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Will Philippines New Plan to Fight Some of Asia's Worst Corruption Work?

Ralph Jennings

   TAIPEI, TAIWAN - Two measures proposed by Philippine President Rodrigo
   Duterte this week will make another dent in some of Asia's most
   entrenched corruption but not solve the problem, experts say.

   Philippine President Rodrigo Duterte proposed Monday a new method of
   taxation along with the eradication of customs brokers-- people who
   help traders ship goods in or out of the country. Duterte has made
   corruption a top-drawer issue since taking office in 2016.
   The Philippines ranked 99 out of 180 countries on the nongovernmental
   organization Transparency International's 2018 "corruption perceptions"
   index, where higher scores go to cleaner countries. Corruption, though
   easing, remains stubborn in the Philippines because businesses as well
   as officials from local to central government agencies are in on it.
   "There's no system where human beings cannot creatively go around,"
   said Eduardo Araral, associate professor at the National University of
   Singapore's public policy school. "There's always some loophole, so
   it's just a question of whether the alternative system is slightly
   better than the old one."
   Old issue
   Corruption in the Philippines stands out because it's "collusive" and
   involves stakeholders throughout business-government relations, Araral
   said.

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