Six Percent Drop in Bribes from 2010 to 2011?

[Rusty Ferguson]

I just read a story in the Manila Bulletin that I have trouble believing.

An Ombudsman (they are known to crack down on corruption pretty hard from time to time) is saying that bribery fell by six percent from 2010 to 2011.

Huge problem is that there were two different studies. One that appeared to be an independent source and one a Philippines government source.

While I do think that corruption is a lot less frequent than many claim I don't buy a six percent drop over the course of a year.

Ten percent would be pretty high too!

I saw one expat say "I love a corrupt system as long as I can afford to buy my way through it." That's pretty darn honest and I found it funny so it stuck with me.

I can only remember one incident where someone attempted to offer me special treatment for a special payment. It was a tempting offer, I will admit.

I'd say the frequency of corruption here is higher than in the USA but the dollars in the USA are likely for MUCH more. I've heard of things like skipping some of the requirements for getting a DL or even moving ahead in line. Getting things handled now instead of hours from now. I do think I have paid customs duties that were not due on several occasions but it has been four years since I've paid any customs duties. I'd ship Jessie clothes from the USA and they'd charge me custom duties at the post office.

I think if you get into business, you're far more likely to see it there but I'm not sure. People say stuff all the time that turns out to be false.

But if it was 16% in 2010 it wasn't 10% in 2011. Problem is, you need to know what questions where asked. Pollsters often skew results intentionally by the way they ask questions. A poll by a corruption fighting group would be prone to overstate numbers and the same poll by a government group would be more likely to understate them.

Its time for a poll here. Completely unscientific but will be interesting.

[Allen]

I got hit hit 3 times by traffic cops in the '86/'87 time period. Once bu a motorcycle cop on the road fro Olongapo to San Fernando and the entry to the Freeway. I was admittedly speeding and paid him directly to avoid going to court. The other two were in Manila at two different spots where the stop light had a turn arrow which I followed and a sign which said "No Turn" which was set where it was very hard to see. Same result, pay the cop the fine, but both were on weekends and I never bothered to see if the signs were still there on weekdays (:-
Allen