Philippines down by 14 notches in 2019 Corruption Perception Index

January 24, 2020

The Philippines has dropped by 14 notches in the Corruption Perception Index 2019, according to the Transparency International.

In the latest CPI, the Philippines ranked 113th out of 180 countries included in the report. In 2018, Manila was at 99th place.

The CPI scores 180 countries and territories by their perceived levels of public sector corruption, according to experts and business people. It uses a scale from 0, which is highly corrupt, to 100, which is very clean.

Transparency International said Asia Pacific, which includes the Philippines, has not witnessed substantial progress in the anti-corruption efforts or results.

This was despite the presence of high performers like New Zealand (score of 87), Singapore (85), Australia (77), Hong Kong (76), and Japan (73).

"(I)t comes as no surprise that vibrant economic powers like China (41), Indonesia (40), Vietnam (37), the Philippines (34) and others continue to struggle to tackle corruption," it said.

Denmark and New Zealand ranked first in the survey as they both received the score of 87. Somalia was at the bottom with a score of 9. Celerina Monte/DMS