The Philippines has overtaken 10 countries including its neighbours namely, Vietnam, Indonesia, Bangladesh, in the 2012 Corruption Perceptions Index of Transparency International (TI).

However, with the country's score of 34 - with 0 (perceived to be highly corrupt) to 100 (perceived to be very clean) - it still belong to two thirds of the 176 countries ranked who scored below 50. With this, the Philippines need to do more in the fight against corruption.

"The impeachment trials, the declaration of SALNs, the transparent process of the chief justice replacement, the first year of the new Ombudsman and the general openness of the Administration in the quest for a transparent government are all contributing to the change in public perception. However, there is still much to be done for it not to remain purely in the change of perception but in societal transformation that is truly tangible," sya retired Judge Dolores Espanol, one of the founding directors of TI Movement and the Founder of TI Philippines.

"The Philippine Development Plan 2011-2016 Chapter on Good Governance and Rule of Law has outlined many concrete steps that can be taken to address bottlenecks and breeding grounds for corrupt practices. The Government just needs to focus on those commitments. It is very important to orchestrate efforts within the government agencies, civil society, private sector, funding agencies and multilateral organizations in order to optimize resources and avoid duplication of efforts. Measures of control and monitoring have to be in place to see the efficiency of these actions." added Ambassador Rosalinda Tirona, President, Ti-Philippines.

TI's CPI 2012 shows corruption continues to ravage the Philippines and many other  societies around the world.

"Government need to integrate anti-corruption actions into all public decision- making. Priorities include better rules on lobbying and political financing, making public spending and contracting more transparent and making public bodies more accountable to people," said Huguette Labelle, the Chair of Transparency International.

"After a year of focus on corruption, we expect governments to take a tougher stance against the abuse of power. The Corruption Perceptions Index 2012 results demonstrate that societies continue to pay the high cost of corruption," Labelle said.

Corruption Perceptions Index 2012: The results

In the Corruption Perceptions Index 2012 Denmark, Finland and New Zealand tie for first place with scores of 90, helped by strong access to information systems and rules governing the behaviour of those in public positions.

Afghanistan, North Korea and Somalia once again cling to the bottom rung of the index. In these countries the lack of accountable leadership and effective public institutions underscore the need to take a much stronger stance against corruption.

Underperformers in the CPI 2012 also include the Eurozone countries most affected by the financial and economic crisis. Transparency International has consistently warned Europe to address corruption risks in the public sector to tackle the financial crisis, calling for strengthened efforts to corruption-proof public institutions.

"Corruption is the world's most talked about problem," stated Cobus de Swardt, Managing Director of Transparency International. "The world's leading economies should lead by example, making sure that their institutions are fully tranparent and their leaders are held accountable. This is crucial since their institutions play a significant role in preventing corruption from flourishing globally," de Swardt said.

Background

This year Transparency International has updated the methodology for the Corruption Perceptions Index 2012. To reflect this the Corruption Perceptions Index is presented on a scale from 0 (highly corrupt) to 100 (very clean).

Transparency International is the global civil society organization leading the fight against corruption