The Philippines has “weak” anti-corruption mechanisms, says an international watchdog that assesses the “effectiveness and citizen access to key national-level anti-corruption mechanisms.”

The report by Global Integrity shows that out of a possible score of 100, the Philippines received a score of 67 down from last year’s “moderate” rating of 73. Global Integrity, however, said the downgrade was partly due to the introduction of a new methodology in its study.

The report, which covers 55 countries, used six categories in its assessment: civil society, media, and public access to information; elections; government accountability; administration and civil service, oversight regulation, and anti-corruption and rule of law.

In its latest report, Global Integrity introduced a new sub-category—state owned enterprises—under oversight regulation. The study used the following scale in rating the countries : Very Strong (90-100); Strong (80-90); Moderate (70-80); Weak (60-70); and Very Weak (Below 60).

POOR ACCESS TO DOCUMENTS

The new report said that the Philippines slid back in three categories: civil society, public information and media (from “moderate” in 2006 to “weak” in 2007), oversight and regulation (strong to weak) and anti-corruption and rule of law (moderate to weak). (Click here to read 2006 and 2007 Global Integrity Reports ratings for the Philippines.)

The country, however, maintained its ratings for the other three categories: “very weak” rating for elections, “moderate” for government accountability and administration and civil service.

The Philippines received a rating of ”weak” in civil society, public information and media category (69). Under this category, civil society organizations received “strong” rating of 84. Media garnered “weak” rating after receiving a score of 68 while public access to information received a score of 53 or a “very weak” rating.

“Public access to information is guaranteed in the constitution and the legal information framework is regarded. However, in practice, politically charged documents have been withheld,” the report said.

WEAK RULE OF LAW

The Philippines also received a “weak” rating for oversight and regulation and anti-corruption and rule of law. Under the oversight and regulation category, the country received different ratings for its five sub-categories: “very strong” in supreme audit institution (93),  “moderate” for national ombudsman (73) and business licensing and regulation (72), “weak” in taxes and customs (60) and “very weak” in state owned enterprises (28.)

“Oversight of state-owned enterprises is inconsistent and poses little risk of investigation,” the report said.

Meanwhile, under the anti-corruption and rule of law category, the Philippines was rated “strong” for its anti-corruption law (89), “weak” in anti-corruption agency (66) and “very weak” in law enforcement (58) and rule of law (52).

UNREGULATED POLITICAL FINANCING

Under the election category, the country scored “strong” for voter and citizen participation (87) and “moderate” for election integrity (71). However, it received a “very weak” rating for political financing (14.)

“Political financing is effectively unregulated,” the report added. The Philippines scored higher than Thailand (65), Bangladesh (64), Nepal (60), and China (55) but was behind Japan (81), India (75) and Pakistan (70). (Click here to read the complete 2007 Global Integrity Report.)

Countries that received “very strong” ratings include Bulgaria, the United States, Latvia, Spain, Italy, Romania and Canada while those who were rated as having “very weak” anti-corruption system include Lebanon, Algeria, Tajikistan, Egypt, Cameroon, Nigeria, China, Armenia, Sri Lanka, East Timor, Sierra Leone and Mozambique.

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