Name: Jimenez, Andrea Nicole L.

Subject: Readings in Philippine History Topic: Bribery and Graft and

Sec: 39 Prof: Marietta Dublin Date: May 16, 2021

Bribery, Graft, and Corruption Status: Terminal

“With great power, comes great responsibility”, one of the cliché quotes that we know of but also one of the truest one we
can rely on. Having power is not something one can boast, it’s something one should be responsible of, for having it is not a reward,
it’s a job that has a purpose one needs to uphold responsibly, and it is using it for a greater cause. However, certain challenges come
along with it, the overwhelming power one have can eventually lead to abuse of power due to the idea that it can be used to one’s
advantage, which is now what we call, bribery, graft, and corruption. The view of bribery, graft, and corruption is that it’s a “cultural
and psychological phenomenon in a country, marked by incompatible legal and cultural norms” (Tapales, 1995). In much simpler
words, it refers to the irresponsible use of power of those who sit on the privileged chair, using the money of the city or the country,
basically of the people for own pleasure. A lot are aware about the said problem but for some reason no solution has been done
correctly about it which then resulted in becoming the biggest and longest standing problem in the Philippines.

Looking back at the history of corruption in the Philippines, reports of bribery, graft and corruption all came from the
political regime particularly those having the highest position. Naturally, the power we are indicating on this one is the power to
control people, which is believed to be the ones that has the position in the government, thus, it is safe to say that the origin of where
corruption actually began is when the Philippine started having political views after being colonized, specifically by the Spaniards. At
the time of Spanish colonization, Philippines is what they described as politically undeveloped. “Despite the claims of some
contemporary Spanish observers and some Filipino historians that kings and large political confederations existed, it is the accepted
view that there were no political communities larger than the barangays.” (Endriga, 1979). Barangays were then undertaken and
mediated by their “datu” through which it has been perceived from such communities of “possessing almost absolute authority, and
exercised the functions of a judge, as well as of legislator. In these communities a distinct system of law had arisen, distinguishable
from the customary law of the larger society and consisting of interpretations by the authorities of the barangay as well as the rules
legislated by the particular datu to meet local conditions or particular problems,” (Endriga, 1979)

By then, on the pre-conquest Philippines, the political stage advanced, conception of public interest has been incorporated,
therefore increasing the responsibility and obligation of the datu, having the role of someone who preserves peace, by and large, the
datu took cognizance of debate upon the appeal of the wronged party for different reasons: assurance from savagery, change of
a damage, the authorization of a claim, such as an unpaid obligation. It was moreover likely that the datu took the activity in bringing
the parties together. For the most part, he endeavored to have the parties concur on a settlement; on the off chance that none was
arrived at, an examination was conducted and the judgment based upon the prove. In criminal cases, a fine was more often than
not forced; in respectful cases, the installment of the commitment was required. In genuine offenses where
the punishment was passing, the condemned might inquire for commutation to bondage. The fines forced, in spite of the fact
that administered by custom, seem moreover be self-assertive. Since customary law cleared out a great deal of watchfulness to the
judge and agent of the law, typically the area where corrupt behavior may conceivably have emerged. Illustrations of
these openings are the fines imposed as punishments for wrongdoing and the tributes that the lower classes were assumed to pay.
(Endriga, 1979) Thereafter, corruption started and never ended, making the problem an even bigger one through the years.
 During the reign of President Ferdinand Marcos in the late 1980’s the Philippines was named as the country that has the
biggest corruption of all time. (Moratalla, 1999). Marcos was known for his brutal leadership, specifically with him implementing the
Martial Law, but he was also known for his corruption, or to describe his corruption regime “kleptocracy and plunder”. But even with
all the evidences presented for his abuse of power, he was not punished at all for stealing millions of the country’s wealth. This just
goes to show that the Philippines at the time lack punishment and sense of accountability for those in the government doing the said
act.

More known cases of corruption also from the former presidents’ Joseph Estrada and Gloria Macapagal Arroyo, both were
proven guilty for plundering millions of the country’s wealth just like what Marcos did, the only difference is that Estrada and Arroyo
were both punished and put into jail which served as their punishment unlike Marcos who didn’t have any before. The progress here
was remarkable for the Philippines finally developed a punishment in order to decrease the growth of graft and corruption, however,
it’s not enough to completely stop and prevent it to spread amongst all politician in the regime, thus the issue continued until now.

Latest corruption report on the country today is the issue of the P15 Billion that PhilHealth lost, as oer the statement of the
said government agency, the P15 Billion wasn’t lost due to corruption, they believe that certain individual pocketed the money.
However, the government and the people had a hard time believing it and still sticks to the fact that there’s been a corruption.
President Duterte then ordered for an investigation with the said issue but until now there is still no update as to what really happened
with the P15 Billion.

Studies were done in order to identify and understand fully what constitutes corrupt behaviors and know what should be done
to stop them once and for all. It was later found out that causes of corruption were low salaries, red tape, low probability of detection
and punishment, cultural factors, and weak political will. What perceived then to be the extension of the problem is by examining
these three indicators: World Bank’s Control of Corruption indicator, Transparency International’s Corruption Perceptions Index
(CPI), and annual surveys from 1995 to 2016 conducted by the Hong Kong-based Political and Economic Research Consultancy
(PERC). (Quah, 2018)

Through the years, the solution the government uses to combat corruption is through using different Anti-Corruption
Agencies or ACA’s, which also a problem due to the fact that the government rely on ineffective ACA’s too much that doesn’t help in
solving the actual problem, thus corruption still continues to spread like a virus on the regime. There are two existing anti-corruption
mechanisms the country use ----- formal and informal mechanisms. “Formal mechanisms [are the] laws and regulations [implemented
by the] government to prosecute, investigate, and/or prevent corrupt practices. [On the other hand], informal mechanisms [are those]
located outside the government like non-government organizations and civil groups.” (Martinez, 1999)

As the current president, President Duterte promised the people of the Philippines that he will not tolerate any corruption in
his regime, he’s been ordering investigations but until now there is no actual results from it yet. Obviously speaking, until today
bribery, graft and corruption are still happening even not being visible in our naked eyes, it’s happening behind our back, and clearly
until now there are still no effective solutions to finally combat it.

If not given an immediate effective solution, bribery, graft and corruption will never stop even in the future, those with power
would only become more confident to continue what the previous generations started, this will continue to spread like the virus
Covid19, the only difference is that we are already immune with the virus of corruption.

References:
Quah, J. (2018). Combatting Corruption

Moratalla, N. (1999). Graft and Corruption: The Philippine Experience. Resource Material Series No. 56. P 509-523.

https://www.peacepalacelibrary.nl/ebooks/files/no56.pdf#page=509

Endriga, J. (1979, July-October). Historical Notes on Graft and Corruption in the Philippines. Philippine Journal 0/Public

Administration, Vol. XXIII, Nos. 8 & 4. https://pssc.org.ph/wp-content/pssc- archives/Philippine%20Journal%20of

%20Public%20Administration/1979/Num%203- 4/06_Historical%20Notes%20on%20Graft%20and%20Corruption%20in%20the

%20Phils..pdf

Martinez, R. (1999). Strategies of Corruption Prevention in the Philippines: Mobilising Civil Society. Asia Pacific School of

Economics and Management Working Papers. https://crawford.anu.edu.au/pdf/wp99/gov99-4.pdf

PhilHealth: No ₱15-B lost to corruption. (2021, January 4). https://cnnphilippines.com/news/2021/1/4/philhealth-no-P15B-lost-to-

corruption.html?fbclid=IwAR1xrlliF0U7nTxWa1boeC7jrSaIDHrNMC1jV1c5AZ1m9t9Yfu855yC37wE