PHL moves 12 notches to 99th place in 2018 Corruption Index

The Philippines on Wednesday showed a little improvement in the global Corruption Perception Index 2018 after obtaining a score of 36 — an increase of two points from 34 in 2017.

Data from the Transparency International indicated that the Philippines ranks 99th out of 180 countries, together with Albania, Bahrain, Colombia, Tanzania and Thailand.

Last year, the Philippines was at the 111th place and was found to be one of the nations having the "worst regional offenders" when it comes to journalists, activists, opposition leaders and staff of law enforcement or watchdog agencies being threatened or murdered.

The Philippines is part of the Asia-Pacific region in which the group deemed as having "little to no progress on anti-corruption," with an average score of 44 in three consecutive years.

The Transparency International attributed this little to no progress in anti-corruption efforts to the "overall weakening of democratic institutions and political rights."

It also stated that democratic foundations across the region are presently at risk.

Following this, the group suggested that governments must strengthen their efforts in tackling corruption in their respective countries.

"There is no single solution to a deep-rooted and complex issue like corruption, a diverse national strategy is key," Transparency International said.

"Democracies have the necessary checks and balances, like judicial independence, which is key to the sustainability of any anti-corruption enforcement plan. Without these and other democratic institutions and practices, countries cannot expect to tackle corruption effectively," it added.

The index uses a scale of 0 to 100 in which 0 is highly corrupt and 100 is very clean. More than two-thirds of countries score below 50 on the 2018's CPI, with an average score of 43. 

Denmark, having a score of 88, topped the list followed by New Zealand with 87.

Countries at the bottom were North Korea, Yemen, South Sudan, Syria and Somalia with scores of 14, 14, 13, 13 and 10, respectively.

The Transparency International then recommended the following actions to curb corruption:

• Strengthen institutions and preserve checks and balances
• Close the implementation gap between anti-corruption legislation, practice and enforcement
• Empower citizens to speak out and hold governments accountable
• Protect press freedom so no journalist has to fear for their lives when reporting on corruption

—KBK, GMA News