SURVEY ON PUBLIC PERCEPTION OF GRAFT AND CORRUPTION

Ombudsman and Sandiganbayan Law

Alegado, Rodnel
Bilbao, Shemelyn
Paulate III, Cresente
Polinar, Winston
Sagaral, Rino
Tan, Jay
Ytac, Herdee

Date Submitted: March 22, 2014

INTRODUCTION
2

When Politics dawned upon men or women, did it really made them
corrupt? The answer comes from the very essence of politics itself theorist
Easton and Laswell would define it as the authoritative allocation of values
which answers what to produce, when to produce, how many to produce and
for whom to produce. The gist of their definition is basically anchored on
decision making processes, so basing from their definition of politics it can be
deduced that politics should be ideally and specifically for the benefit of the
people, a process of decision making.
Since when and how politics became dirty for Filipinos, the history
would probably shed light to the inquiry. Moreover, it is from the history that
we would be able to know how graft and corruption entered the picture and
tarnished politics in the Philippines as well as its evolution overtime.

HISTORICAL BACKGROUND
The Spanish colonial empire would lay claim that when they discovered
the Philippines the Filipinos were basically savages, no government, no laws
and worse no identity. Historians would disagree on this notion since
archeological and historical reports show that indigenous communities had
the balangay system. A micro form of government that was headed by a
Datu working as the executive arm of the government, the council of elders
legislating rules and guidelines among tribesmen and other tribes working as
the legislative arm and another council for punishing erring members of
tribe.
This balangay system diminished through time when Spanish
colonizers employed the divide and conquer rule with the application of
sword and the cross concept. To cut the story short, they governed the
Philippines. A lot of Filipinos rose up, most were killed. But one Filipino left his
mark through writing two novels that made a statement to the Spanish
colonizers by exposing the schemes of government officials effectively
controlled by Spanish friars through force, intimidation and duress.
Americans then came. They bought us at price, had a mock battle at
Manila Bay, established a government for the people, from the people and by
the people, built a lot of infrastructures, and taught Filipinos the American
way of life as well as the way of the American government. However, it was
then cut short by the war in the Pacific by the Japanese. But later on, still, the
Americans prevailed over them.
3

Few years later there came the first republic, a quote coming from
Manuel L .Quezon would resonate up to today I would rather have a
government ran like hell by the Filipinos rather like heaven by the
Americans.

STATUS QUO OF CORRUPTION

That quote of Manuel L. Quezon do ring a bell to this date, it would be
somehow be considered as a curse rather than a blessing of the people of
today.
One of the remarkable feats of the Filipinos would be the PEOPLE
Power, which toppled the corrupt regime of Ferdinand Marcos in 1986, was
in the minds of protestors massed in Manilas main park on August 26th.
From families and schoolchildren to nuns, the tens of thousands of Filipinos
were demanding an end to pork-barrel politics, after a government audit
earlier this month revealed that politicians had funneled over 6 billion pesos
($135m) into 82 dodgy NGOs. Many demonstrating saw themselves as the
heirs of 86.
Mr. Marcos is long gone, but graft remains the bane of the Philippines.
The country still ranks as one of the most corrupt in South-East Asia, despite
a boost in the tables last year (from 129th to 105th in Transparency
Internationals corruption perceptions index). Since taking power in 2010,
Benigno Aquino, the Philippines president, has led a half-hearted campaign
against fraud. His neat election slogan, If theres no corruption, theres no
poverty, won him the presidency, because it suggested a tidy solution to
the countrys two biggest problems. But for three years his efforts have
consisted of little else than the arrest and prosecution of his predecessor,
Gloria Arroyo, on trial for misusing millions in state lottery funds.
So Mr. Aquino had an opportunity to advance his campaign when his
governments chief auditor reported this month that a dozen senators and
scores of congressmen had directed billions in pork-barrel money into fishy
NGOs over three years. The money (given to members of Congress to spend
in their constituencies on projects of their own choosing) was disbursed
during Mrs. Arroyos term. But Mr. Aquinos first reaction was to defend the
pork-barrel scheme. That is because he is at the apex of the Philippines
pyramid of political patronage, so has the final say on whether other
politicians get their pork. When he was member of Congress, he received
4

pork-barrel funds. In the absence of an effective political party system, the

pork-barrel arrangement gives Mr. Aquino a degree of influence over
Congress.
The Priority Development Assistance Fund (PDAF), a government
program, has institutionalized pork barrel in the Philippines. Each of its 24
senators receives 200m pesos ($4.5m) per year and each of its 300-odd
congressmen receives 70m pesos ($1.6m). The scheme has its merits. Roads
get paved. Poor students receive scholarships. A washerwoman asked her
congressman to pay for an urgent mastectomy (she now votes for him
religiously). Politicians are supposed to use the fund to finance their pet
projects, but some use it to enrich themselves at public expense. The
arrangement shores up a political establishment made of powerful families
that monopolize elective positions generation after generation.
It was only once social media began to call for a mass protest (onemillion strong, organizers hoped) against pork that Mr Aquino changed his
mind. On August 23rd, flanked by the president of the Senate and the
speaker of the House of Representatives, he pledged to scrap the PDAF. The
public received his bid with a dose of skepticismand it did not deter the
porcine masks and costumes from rallying. Congress must first agree to
abandon the scheme. And an alternative set-up for financing local
development projects, proposed by Mr Aquino, sounded like pork-barrel
politics with a new name.
The protesters (numbering about 65,000) were nowhere near as
numerous as their predecessors who ousted Mr. Marcos. But their
demonstration was the biggest since Mr. Aquino took office. His approval
rating, at 70%, is among the highest in the Philippines history.
Demonstrators put the president on notice that they expect not just slogans
about corruption, but the demolition of the political edifice that shelters it.
To date this scandal still runs amok with all shapes and sizes from
Janette Napoles, to Senators and now the probe still continues and Filipinos
are still hoping to quench from their inquiries on this multibillion scam.

OVERVIEW OF THE STUDY

Corruption is a problem to which all governments, at any level of
development, have to deal with. Graft and corruption in the Philippines has
5

long been a topic of concern amongst the citizen. The corruption of officials
in the government and the failure of leaders to use their position of power
wisely have caused financial hardship throughout the nation and deprives, if
not limit, the economic growth and cultural development. Since its inception,
the
Philippines has been known as a country suffering from such severe
corruption, with conflicting conditions, that experts began describing it as a
"kleptocracy" which means, a government that suffers from kleptomania, or
from which consistently and continuously robs its citizens because of
corruption of high-ranking officials. Graft and corruption began from colonial
times, when colonial governments were organized for the purposes of
plunder- an organizational scheme which persists today.
Today it is common for governmental officials to embezzle tax dollars
in order to accumulate personal wealth. In an independent evaluation of the
countries graft and corruption practices, the Philippines gained a rating of
2.6 on a corruption scale of one to ten (Transparency International
Perceptions Interest), where one was most corrupt and ten was least corrupt.
Many activists in the Philippines has been persistent in persuading fellow
citizens to fight corruption and discontinue simple acquiescence with corrupt
officials, saying that the people have the responsibility to change the way
things are done from a grass-roots level.
Efforts to check graft and corruption have been underway for decades,
yet the situation has not achieved a functional state. Innumerable laws
defining plunder, establishing punishments for corrupt officials, creating
independent third-party accountability agencies, in addition to increased
international attention in recent years, have all contributed to some
amendments of conduct and reformation of behavior. However the country
still loses billions of dollars of tax revenue each year to transactions relating
to graft and corruption.
This study aims to gain the publics perception or awareness of the ongoing graft and corrupt practices of the government officials and the
Philippine government as a whole and the effects regarding trust and
confidence of the citizens to the people involved.

SCOPE AND LIMITATION

6

In this study, the group concentrated mainly on the peoples

perception on graft and corruption and if there is still trust and confidence
left towards the government and its officials.
To achieve the groups goal and objectives in this study, the data was
gathered only within Davao City. There are 100 respondents that were
interviewed, aged 20 to 50 years old who are both from the private and
government sectors.
The study was merely comparative in nature due to the fact that there
are only limited number of researchers and number of respondents.
Basically, this study only reflects the ideas and perception of randomly
selected Davaoenos and not of the Filipinos in general.

SURVEY RESULTS AND INTERPRETATION

The following are the data and results that the team has gathered from
the survey that was conducted recently in relation to the publics perception
on Graft and Corruption in the Philippines.

Respondents: 100
Age bracket
20 to 50 years old
Employment Status Private and Government sectors

1. At the given current economic and political condition, do you believe

that Graft and Corruption exists in the Philippine Government?
Yes 100
No 0
100% of the respondents believe that graft and corruption
indeed exists in the Philippine Government.
2. In your own observation, do you believe that the campaign of the PNOY
administration TUWID NA DAAN is effective in eradicating or
addressing the problem with corrupt Government officials and
employees?
7

Yes 51
No 49
49% could say that the campaign of the current administration
against graft and corruption is not effective in addressing the problem.
Hence, instead of actually eradicating the problem, things either
remain at the status quo or it may have even gone worse.
On the other hand, there are 51% of the randomly selected
respondents believed that the TUWID NA DAAN campaign is
effective. They can say that, more or less, the graft and corruption
problem is little by little extinguished under PNOYs administration.
*If YES, can you rate your satisfaction on the effectiveness or success
of the said campaign?
Poor 8
Fair 54
Satisfied 7
Very Satisfied 0
Among those who say that the campaign of PNOYs
administration is effective in eradicating the governments problem on
graft and corruption, majority of them say that the current
administration did their job fairly as expected of them.
3. Based on personal observation, can you compare the condition of graft
and corruption at the present administration with the previous
administration? What changes have you observed?
Increased 23
(25% (2),60%,50%,10%,75%)
Decreased 48
No Changes 29
48% of the respondents say that the problem on graft and
corruption had decreased during the administration of PNOY, while
23% of them say that the problem had actually increased over time.
However, there are 29% of the respondents believes that
everything remained at the status quo. That means, there is no
increase or decrease in the graft and corruption problem that most of
our government employees are involved. The change in the
administration has not actually changed anything when it comes to the
problem that concerns most of us.
8

*Based on personal observation, can you rate by percentage the

increase or decrease, as may be applicable? (e.g. 10%, 25%, 50%,
75%, 85%, 95%, 100%)
Below 10% - 1
10% - 10
25% - 22
35% - 4
50% - 16
75% - 3
85% - 3
95% - 0
100% - 2
Among those who observed that the graft and corruption
problem has decreased, 87% of them say that the change was only up
to 50%. That means, there was no big change that actually took place.
However, there are still some who would say that the change has
reached even up to 100%
4. Are you satisfied with the justice system in trying Graft and Corruption
cases in the Philippines?
Yes 17
No 83
When it comes to the publics response on their perception
towards the justice system of the Philippines, 83% of them say that
they are no longer satisfied with such system and most of them have
lost their trust and confidence in the countrys judicial system.
However, amidst the negative response of the majority, there are
still 17% who believe in the countrys justice system. They are hopeful
that in one way or another, a good justice system would be able to
change everything that once was ruined by the malpractices of
different unscrupulous government officials and employees.
5. Do you still trust the Government?
Yes 53
No 47
It is quite surprising to know that even if there has been a
negative feedback, by the majority, against the government, there are
9

still those who believed that the government would still be able to
perform their duties in service to the Filipino people. 53% say that they
still trust the government amidst the issues and negative publicity.
The result of this single question is quite a close fight. This is
because almost half of the respondents, 47% to be exact, say that
they no longer have trust and confidence in the government.
Although this may be the case, Filipino people are still hoping
that maybe one day, the graft and corruption in the government would
totally be eradicated.
*Can you rate by percentage the accountability and honesty of the
Government officers and employees in the Philippines?
Below 50% - 33
50% - 37
75% - 12
85% - 1
95% - 1
100% - 1
It is quite ironic that even if the question preceding this one
results to a good feedback for the government, people still see things
as half-baked. Although most of the respondents say that they still
trust the government, 82% of them gave a rate that the governments
accountability and honesty is below 50%. Only a few, 18%, believed
that the government is indeed someone that Filipino people can
always rely on.
CONCLUSION
With the current issues that the Philippine Government is currently
facing, it cannot be denied that most of the Filipinos are daunted on what
awaits our country in the near future. Would the Philippines be able to
survive? Or will things be worsened as what most of the people feared of?
However, amidst all these controversies, Filipino people still remained
to be hopeful that someday things would turn out well. As the survey shows,
majority of the respondents still trust the government.
Although nearly half of the group would say that they no longer have
confidence in the current administration, it can still be concluded that
Filipinos have longer and greater endurance when it comes to sufferings,
10

hardships and other adversities. Filipino people are indeed happy and
optimistic people. They are very hopeful that one day things would turn out
the way they imagined it to be.
This survey would hopefully serve as an ultimatum and challenge to
government officials and employees that they should perform their duties
fairly well as what most Filipino people perceive they would do.

11