MORE Filipinos think they can help reduce corruption, according to a series of surveys conducted by the Social Weather Stations in September and December last year but released by the Presidential Anti-Graft Commission (PAGC) only yesterday.

The surveys, commissioned by the PAGC for use in formulating strategies to elicit active public support for its graft-prevention campaign, showed a three- percent increase in the number of people who considered themselves capable of doing something against corruption.

The three-percent increase was the difference between the September and December surveys among people who disagreed to the test statement “A person like me cannot do anything to reduce corruption in the government.”

“Thirty-one percent disagreed to that statement in the September survey, and 34 percent in the December poll.  We are happy for the three-percent rise considering the gap of barely three months between the two surveys,” said PAGC chair Constancia de Guzman.

“That means there are more and more people out there who can possibly help the PAGC and its partners in fighting corruption,” De Guzman added.

The September survey had 51 percent virtually affirming their helplessness against graft.  This number dipped to only 45 percent some three months later.

At the same time, the number of undecided rose from 17 percent in September to 19 percent in December.

“It shows an increasing number of people who think they can do something against corruption in their own little way, which is what the PAGC needs to attain its goal.  We need the support of every sector and every individual, not only in penalizing the grafters, but also in preventing public servants from committing the crime in collaboration with the very people they serve. Everyone can actually help by not giving bribes or taking part in any corrupt activity. Those who think they can help know that they can be part of the solution and not of the problem,” De Guzman said, referring to the PAGC’s “Integrity Development Action Plan” or IDAP, currently being implemented in 135 national and regional government agencies, including bureaus.

Geared to reduce and ultimately eliminate corrupt practices in government, IDAP involves four sets of specific anti-graft measures -- prevention, education, investigation and enforcement (deterrence), and strategic partnership.

IDAP was the product of the first-ever Presidential Anti-Corruption Workshop held in December 2004 and led to the strengthening of the PAGC for its anti-graft role in the Medium-Term Philippine Development Plan of the Macapagal-Arroyo administration.

“The implementation of IDAP, which resulted in significant improvements in the delivery of frontline services of government agencies, must have contributed to the increase in the number of those who disagreed to the survey’s test statement,” De Guzman pointed out.

Net agreement to the test statement, or the percentage of those who agreed minus that of those who disagreed, was highest in Luzon at positive 17 and lowest in Mindanao at positive 2.  Metro Manila scored positive 6, and the Visayas positive 10.

The lowest net agreement rate came from age groups 18 to 24 at negative 2, followed by those aged 25 to 34 at positive 7.

Males also had a lower net agreement of positive 7.

Source: Peoples Taliba, August 18, 2008