 2012

WHILE the business community has long asked the government to rid itself of corruption, a recent anti-corruption survey among business owners showed majority of them have done little to curb corruption on their end.

The Social Weather Stations’ (SWS) enterprise survey on corruption for 2012 found that 57 percent of respondents spent nothing in the last two years to combat fraud and corruption in their companies.

Seventy-six percent spent nothing to contribute to any private anti-corruption program in the last two years.

Although they found 67 percent of enterprises willing to contribute to fund a program that would halve public sector corruption in 10 years, those willing to contribute are only willing to shell out five percent, at most, of their net income.

‘A little corruption’

Results of the enterprise survey on corruption were presented by SWS president Mahar Mangahas in a recent road show by the National Competitiveness Council.

The results show that 67 percent disagree that they cannot do anything to reduce corruption in the government. Fifty-two percent expect a positive change in net income if corruption is reduced to that of Singapore.

Most in the business sector said they believe there is “a little” corruption in the private sector, with just 11 percent thinking there is a lot. But when the SWS asked the general public, 38 percent felt there is a lot of corruption in the private sector as well.

In the survey, the SWS listed seven areas where government personnel probably solicit for bribes.

These are in getting local government permits and licenses; assessment and payment of income taxes; getting national permits and licenses; complying with import regulations and payment of import duties; supplying government with goods or services; collecting receivables from government; and availing of government incentives.

Fifty percent said they were solicited for at least one of the seven bribes; at least 31 percent claimed they were solicited for a bribe in getting local government permits and licenses. Twenty-seven percent said they were solicited during assessment or payment of taxes, while 19 percent were approached in getting national government permits or licenses.

In Metro Cebu, 56 percent claimed to have been solicited for any of the seven bribes; 32 percent of them said this happened while they were getting local government permits and licenses. Twenty-six percent said they were solicited for bribes in getting assessments or in paying taxes.

About 20 percent received solicitations while getting permits and licenses from the national government; 28 percent in complying with import regulations and duties; 18 percent in supplying the government with goods or services; 11 percent in collecting receivables from government; and eight percent in availing themselves of government incentives.

‘Nothing would be done’

Despite these cases, 95 percent of the Cebuano respondents did not report the bribe solicitation, close to the 91 percent national figure.

Majority of those who did not report the bribe reasoned that nothing could be done anyway if they reported it.

Thirty-nine percent said they could not prove it happened while 34 percent feared reprisal if they dared to report anything. Twenty-six percent said it was too small a problem to bother reporting it, and 25 percent did not know how or to whom they should report the bribe solicitation.

Twenty-one percent claimed it was standard practice not to report, while 21 percent felt they would spend too much if they did. Thirteen percent said they did not want to betray anyone while eight percent said they would be embarrassed if they reported it.

It is the area of procurement that they consider the most vulnerable to corruption, while human resource management is the least. Sectors considered most vulnerable to corruption include construction, mining and quarrying, and government services.

Sought for comment on the results, Cebu Chamber of Commerce and Industry president Prudencio Gesta said these should be taken positively because it means there is more room to improve in both the public and private sectors.

SWS surveyed 826 persons nationwide from July 16 to Sept. 7 for this round of the survey and reported an error margin of plus-minus three percent.

The group surveyed 100 in Metro Cebu, where the error margin was pegged at 10 percent.

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SWS: Corruption In LGUs Rising

By ELLALYN B. DE VERA

MANILA, Philippines --- More Filipinos believe that corruption in local government units (LGUs) is more widespread now than in the past year, based on the latest Social Weather Stations (SWS) survey results.

The nationwide 2012 Good Local Governance Survey, conducted among 1,500 household heads from Aug. 20 to 28, found that 56 percent of Filipinos still consider the level of corruption now in the city/municipality government as similar to the level a year ago, 33 percent said it is more widespread now, and 23 percent said it is more widespread last year.

The SWS noted that those who see “a lot” of corruption in the city/municipal government hardly changed from 25 percent this year to 22 percent last year.

As compared to last year, the same offices where corruption is considered most widespread occupy the top three positions, namely, the Budget Office (from 40 percent to 48 percent), Mayor’s Office (from 30 percent to 32 percent), and the Engineer’s Office (from 20 percent to 30 percent).

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The SWS also listed the top 11 offices where corruption happens. These are the Treasurer’s Office (27 percent, up from 5th to 6th), Business Permit and Licensing Office (24 percent, stayed at 5th place), Transport and Traffic Management Office (19 percent, up from 7th place), Accountant Office (18 percent, up from 9th place), and Public Market Office (16 percent, up from 12th rank), Barangay Affairs and Public Assistance Center (13 percent, down from 4th place), Assessors Office (13 percent, up from 13th to 14th place), and Agriculture Office (13 percent, down from 8th place).

Over the past three years, Filipinos’ awareness of any anti-corruption effort of the city/municipal government has grown from 26 percent to 35 percent.

The survey also found 73 percent of household heads satisfied, and 14 percent dissatisfied, with the performance of their city/municipal government, for a net satisfaction rating of “very good” +59 (percentage of satisfied minus percentage of dissatisfied).

Net satisfaction ratings are termed as +70 and above, “excellent”; +50 to +69, “very good”; +30 to +49, “good”; +10 to +29, “moderate”, +9 to -9, “neutral”; -10 to -29, “poor”; -30 to -49, “bad”; -50 to -69, “very bad”; -70 and below, “execrable.”

The +59 rating is five points below the very good net rating of +64 (75 percent satisfied, 11 percent dissatisfied) in July 2011, but 15 points above the good +44 (68 percent satisfied, 23 percent dissatisfied in September 2009.

The survey also found 70 percent satisfied and 7 percent dissatisfied with the performance of the Department of Interior and Local Government (DILG), for a very good net satisfaction rating of +63, up by five points from the good +48 (58 percent satisfied, 11 percent dissatisfied) in July 2011.

Very good net satisfaction ratings were also obtained by key local officials and institutions: Governor (down from +67 in July 2011 to +56 in August 2012), Mayor (down from an excellent +73 to +65), Vice-Mayor (down from +68 to +60), Barangay-Chairman (down from an excellent +70 to +63), City/Municipal Council (down from +61 to +57), and City/Municipal Police (hardly moving from +53 to +54).

The 2012 Survey on Good Local Governance was supported through the Australian Agency for International Development (AusAID) and The Asia Foundation (TAF) Partnership in the Philippines.

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So help him God

By: Conrado de Quiros
Philippine Daily Inquirer

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Renato Corona, through his lawyer, Ramon Esguerra, replied to Conchita Carpio Morales’ demand for him to explain his $10 million in the banks thus: “(1) I do not own $10 million. It simply does not exist. (2) It’s part of the black propaganda and mind-conditioning preparatory to the resumption of trial on May 7. (3) (It’s) no different from the phony Land Registration Authority list, phony US property list, phony surveys, phony Inquirer letters to the editor, etc. (4) The Ombudsman has no jurisdiction over the Chief Justice.

First off, I don’t know that the SWS and Pulse Asia are phony survey-takers. It’s not just the media outlets that have been doing surveys, arguably of an unscientific nature, it’s also these two outfits. And they’ve been consistently recording Corona’s fall from grace with the public he is supposed to serve. And they’ve been consistently recording his plunge into one of the most distrusted persons in this land.

“Phony” is not a word Corona or his lawyers should really be belaboring. It’s just like accusing P-Noy of being power-mad, which merely draws attention to his and his boss’, Gloria Arroyo’s, penchant for clinging to their positions like bubble gum underneath a shoe. In this case, accusing everybody else of being phony merely reminds the world of: (1) Arroyo being shoved into Malacañang not by the hand of God but of Garci, and, (2) he himself being slipped into Padre Faura not in the blaze of noon but in the pit of midnight.

But, of course, Morales has jurisdiction over Corona, as even his friends in the Senate have conceded. Morales argues it in her order for Corona to explain his fortune in dollar deposits. “While you may only be removed from office through impeachment proceedings, this office has the power and duty to investigate you for any serious misconduct in the office for the purpose of filing a verified complaint for impeachment, if warranted.”

The Ombudsman has the power to pry into dollar accounts despite the legal proscription against it because of a waiver public officials sign when they file their SALNs. It says: “I hereby authorize the Ombudsman or his duly authorized representative to obtain and secure from all appropriate government agencies… such documents that may show my assets, liabilities, net worth, business interests, and financial connections to include those of my spouse and unmarried children below 18 years of age living with me in my household covering previous years to include the year I first assumed office in government.”

The Supreme Court may forbid the impeachment court from opening Corona’s dollar deposits, but not the Ombudsman. The Ombudsman has seen those deposits and has reported $10 million. Corona denies it. That brings us to Corona’s earlier points. He does not own $10 million? It simply does not exist? It’s just propaganda to condition the public’s mind to revile him?

Easiest thing to determine the truth: Let him open his dollar accounts to the impeachment court. Then we’ll know if it’s true or not. Better still, let the impeachment court defy the Supreme Court TRO forbidding it and order those accounts opened. Something it should have done then: Why should the impeachment court bow down to the Supreme Court? It has no higher authority except the people.

The Court’s TRO on opening Corona’s dollar accounts and Corona’s own refusal to this day to bring his assets to the light of day, if not the blaze of noon, can only remind us of Jack Nicholson telling Tom Cruise in “A Few Good Men,” with properly arched eyebrows: “The truth? You can’t handle the truth.”

Oh, yes, we can.

Oh, yes, we should. Whether or not Corona has $10 million in deposits is something we should be deeply bothered about, agitated about, outraged about. If true, then it is ill-gotten wealth, as the law wisely decrees undeclared wealth to be. If true, then it is corruption, as common sense even more wisely decrees a hidden fortune of that size to be.

The truth is that the reason corruption riots in our midst is not that we have more venal public officials than other countries, though one can always make a case of it. It is simply that we do not really see corruption as stealing, we see it as public officials dividing spoils, some greedier than others, but that’s another story, or Senate hearing. More to the point, it is simply that we do not really see corruption as stealing from us, it is their spoils they’re dividing, what they’re doing has nothing to do with us.

Wrong. Very wrong. Corruption is stealing, no more and no less than bag-snatching and picking pockets and robbery holdups. And corruption is stealing from us, no more and no less than an Akyat Bahay member slipping into our room in the pit of midnight, collecting our family heirloom.

Arguably, Corona is not the worst of the lot. Mind-boggling as half a billion pesos is, even more mind-boggling is the fat of the land other public officials have skimmed off, not least among them Corona’s favorite ex-non-president for whom he is willing to sacrifice self and family for. But we’ve got to start somewhere and nowhere better than with the one person we expect basic decency, never mind justice, from. And in any case, that leads, or opens the way, to the real target, who is the ex-non-president Corona is willing to sacrifice self and family for. Corruption is stealing from us. If Corona’s $10 million in deposits does exist, then that is not his money. That is our money. That is the schools that could have been built for our children. That is the clinics that could have been raised for our sick. That is the food that could have fed our hungry.

If he isn’t telling the truth, the whole truth, and nothing but the truth about his $10 million:

So help him God.

Lawmaker: Corruption not population causes poverty

• CATARMAN, Northern Samar -- Corruption and not the growing population has contributed to the worsening poverty situation in the country, said Deputy Speaker Raul Daza as he declared his stand against Reproductive Health (RH) bill.Opinion

Daza, representing Northern Samar’s first district, pointed that their province’s economic status has improved despite consistent population growth since 2001.

“I am anti-RH bill because I don’t believe that population growth is the cause of poverty because in Northern Samar when I sat as governor in 2001, we were 5th poorest in the country. We rose to the 7th and 10th place in 2006 and 2010, respectively. In 2001, our population was only 530,000. At present, we were over 600,000,” Daza said.

He claimed that their province has a 2.3-percent annual population growth rate, one of the highest in Eastern Visayas.

“If it is true that growing population is the cause of poverty, the economic situation won’t improve in our province,” he said.

He added he is not sure if the RH bill will be passed into law during this present Congress with the equal number of House members that are against and in favor of the controversial bill. According to Daza, about 60 lawmakers are still undecided.

The former three-termer governor is pointing corruption as the main cause of poverty and it is quantified through scientific studies by the World Bank, Asian Development Bank, and Transparency International.

“We are losing billions of pesos every year that otherwise can be used by the government to improve social services and to cater to the needs of the poor. Instead of stealing money, it is better to give this money to the poor just like the present administration is doing through conditional cash transfer program,” Daza said.

He denied reports that they were convinced by Malacañang to vote for RH bill.

The RH bill aims to guarantee universal access to methods and information on birth control and maternal care. The bills have become the center of a contentious national debate. (Leyte Samar Daily Express)

From Noynoy to Gibo......with thanks.

As of today I have reluctantly changed my preference for president from Noynoy to Gibo. I have been waiting for Noynoy to speak categorically about his undying support to the Reproductive Health Bill which for my own belief is a source of so many evils that would affect the lives of not only Christians but other believers as well.

Advocates of the RH Bill keep on talking that population growth is the problem relative to the basic services that the government is giving its constituents. I don't believe that people should be blamed entirely, but bad people who have no conscience. People who takes away things intended for the whole community but because of greed and indifference, they don't give a damn as long as they can get what they want.

Corruption and greed is the cause of it all, not population explosion. If we only follow what God wants, then we can rest assure that God will make our lives fruitful as He Himself promised. I can now openly claim that I am not going against the natural law of God, that is preserving what He has created for the good not only of mankind but all of His creations.

2010 New and Old Constructions............addendum

With the onset of 2010 one thing is sure, that the construction of new houses and commercial building won't stop. There are so many edifice lined up for construction especially the much publicized New Palompon Social Center to be constructed at the old oval behind the Palompon South Central School.

Budgetary solution of the said building, part of which will come from the sale of the Palompon Social Center at Rizal St., to the Gaisano Group of Companies. I was told that part of the area to be sold will include the areas behind the social center up to the sea.

At left photo is the 50% complete Palompon Legislative Building, a project of Mayor Eulogio Tupa and Congressman Eufrocino Codilla of the 4th District beside the Palompon Municipal Building.

Really, its very important that elected officials try to give to their constituents, projects that they need and deserve without making themselves corrupt in the eyes of the people they serve.

If only those who are in power and in the position to help those whom they are suppose to serve, and will be honest enough to give them what is theirs, then there is no problem when they ask to vote for them again.