MANILA, Philippines — Forty-six percent of Filipinos believe President Aquino failed in fulfilling his campaign promise of curbing corruption in the government, a survey conducted by the Church-run Radio Veritas have shown.
But some Church officials believe that Mr. Aquino could still “redeem himself” and may use his remaining year in the office to make good his promise.
“One year is still a lot of time to redeem himself. Madami pa magagawa, may bukas pa (A lot can still be done, there is still tomorrow),” said Novaliches Emeritus Bishop Teodoro Bacani in a press briefing announcing the findings of the Veritas Truth Survey regarding public perception on corruption in the government.
“His government should prosecute corrupt people regardless if they’re belonging to the opposition or they’re his allies. Otherwise, people will doubt if he is really serious in his administration’s anti-corruption drive. Iisipin ng mga tao nililinis lang ba nila ang kalaban para wala nang kalaban? (People would think, ‘Are they getting rid of their enemies so they won’t have enemies?’)” Bacani added.
The poll, called the Veritas Truth Survey, was conducted using face-to-face interviews with 1,200 respondents randomly chosen nationwide. The survey had a margin of error of plus/minus 3 percent.
Conducted during the second quarter of 2015, the survey showed that only 13 percent of Filipinos believed that Aquino succeeded in fighting corruption in the government.
Forty-one percent, however, were uncertain whether the Aquino administration’s anti-corruption programs were effective.
“Only 13 percent believe that the President’s fight against corruption is successful. This saddened me. We have high expectations because this was his platform of governance but many Filipinos think he failed or were unsure if he succeeded in his campaign,” Bacani said, adding that this should serve as a wake up call to the government.
Bacani added that while the present administration’s track record against corruption has been “slighly better” than that of former President and now Pampanga Rep. Gloria Macapagal Arroyo, “it still leaves much to be desired.”
“Si Gloria tinimbang pero malaking kulang. Si PNoy tinimbang pero kulang pa din (Gloria was weighed and was found seriously wanting. PNoy was weighed but still found wanting),” he added.
Broken down by region, majority of those from Luzon or 53 percent and 48 percent from Mindanao said they did not agree that the President successfully curbed corruption, while 47 percent from the Visayas said they were unsure.
The same poll showed the government agencies that have been perceived to be corrupt. Among the three branches of government, Congress was perceived by Filipinos to be the most corrupt, with 49 percent of respondents saying the Senate was corrupt, followed by the House of Representatives at 48 percent.
Cabinet secretaries, meanwhile, were perceived to be corrupt by 41 percent of respondents while the judiciary was seen as corrupt by 40 percent of respondents.
The Office of the Vice President ranked fifth most corrupt branch of government, according to 38 percent of respondents.
Thirty percent of respondents saw the Office of the President as corrupt.
Tying with the Office of the President in sixth place in the corruption rating ranking were local government units (LGU) in the provinces.
Local government units at the city/municipal and barangay levels placed 7th and 8th, respectively, in the “corrupt rating ranking.” SFM