Malacañang attributed the Philippines’ decline in the latest Corruption Perceptions Index (CPI) to President Ferdinand Marcos Jr.’s efforts to investigate corruption in government.
In a briefing on Wednesday, Presidential Communications Office Undersecretary Claire Castro said the country’s drop from 114th to 120th place out of 182 countries was “expected” because the President opened the issue of corruption in flood control projects to public scrutiny.
“That is expected because the President opened the issue of corruption. If the President exposes corruption, investigations will follow, and that is exactly what he wants—to have matters investigated. During these investigations, past irregularities are revealed,” Castro said.
“The President is cleaning up what happened before. All the dirt from the past is being addressed. Through this process, people will see the changes and recognize that corruption in government is being prevented and removed,” she added.
When asked which previous administrations were implicated, Castro declined to specify, saying the investigations concern “all of the past.”
The Corruption Perceptions Index, published annually by Transparency International, ranks countries based on perceived levels of public sector corruption, with higher rankings indicating lower perceived corruption.
The Philippines’ latest ranking reflects a deterioration in perception from the previous year, with its score below the global CPI average of 42.
The CPI noted that corruption indicators worldwide remain a challenge and that the Philippines’ performance in the index was among its lowest since the 0-100 scoring methodology was adopted.
