MANILA, Philippines -- Charges that prosecutors have been bribed to junk a drug case against three wealthy young men have tarnished anew the Philippines' image abroad, an anti-corruption watchdog said Thursday.

"Corruption is prevalent here. That's the kind of image that we have abroad,'' Transparency International Philippines chair Dolores Español said in a phone interview.

The scandal stemming from the dismissal of drug charges against the "Alabang boys'' has only confirmed the "anomalous transactions'' permeating the judiciary, Español said. "This is just the tip of the iceberg.''

But Secretary Cerge Remonde disagreed. "That's not something akin to the Philippines. Bribery scandals involving drug syndicates also happen in Europe and the United States,'' he said in a phone interview.

Agents of the Philippine Drug Enforcement Agency have insinuated that prosecutors of the Department of Justice have been bribed by the family of one of the suspects to drop the case against them.

The prosecutors dismissed the charges against Richard Brodett, Joseph Tecson and Jorge Joseph -- the first two residents of the posh Ayala Alabang Village in Muntinlupa City -- who were nabbed in a buy-bust operation on September 20.

The case is awaiting review by Secretary of Justice Raul Gonzalez.

Español, a retired Cavite regional trial court judge, observed that two of the five pillars of the justice system -- prosecutors and the Bar -- failed in the case of the drug suspects.

"The law enforcement did the right thing, but the real culprits are the prosecutors and the bar association,'' she said on the phone.

Español questioned why the DOJ prosecutors did not file or dismiss the case against the three young men "immediately'' after they were brought for inquest as prescribed by the rules.

"After inquest, why didn't they file it immediately with the court? Your guess is as good as mine,'' she said.

Then she answered her own question: "If they're going to fix it, they don't want to give up the responsibility of dismissing the case.''

After inquest, a procedure to determine probable cause, a case is either filed in court, or dismissed immediately, according to the retired judge.

In the case of the Alabang Boys, the prosecutors decided instead to conduct a preliminary investigation, she said.

"Normally, they sit on a case in the guise of preliminary investigation so the people who want to fix a case will approach them. That's what happened in this case,'' she said.

According to Español, there was "more than probable cause to file the case in court because of the evidence seized during the entrapment -- the Ecstasy tablets, cocaine and marijuana, and paraphernalia.''

The bar, represented by the counsel of Brodett who drafted the release order on official DOJ stationery and transmitted it to Justice Secretary Raul Gonzalez for his signature, also failed.

"His integrity is questionable. The proper way is to file a disbarment case against him so he'll be able to clear his name,'' Español said of lawyer Felisberto Verano.

She did not express surprise at Verano's move, saying, "There are times that due to many things being attended to, some leave it to lawyers to prepare the favorable resolution.''

But she said, "I don't think a lawyer would prepare such a draft order if he sensed that this wasn't OK with Gonzalez.''

Remonde said that Malacañang was thankful that charges of anomaly have surfaced so these could be addressed.

"We welcome that these have been brought out so appropriate executive and legislative action can be taken to address these problems,'' he said on the phone.

President Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo has instructed Gonzalez to wrap up investigation of the bribery scandal.

Despite the scandal, Remonde said nobody could question the fact that the government under the Arroyo administration recorded the "biggest drug hauls'' and significant crackdowns on drug laboratories.

When told that drug seizures didn't necessarily result in convictions, he said: "If we solve this problem, we will do a better job.''