Real change

The next war of the administration, President Duterte has said, will be against corruption. If he can be as relentless in this campaign as he has been in his war on drugs – minus the thousands of so-called deaths under investigation – he could transform Philippine society.

As the President has noted, corruption remains a serious problem in this country, eroding economic gains and fueling wide income disparities. Corruption and political patronage feed on each other, weakening governance and the rule of law.

Even the previous administration, with its touted commitment to the straight path, had its share of corruption scandals. One, involving the Metro Rail Transit 3, continues to bring misery to millions of MRT commuters. Officials of the previous administration are also facing charges in connection with its pork barrel hybrid, the Disbursement Acceleration Program. Crooks in the bureaucracy also resisted taking the straight path, retaining red tape and procedures that open opportunities for collecting grease money.

Changing this sorry situation is now up to President Duterte, who has repeatedly assured the public that his administration will be clean. The latest Corruption Perception Index should give urgency to his anti-graft campaign. While the Philippines retained its overall score in the CPI, it slipped six notches in ranking, from 95th in 2015 to 101st in the 2016 index. The slip was attributed to an increase in the number of countries included in the survey, from 168 to 176. But it can also be because others performed better and overtook the Philippines in addressing corruption.

It’s no coincidence that the best performers in the index drawn up by Transparency International are also the most prosperous economies, where standards of living and human development indicators are high, while the bottom dwellers are the poorest and torn by violent conflict.

Ranking 101st among 176 countries should prod Philippine officials to do more against corruption. Studies have shown that corruption has led to the loss of billions in public funds that could have been used for the provision of basic services. President Duterte promised “real change.” The nation is holding him to that promise, especially in dealing with a scourge that is deeply entrenched in Philippine society.