Palace blames businessmen bowing to bribery for corruption in PH

MANILA, Philippines — Businessmen tolerating bribery should be blamed for the persistence of corruption in the country.

This was presidential spokesperson Salvador Panelo’s response to a global survey that showed bribery and corruption were among the top disruptions in the country’s economy as both are on the rise since 2018.

“Do not complain of corruption when you yourselves are involved in them,” Panelo said in an interview in Malacañang.

“You can prosecute them. Ang problema tumatahimik kayo eh tapos (The problem is you stay mum then) you complain about corruption. If you keep it to yourselves, how would you eliminate corruption?” he added.

A survey by auditing firm PricewaterhouseCoopers showed that bribery and corruption increased in the country in the last two years.

Of the 101 businesses asked in the 2020 Global Economic Crime and Fraud Survey, 43 percent said they have encountered fraud at least two to five times while 10 percent experienced over six to 12 incidents of fraud.

“Kaya nagkakaroon ng (There is) corruption because you are cooperating with the corrupt people, ‘yun ang punto (that’s the point). Any administration will never succeed unless you on the ground are cooperating with this corrupt people,”Panelo said.

Panelo advised businessmen to report any incidents of bribery or corruption so that the government could act on it.

“The government will always be there to respond. But unless you tell them kung sinu-sino ‘yung mga ito (who these are), wala kang magagawa kasi hindi mo alam kung sino ang hahabulin mo (you won’t be able to do anything because you won’t know who to chase). That’s why we’ve been appealing to all the people, any act of corruption, any act of illegality, you tell the government so that we can immediately address them,” Panelo said.

KGA