September 17, 2025 l Business Mirror
“Integrity, transparency and the fight against corruption have to be part of the culture. They have to be taught as fundamental values.”
—Angel Gurría, OECD Secretary General
The ghost month featured lots of ghost projects that have been the objects of Senate hearings, have hugged the headlines of broadsheets and have been the objects of social media messages.
A colleague said the amount of corruption could easily bring electricity to the entire country. Another said, with that amount, the country could have addressed housing for the underprivileged and the lack of classrooms for public schools.
Corruption has been in our midst but of late, the public display of wealth, admission of engaging in ‘prohibited’ gambling among public servants, and more, highlighted irresponsible/despicable acts by elected officials, public servants and some business persons.
Does our country lack the necessary laws, rules and regulations to address the malaise?
According to an OECD report in 2024, the Philippines has ratified the UN Convention against Corruption and established a legal and policy framework for preventing corruption through various laws, regulations, and policies, which are applicable to infrastructure. The Philippines’s anti-corruption legal and policy framework is anchored by key legislation, some of which are the following.
1. Republic Act (RA) 3019 or the Anti-Graft and Corrupt Practices Act, which criminalizes corrupt practices by public officials, and the Code of Conduct and Ethical Standards for Public Officials and Employees (Republic Act No. 6713), which sets ethical standards for government personnel.
2. Additionally, the Government Procurement Reform Act (RA 9184) promotes transparency and accountability in public procurement.
3. The Securities Regulation Code (RA 8799) and the Code of Corporate Governance explicitly target the private sector and encourage transparency, accountability, and ethical conduct among private corporations.
4. Anti-corruption was also listed as a priority in the previous PDP, which aimed to reduce corruption through education, prevention and enforcement (NEDA, 2017[48]).
The Office of the Ombudsman, along with the Civil Service Commission and other stakeholders, aims to enhance anti-corruption efforts by drawing on lessons from existing programs such as the Integrity Management Program and public integrity campaigns (NEDA, 2022).
Despite these efforts, perceived levels of corruption in the Philippines remain high. According to the 2023 Transparency International Corruption Perceptions Index, the Philippines ranked 115 out of 180 countries. With a score of 34 out of 100, the country is below the Asean average (Transparency International, 2023). According to Transparency International’s 2020 Global Corruption Barometer on Citizens’ views and experiences on corruption in Asia, 24 percent of surveyed citizens in the Philippines reported that corruption had increased in the past year (Transparency International, 2020).
In 2022, over 3,000 corporations, government agencies, and non-profit organisations had signed a pledge as part of the Integrity Initiative, where signatories commit themselves and their respective organisations not to engage in corruption and other unethical business practices. The Initiative was organised by leading business organisations including the construction-focused Makati Business Club. Its signatories include several major Philippine construction companies involved in infrastructure development.
Similarly, the Joint Foreign Chambers of the Philippines, a coalition of almost 3,000 international businesses and investors operating in the Philippines, established the Compliance and Integrity Programmes for Business, an initiative in which members pledge not to bribe public officials, to report corruption, and to embed anti-corruption measures in their corporate practices.
The country is not wanting in laws and regulations. Irresponsible conduct motivated by insatiable appetite for illegally gained wealth is the reason behind the “grand theft.” Extra-ordinary state of affairs needs extra-ordinary actions – not only an independent Commission to probe the unprecedented “misappropriation” of people’s money but a special court to expeditiously try and rule on those found guilty.
This time, let’s catch some “big fishes;” and, no mercy please!
There is hope: May pag-asa!
***The views expressed herein are her own and do not necessarily reflect the opinion of her office as well as FINEX. For comments, email clmanabat@gmail.com. Photo is from Pinterest.