Scribd
Upload
3K views2 pages

Reaction Paper On Corruption in The Philippines

Corruption is deeply rooted in the Philippines and exists at all levels of government and business. Common forms of corruption include bribery, graft, nepotism, and taking kickbacks. Corruption negatively impacts the country by reducing economic growth, providing poor public services, and disproportionately harming the poor. While eliminating corruption entirely may be impossible, concerted efforts are needed from government and civic groups to strengthen anti-corruption measures and gradually reduce its prevalence in the Philippines over time.

Uploaded by

Teng De Castro
Copyright
© © All Rights Reserved
We take content rights seriously. If you suspect this is your content, claim it here.
Available Formats
Download as DOCX, PDF, TXT or read online on Scribd
3K views2 pages

Reaction Paper On Corruption in The Philippines

Corruption is deeply rooted in the Philippines and exists at all levels of government and business. Common forms of corruption include bribery, graft, nepotism, and taking kickbacks. Corruption negatively impacts the country by reducing economic growth, providing poor public services, and disproportionately harming the poor. While eliminating corruption entirely may be impossible, concerted efforts are needed from government and civic groups to strengthen anti-corruption measures and gradually reduce its prevalence in the Philippines over time.

Uploaded by

Teng De Castro
Copyright
© © All Rights Reserved
We take content rights seriously. If you suspect this is your content, claim it here.
Available Formats
Download as DOCX, PDF, TXT or read online on Scribd
You are on page 1/ 2

1

Submitted by: Ma. Christina D. Ladao


BA 503-Social Responsibility and Good Governance

CORRUPTION IN THE PHILIPPINES


“The measure of a man is what he does with power.” – Plato

Corruption is an ancient and most baffling occurrence in the history of the world’s politics.
Derived from the Latin word corrupt meaning to break, corruption existed during the biblical
times and continued to exist in our modern times. Even the Bible referred corruption as a great
sin stating “And thou shalt take no gift: for the gift blindeth the wise, and perverteth the words of
the righteous” (Exodus 23:8) and as stated in the definition given by Leslie Palmier (1983, p.
207), “Corruption is the use of public office for private gain”.

So, why does corruption happens? Corruption happens because for some unknown reasons,
people seems to always try to get away with the most they can, just like a rat race, pushing all the
limits to win. Unfortunately, people who go beyond the edge lose control, and commit major
crimes. Though corruption is present in every country, it was assumed that in a developing
country like the Philippines, corruption is driven by the opportunity to use public office for
private gain thus making it a constant customs of practices. Corruptions is a deep-rooted problem
in the Philippines. Recent reviews suggest that all levels of corruption, from bribery to grand
corruption exist in the Philippines at a significant rate. While there are some politicians who
would like to be recognized as honest, good people trying to do a good job serving the country,
we really can’t deny that there are corrupt politicians and that in the Philippines, corruption is
prevalent. The problem with Corruption is that it continues to afflict the government, from the
highest to the lowest public office. Transparency International's 2017 Corruption Perception
Index ranks the country in the 111th place out of 180 countries.

Means of corruption include graft, bribery, embezzlement, backdoor deals, nepotism,


and patronage, with bribery as the most common where bribes are being given to persuade
someone to illegally act in one’s favour. This unethical practice of getting things done not only
weakens the ability of the workers but also the development of the country.  

Whereas corruption is said to take place in all levels of the government, same thing applies in all
other fields: in businesses, petty corruption had become one of the biggest obstacle to putting up
a business in the Philippines. Bribes are often demanded from businessmen who wished to set
up their companies. Some corrupt employees of a certain local government were giving them
hard time to obtain permits and licenses. Employees of contracting companies are also lucrative
targets of bribery. Suppliers and contractors who sell sub-standard products often give
2

“kickbacks” so as to bag the contract. Maybe to them it is just a simple, unsolicited “thank you”
gift, but according to The Code of Conduct and Ethical Standards for Public Officials and
Employees (Section 7, Prohibited Acts and Transactions, Paragraph D, Solicitation or
Acceptance of Gifts of RA 6713) says: “Public officials and employees shall not solicit or
accept, directly or indirectly, any gift, gratuity, favour, entertainment, loan or anything of
monetary value from any person in the course of their official duties or in connection with any
operation being regulated by, or any transaction which may be affected by the functions of their
office.” Hence, it is illegal and constitutes corruption.  Another example of corruption that is
done by ordinary people, is when being caught by an LTO officer for a traffic violation, the
violator will give bribe in exchange for the driver’s license. Even a university which is an
institution of higher learnings and disciplines is not exempted to corruption. There are instances
of grades for sale by some teachers. For this, we can presume that corruption invaded the grading
system. Even prominent hospitals are not immune. Corruption in these health institutions can
become fatal, a matter of life and death, as fake medicines are being sold and administered to
patients, and worst, the rich are prioritized over the poor. The examples of corruptions are
everywhere, it’s never-ending, ever-rising, and unstoppable.

And the impact is devastating. Low quality service, pollution, poor health, unemployment, lack
of proper justice, disregard for public officials, and reduced economic growth level are only few
of the fierce effects of corruption. Corruption affects all of us. It compromises manageable
monetary advancement, moral qualities and equity; it destabilizes our general public and imperils
the standard of law. It undermines the foundations of our vote based system. And because it is
the masses who mostly benefit from public policies and public resources, it is also them who
suffers the most. Corruption harms everyone whose life, livelihood, and happiness depends on
the morality of the people in the position of power.

The issue here is could we end corruption? Can corruption be resolved? Perhaps, it is impossible
to stop corruption in the Philippines. Why? Because it has become a cancer that’s killing our
country and destroying the lives of our countrymen. There is no silver bullet to end corruption.
To strengthen the fight against corruption, I believe that all we need are significant efforts and
strong moral undertakings from the segment of the government and the strong support of the
civic society in order to reduce and eradicate corruption in the Philippines.

References:
Corruption Perception Index 2017.
Republic Act No. 6713, Section 7-D, Eighth Congress, Congress of the Philippines
King James Bible, Exodus 23:8
Leslie Palmier (1983, p. 207)

You might also like