"While reform definitely requires leadership, it is a task for all society" - expert
BANGKOK (TrustLaw) - The fight against corruption has a better chance of working in the Philippines if it focuses more on the link between poverty and graft rather than any individual champion of the cause, an expert said.
"“Poverty is the nation’s number one problem and the clearest general consequence of corruption," said Michael Johnston, author of "Political and Social Foundations for Reform: Anti-Corruption Strategies for the Philippines".
"Poverty reduction is the clearest way to harness self-interest as a source of reform energy and to show Filipinos and Filipinas that this time reform is for real," he told TrustLaw in an interview.
Almost one third of the Philippines' population of 92 million lives below the poverty line. Experts say corruption occurs with impunity in the Southeast Asian nation, and is one of the major obstacles to developing its economy.
The Philippines is ranked 134 out of 178 countries in the 2010 Transparency International corruption perception index, in the same league as Nigeria and Sierra Leone.
Tackling this issue requires more than anti-corruption crusaders, said Johnston, who is also Charles A. Dana professor of political science at Colgate University in the United States.
"While reform definitely requires leadership, it is a task for all society," he said.
"If it depends on the strength of one or a few top people, it can deteriorate and regress once those people pass from the scene, unless citizens are confident in asserting their interests and rights and officials know they need to deal with those expectations."
Johnston has argued that the Philippines is marked by "oligarchs and clans" -- powerful families and their entourages plundering a weak state in a climate of uncertainty and insecurity.
Philippines President Benigno Aquino, son of two independence heroes, swept to power in May promising to fight endemic corruption and deliver honest and transparent government.
After two administrations dogged by allegations of corruption and mismanagement there is an enormous weight of public expectation for him to deliver.
Johnston pointed out that bringing corruption under control was, in places, due to a strong civil society, social values and political competition than just the fear of the law.
He said the strategy to fight corruption in the Philippines must include: consolidating anti-graft responsibilities which are now scattered among different agencies and equipping the merged agency with subpoena powers.
He also suggested among other things that tax codes be simplified and an anti-corruption curriculum be taught in schools.
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