TAN: Gov't ducking out of anti-graft battle
by JUDITH BALEA, abs-cbnNEWS.com | 02/13/2009 8:22 PM
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The Senate hearing last Thursday on bid-rigging in World Bank (WB)-funded road projects, where the WB ended up being bashed for its confidential policy, only showed the government was again ducking out of the fight against corruption, according to an anti-corruption watchdog.
"It was unfortunate that the Senate focused its ire on the World Bank rather than those implicated in the corruption scandal," said Vincent Lazatin, executive director of Transparency and Accountability Network (TAN).
"What happened (in the hearing) was definitely not in the best interest of the Filipino people," he added.
The scenario, Lazatin noted, was reminiscent of previous scandals--the "Hello Garci", fertilizer scam and National Broadband Network-ZTE Corp. (NBN-ZTE) deal--which created noise for a time but died down eventually.
Lazatin expressed fear that in the ongoing probe into the "collusion" among government officials and Filipino contractors that bid for the National Roads Improvement and Management Program (NRIMP) in 2007, nobody will be prosecuted, let alone convicted.
"Left and right, corruption scandals have been emerging in the recent past, and the perception is that the government doesn't really do anything about them," he said. "That's exactly why public perception of the government is poor."
On Thursday, the Senate decided to subpoena World Bank country director Bert Hofman to shed light on the alleged bid rigging in the $33-million NRIMP, which implicated First Gentleman Mike Arroyo, former lawmakers and public works officials.
During the hearing, however, senators mostly just lashed out at the World Bank for not furnishing the Senate a copy of its report on the controversy.
Senator Miriam Santiago, who presided over the hearing, accused the World Bank of "double speak" by charging corruption but not cooperating in the probe. She even called the institution "a squatter in Philippine territory."
RP, a laggard
In fighting corruption, Lazatin said the Philippines has been lagging behind neighboring countries, which "at least are doing something about it."
In Vietnam, for instance, two government officials were arrested recently for their alleged involvement in a bribery scandal related to a road infrastructure project, which was funded by Japanese official development assistance.
A report published in the online site of Vietnam's Thanhnien News said the scandal also prompted Japan to temporarily suspend aid loans to Vietnam late last year, pending investigations.
The corruption scandal in Vietnam was no different from the recently uncovered bid rigging in the NRIMP; only, Philippine government officials decided to "make a fool out of themselves by shooting the messenger (World Bank)" instead of pinning down the crooks, Lazatin said.
If the government is serious in curbing corruption, he added, it should act swiftly and get to the bottom of it.
"Government officials should not lose their focus. The saying 'the best defense is a good offense' applied very well in what happened at the Senate hearing yesterday. Their response wasn't what people were expecting," he said.
Worsening corruption
According to Lazatin, the scandal involving the World Bank-funded project was a very bad symptom of worsening corruption in the Philippines.
Over the last decade, Lazatin said the country's ranking based on control of corruption has consistently dropped.
A World Bank study last year showed that corruption in the Philippines was perceived to be the worst among East Asian countries.
Other studies have revealed the same thing. In the 2007 Corruption Perceptions Index released by Transparency International--between the range of 0, which is highly corrupt, and 10, which is very clean--the Philippines scored only 2.5, indicating it had a severe corruption problem.
"We've seen a constant decline. The perception is consistent: corruption is really prevalent," noted Lazatin.
