A Social Weather Station survey conducted last year reveal that there is a perception of corruption in government by top executives from about a thousand enterprises in Metro Manila and six other urban areas.
The 2013 SWS Survey of Enterprises on Corruption was conducted from July 31 to November 29 last year showed that 56 per cent of the business people surveyed said there is “a lot” of corruption in the public sector. This represents a 30 % increase in respondents who had the same perception a year ago.
Nonetheless, satisfaction with government efforts to promote a good business environment peaked in 2013, as did business expectations in the next two years.
The results of the survey were presented at the recently concluded Good Governance Summit.
It was explained during the presentation that the fieldwork of the survey was conducted at the height of the pork barrel scam scandal and this must have influenced public opinion.
The survey also rated government institutions in terms of sincerity in fighting corruption, with the Bureau of Customs rated as “very bad” and the Office of the Prsident as “excellent.” Rated as “very good” are the Department of Health, Department of Trade and Industry.
The following agencies got rating downgrades: the Senate (from good to neutral), the House of Representatives (from neutral to poor), Department of Education (from very good to good), Department of Interior and Local Government (from good to moderate), among others.
Getting rating upgrades are: The Supreme Court (from moderate to good), Commission on Elections (from poor to neutral) and Social Security System (from good to very good).
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