THE Philippine government has been ineffective in fully implementing its various laws penalizing corrupt public officials, a new report of the US State Department said.
A portion of the State Department’s 2022 Country Report on Human Rights Practices, which was released on March 20 this year, read: “The law provides criminal penalties for corruption by public officials, but the government did not implement these laws effectively, and officials frequently engaged in corrupt practices with impunity.”
The report said that while there are various offices to dissuade, if not totally stop, corruption in the government such as the Office of the Ombudsman, the Sandiganbayan and the Commission on Audit, “all three organizations were consistently allocated budgets below what they requested,” which have slowed down the investigation and prosecution of officials and employees suspected of engaging in fraudulent activities.
It noted that while the Ombudsman has successfully prosecuted more than 100 corruption cases, “officials continue to engage in corrupt practices with relative impunity.”
“The prolonged delays in the justice system reinforced the perception of impunity for the security forces and for national, provincial and local government actors accused of corruption and human rights abuses,” it said.
It cited the 20-year case of former Cebu 4th District Rep. Clavel Martinez and five other officials, including Martinez’ son, who were convicted in May 2022 on three counts of graft and theft of public funds and sentenced to lengthy prison terms, collectively fined a total of P24.4 million and ordered to reimburse the government in the amount of P14.4 million.
The charges against Clavano and her co-respondents were in relation to a case filed in 2002 for the questionable release of P24.4 million of the lawmaker’s Priority Development Assistance Fund or pork barrel to the Girl Scouts of the Philippines-Cebu.
“The convictions came 20 years after the crime and 10 years after charges were first filed,” the report said, noting that the delays are among the challenges that the Philippine government should address to boost its fight against corruption.
The US State Department also said there was a “sharp” decline in the exercise of the freedom of expression during the administration of former President Duterte, which made it difficult for the public to report and speak up against corrupt activities of government leaders.
The same US State Department report noted that harassment of left-leaning activists continues under the Marcos administration even as it noted that the Philippines is now more cooperative with global human rights organization compared to the previous administration.
“Leftist and left-leaning human rights activists continued to report harassment by local security forces, including arbitrary arrest and abuse of detainees by police and prison officials,” it said.
It added that while President Marcos Jr. has stated the country has no plans to rejoin the International Criminal Court, it still submits documents in response to the body’s move to resume its investigation into the bloody drug war of the Duterte administration.
Duterte withdrew the country’s membership in the ICC in 2019 after then ICC Specia Prosecutor Fatou Bensouda opened up a probe on his anti-drug crackdown that was roundly criticized by local and international human rights groups for the numerous deaths and abuses in its implementation.
The State Department said that while the Commission on Human Rights has been pursuing efforts to protect human rights in the Philippines, “it nonetheless lacked sufficient resources to investigate and follow up on all cases presented to its regional and subregional offices.”
The Philippines rose by just one spot — from 117 to 116 — in the 2021 Corruption Perception Index of Transparency International out of 180 countries and territories assessed.
The country scored highest in the Transparency International’s report against corruption in 2014 when it ranked 85 out of 175 countries and territories assessed.
