Businessmen have rated the Office of the Vice President (OVP) as the worst-performing government agency because of allegations of corruption being hurled at Vice President Jejomar Binay and his family.
In the Second Semester 2015 Makati Business Club (MBC) Executive Outlook Survey, the ranking of Binay’s office plunged by 31 notches from last year’s poll to rank last among the 64 government agencies assessed.
The OVP had the lowest net satisfaction rating of -76.3, the survey showed.
“Considering the huge drop from 2014, this certainly reflects the concern of businessmen over the corruption charges against the Vice President and his son, who is the mayor of Makati,” MBC executive director Peter Angelo V. Perfecto said in a text message on Thursday.
“Corruption has always been a priority concern for doing business in the Philippines. Hence [business expects the VP, as the second-highest leader of the land], to also lead the fight against corruption and not be a party to it,” Perfecto said.
Among the other worst performers were the Department of Transportation and Communications, which ranked 63rd with a net satisfaction rating of -61.9; Bureau of Customs, 62nd (-55.6); Department of Agriculture, 63rd (-46.7), and the Energy Regulatory Commission, 60th (-42.4).
The agencies whose rankings most improved were the Senate, which jumped 26 notches to rank 36th this year; the House of Representatives, which climbed 13 places to rise to 48th; the Department of Trade and Industry, Board of Investments, the Office of the Ombudsman, and the Department of Budget and Management, each of which rose 11 places to rank 7th, 9th, 15th and 39th, respectively.
A Senate blue ribbon subcommittee and the Office of the Ombudsman are investigating charges of corruption against Binay stemming from alleged overpricing of infrastructure projects during his three terms as mayor of Makati City.
The Vice President’s son, current Makati Mayor Jejomar Erwin Binay Jr., is facing similar charges in the Senate and the Ombudsman.
Father and son deny any wrongdoing, but the scandal has already cost the Vice President the lead in the voters’ preference polls for the 2016 presidential election, and the mayor has been suspended for six months by the Ombudsman.
The MBC findings stood in sharp contrast to the latest Social Weather Stations (SWS) and Pulse Asia public satisfaction polls.
The June SWS satisfaction survey showed Binay with a “good” +42 percent rating, an 11-point improvement from +31 percent in March.
Pulse Asia’s June survey gave Binay 58 percent, up from 48 percent in March.
OVP: Noted
The OVP said Thursday night that it was taking note of the MBC survey.
“We hope the perception of the Office of the Vice President by foreign and local businessmen who make up the MBC has not been colored by their individual preference for certain candidates they consider probusiness,” Joey Salgado, a spokesman for the Vice President and head of the OVP media office, said in a statement.
Salgado said the OVP was not expecting the recognition being accorded by the MBC to performers, because the Vice President’s office “serves the poor who have no money for medicines or payment in hospitals as well as families of overseas Filipino workers who have no capacity to get lawyers.”
“Despite its budget limitations, the OVP has provided assistance to thousands of indigents who cannot afford the cost of medical care that is readily accessible to MBC members,” Salgado said.
“And while we do welcome an honest appraisal of our work, for the OVP, we are satisfied more by the simple gestures of thanks from those whom we have served—a letter of thanks from an OFW awaiting repatriation, a warm embrace and the words [of gratitude] from a grateful mother. [Such gestures are enough for us],” he said.
Senior executives
The latest MBC Executive Outlook Survey polled senior business executives of 67 corporations and other entities from July 6 to Aug. 7 to assess the performance of government agencies from July 2014 to July 2015.
Respondents represented 16.6 percent of the MBC’s 404 corporate members.
During the period covered by the survey, the United Nations Permanent Court of Arbitration in The Hague commenced hearing the Philippines’ challenge to China’s intrusions into the West Philippine Sea; Police Director Ricardo Marquez took over as chief of the Philippine National Police; President Aquino delivered his fifth and final State of the Nation Address; and the President endorsed Interior Secretary Mar Roxas as the administration’s candidate in the 2016 presidential election.
Fourth year for BSP
The survey results showed that MBC members deemed the Bangko Sentral ng Pilipinas (BSP) the best-performing agency, giving it a net satisfaction rating of 90.8, because of its satisfactory work in maintaining the country’s macroeconomic and financial stability despite external threats.
This is the fourth consecutive year that the BSP has topped the survey.
The Philippine Economic Zone Authority, which got a score of 84.4, ranked second, followed by the Department of Tourism (81.8); Department of Foreign Affairs (78.8); and the Philippine Atmospheric, Geophysical and Astronomical Services Administration (78.8).
Top 10
Rounding up the Top 10 best-performing agencies are the Department of Finance, which took the sixth place with a score of 72.7; Department of Trade and Industry (69.7); Securities and Exchange Commission (69.2); Board of Investments (68.3), and Civil Service Commission (61.3).
Twenty-four agencies, however, received negative net satisfaction ratings.
Making their debut in the survey were the Governance Commission for GOCCs, which ranked 29th; National Telecommunications Commission, 49th; Metropolitan Waterworks and Sewerage System, 58th; and Energy Regulatory Commission, 60th.–With a report from Christine O. Avendaño
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