MANILA, Philippines—The Department of Public Works (DPWH) is perceived to be the most corrupt government agency, while the Department of Education (DepEd) is deemed to be the least graft-ridden, according to a recent survey of private polling firm Pulse Asia Inc.

Although stories about graft and greed in government are often played up in the mass media, Pulse Asia’s February 2009 Ulat ng Bayan found that only 14 percent of the respondents claimed to have experienced or witnessed corruption.

Four out of five respondents with personal knowledge of the corruption, however, chose to keep silent about it.

Even so, nearly half of Filipinos (45 percent) cited corruption as a national issue the Arroyo administration must address, while more than half (53 percent) said they were dissatisfied with the administration’s anti-graft initiatives.

“For 32 percent of Filipinos, the DPWH is the most corrupt agency of the Philippine government,” Pulse Asia said in a statement released Wednesday.

Respondents were allowed to name up to five government agencies with what they considered had the highest and lowest incidence of graft.

No. 2 on the list of “most corrupt” agencies was the Philippine National Police (21 percent), followed by the Department of Agriculture (19 percent), Bureau of Internal Revenue (16 percent), DepEd (15 percent) and Bureau of Customs (15 percent).

“Interestingly, while the DepEd is identified as ‘most corrupt’ by 15 percent of Filipinos, 20 percent (of the respondents) deem it as one of the least corrupt government agencies in the country,” Pulse Asia noted.

High on the list of “least corrupt” agencies were the Department of Health (13 percent) and the Department of Social Welfare and Development (11 percent).

Option to keep silent

Respondents were also asked: “Have you personally ever experienced or witnessed any instance of graft or corruption?” To this question, only 14 percent said yes, while 86 percent answered no.

Those who claimed to have personal knowledge of graft were further asked: “What did you do about it?”

An overwhelming majority (81 percent) said they kept quiet about it; 6 percent said they filed a complaint; 5 percent said they refused to take part in it; 4 percent said they told others about the corruption; 2 percent admitted they also took part in it; while 1 percent said they stopped it.

“The option to keep silent may appear to be the most reasonable action to take in the light of the experiences of whistle-blowers in publicized cases,” Pulse Asia said, citing the case of Rodolfo Lozada Jr. in the NBN-ZTE controversy.

Pulse Asia noted that in its survey in August 2003, only 58 percent of those with personal knowledge of corruption said they would keep quiet.

National concern

A total of 45 percent of Filipinos cited graft and corruption as among the national issues that should be immediately addressed by the Arroyo administration. The figure was higher than in July (31 percent) and October (36 percent) last year.

Majority of Filipinos (53 percent) were likewise critical of the Arroyo administration’s efforts in curbing corruption, while only 21 percent were appreciative of its anti-graft initiatives. About a fourth (26 percent) were ambivalent on the matter.

The survey was conducted from Feb. 2 to Feb. 15 using face-to-face interviews with 1,200 adults in Metro Manila, the rest of Luzon, Visayas and Mindanao. It had a margin of error of plus-minus 3 percentage points.

Among the issues dominating the headlines during the survey period were the alleged bribery of several officials from the Department of Justice and Philippine Drug Enforcement Agency in relation to a drug case, the rigged bidding of road projects funded by the World Bank, the planned automation of the 2010 elections, the closure of distressed companies and the mass layoffs of workers here and abroad. Kate Pedroso, Inquirer Research