A NEWS story in Malaya Business Insight says there is a recent survey among top chief executive officers (CEOs) of corporations operating in the Philippines about official corruption and the country’s move towards economic recovery.
Corruption could further delay the country’s economic recovery, according to a majority of the chief executive officers based on the findings of a survey commissioned by the Management Association of the Philippines (MAP).
The PwC MAP 2022 Philippine CEO survey conducted between July and August on 119 respondents showed 52 percent say it will take two to three years for the economy to recover and 40 percent say it would take a year or two.
‘The problem with official corruption is that it has taken deep roots in the political system, feeding on the culture of impunity, and breeding generations of leaders steeped in moral degradation because of a system that gave birth to them in the first place.’
Sixty-seven percent of the CEOs tagged corruption as the biggest threat to recovery followed by lower investments, 38 percent and political uncertainty.
PwC Philippines chairman Rick Danao said, “The perception of corruption alone erodes trust. Unless we address the root cause of corruption, we cannot really accelerate foreign direct investments for the country compared to neighbors Vietnam and Thailand. So that’s the t hope and that’s a prayer (that) we will be able to really build trust by addressing the root cause of corruption.”
The problem with official corruption is that it has taken deep roots in the political system, feeding on the culture of impunity, and breeding generations of leaders steeped in moral degradation because of a system that gave birth to them in the first place.
There are other items that will provide headwinds in the nation’s march towards recovery, and among these are high commodity prices, rise in inflation, high interest rates, problems in the supply chain, labor and wages.
We cannot afford to include in these challenges the issue of corruption, which has become a serious problem for the nation and has been with our social and official circles for a couple of decades now.
Everybody, not just the CEOs and the business community, should be concerned in fighting corruption.
