| Philippines rejects PERC's rating as most corrupt economy |
MANILA, March 16 (Xinhua) -- A Philippine anti-graft official Friday rejected the tagging of her country by an international consultancy group as "the most corrupt economy in Asia".
Presidential Anti Graft-Commission (PAGC) chair Constancia de Guzman said the report of the Hong Kong-based Political and Economic Risk Consultancy (PERC) of corruption rating of the Philippines is based on perception only.
"The report was based on mere perception as only 100 of the 1,476 expatriate businessmen supposedly polled by PERC were based in the Philippines," de Guzman told local media.
Moreover, she noted that PERC limited the poll to only 13 Asian countries and regions whereas there are 54 countries and regions that comprise Asia.
"The small percentage of those actually doing business in the country plus the limited number of countries included in the survey is not enough to form a credible and reliable basis for the report," she said.
She lamented that negative perceptions were created by local survey groups that relied on obsolete data and the practice of selective, if not biased, reporting by media.
"By opting to report the negative and setting aside the positive developments in the government's anti-corruption drive, some media entities have, knowingly or unknowingly, put our country in bad light," she said.
She insisted that the government is doing its best to stamp out corruption and have measurable accomplishments to show.
De Guzman claimed that government dismissed 11 high ranking officials suspected of corruption, including an undersecretary, while 185 pending cases of corruption are being investigated by government.
PERC said in a report published Tuesday that Philippines is the most corrupt economy in Asia, falling to a 9.4 grade from a 7.8 rating last year on a scale of zero to 10, zero being the best possible score.
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