If most Filipinos believe the national government should exert greater efforts to fight corruption, will our leaders and policy makers heed their sentiment?
The latest Pulse Asia survey found 84 percent of 1,200 respondents agreed with this statement: “Pursuant to the Philippines’ concurrence with international agreements, the power of national agencies, laws, and mechanisms to fight corruption should be strengthened.”
A total 36 percent said they “strongly agree” while 48 percent said they “somewhat agree” with the statement.
What’s interesting is that most of those who agreed the government should do more to curb corruption come from Mindanao (92 percent) and Visayas (89 percent), where poverty levels are higher as compared to NCR (82 percent) and Balance Luzon (80 percent).
The result of the survey, from June 19 to 23 and commissioned by Stratbase ADR Institute, indicates nearly all Filipinos consider corruption as an enormous challenge that should compel government to take firm steps to solve.
According to Pulse Asia President Dr. Ronald Holmes, “virtually no one” disagrees with the strengthening of the agencies, laws, and mechanisms to fight corruption.
He observed the usual proposal in the past was for the government to establish a single, well-resourced anti-corruption agency which has fiscal autonomy and is insulated from partisanship and political interference.
What’s starkly clear is past administrations simply ignored the recommendation, leading to what the World Bank claimed has been the loss of about one-fourth of the total annual national budget to inveterate crooks in government.
The survey also yielded various answers to what the respondents felt were the negative effects of corruption in Philippine society.
Respondents said corruption erodes trust in government services and public officials; creates a normalized attitude towards corrupt practices; results in inefficient delivery of basic social services as health and education; leads to less public funds devoted to fighting poverty; and produces substandard infrastructure.
Given this range of the negative consequences of corruption in our public life, the question that needs to be answered now is whether this government is willing to take the road less traveled and embark on an honest-to-goodness anti-corruption drive that will spare no one, from the big fish to the small fry.
It has five more years to prove that it really listens to what Filipinos are saying.