...the PH corruption index ranking

PH rises in 'corruption perception' rankings

 

By Kim Arveen Patria

Yahoo! Southeast Asia Newsroom

Wed, Dec 5, 2012

 

AFP Relax - Makati City, Metro Manila, Philippines

The Philippines has been ranked 105th out of 176 countries (2011: ranked 129th) in the "Corruption Perception Index" put out by anti-corruption coalition Transparency International.


The government's efforts at curbing corruption seems to have borne fruit as the Philippines moved up a global ranking of countries based on perception on corruption.

The Philippines has been ranked 105th out of 176 countries in the "Corruption Perception Index" put out by anti-corruption coalition Transparency International.

This compares to its ranking of 129th out of 183 countries in the 2011 list.

The Philippines scored 34 out of 100 in the composite index, which is based on "a combination of surveys and assessments of corruption, collected by a variety of reputable institutions," the report said.

A score of zero means that a country is perceived as "highly corrupt" and 100 means it is perceived as "very clean."

Last year, the Philippines got a composite index score of 2.6 out of 10, where 0 means it is perceived as "highly corrupt and 10 as "very clean."

"Governments need to integrate anti-corruption actions into all aspects of decision-making," Transparency International said.

"They must prioritize better rules on lobbying and political financing, make public spending and contracting more transparent, and make public bodies more accountable," it added.

This, as it noted that corruption "translates into human suffering" and "generates popular anger."

Commenting on the report, Presidential Spokesperson Edwin Lacierda said the improvement is "an affirmation of the efforts to strengthen institutions, provide deterrents against corrupt practices, and hold accountable those who have used power for personal gain."

The administration of President Benigno Aquino III, however, "acknowledges that the anti-corruption drive remains a work in progress," Lacierda said.

"Transparency needs to be instituted across all government agencies, whether on the national or local level. There are still bumps that need to be evened out for the playing field to be truly leveled. In many cases, justice remains to be served," he added.

The Philippines shared the 105th spot with Algeria, Armenia, Bolivia, Gambia, Kosovo and Mali.

Among the nine Southeast Asian countries, the Philippines was the fifth perceived to be least corrupt.

Ranked higher than the Philippines were Singapore, which ranked 5th globally; Brunei (46th); Malaysia; (54th) and Thailand (88th).

The country, however, performed better than Indonesia (118th), Vietnam (123rd), Cambodia (157th), and Laos (160th).

Denmark, Finland and New Zealand are perceived to be the least corrupt countries this year, sharing the top spot in the ranking.

Rounding out the top 10, meanwhile, are Sweden, Singapore, Switzerland, Australia, Norway, Canada and the Netherlands.

At the bottom of the list are Somalia, North Korea, Afghanistan, Sudan, Myanmar, Uzbekistan, Turkmenistan, Iraq, Venezuela, Haiti, Chad and Burundi.

...the world's most emotional societies

 

PH named 'most emotional society' in global list

By Kim Arveen Patria

Yahoo! Southeast Asia Newsroom

22 November 2012

 

Pinoy fans show a variety of emotions during a football game in Manila. (File Photo by Marlo Cueto, NPPA Images)

 

 

It has been dubbed as a "bright spot" amid a global slowdown and a "rising tiger" in Southeast Asia, and now the Philippines is also deemed the best in a criteria money can't buy: emotions.

This, as the Philippines is named "most emotional society" in over 140 countries surveyed by U.S. pollster Gallup, a Businessweek report Wednesday said.

Asked questions aimed at determining recently felt emotions, 60 percent of Filipino respondents answered "yes."

But that doesn't necessarily make most Pinoys drama queens, as it could also easily mean that they are the clowns.

Among the questions in the Gallup survey, Businessweek said, are: "Did you feel well rested yesterday? Were you treated with respect all day yesterday? Did you smile or laugh a lot yesterday?"
 

Respondents were also asked if they experienced enjoyment, physical pain, worry, sadness, stress or anger "during a lot" of the previous day.

Next to the Philippines in terms of feelings are El Salvador, where 57 percent admit to expriencing a lot of emotions; Bahrain, 56 percent; and Oman, 55 percent.

Tied at 55 percent "yes" are Chile, Costa Rica, Guatamala, Bolivia, Ecuador, Dominican Republic, Peru, Nicaragua and the U.S.

Singapore, meanwhile, emerged as the "most emotionless" society with only 36 percent of respondents saying they experienced a lot of feelings in the previous day.

It was followed by Georgia and Lithuania at 37 percent; and Russia, Madagascar, Ukraine, Belarus, Kazahkstan, Nepal and Kyrgystan, which are tied at 38 percent.

Earlier this year, the Philippines figured in the group of countries deemed "happy" in a separate global survey dubbed the "Happy Planet Index."

The country ranked 25th in the latest Happy Planet list, dropping from being 14th in 2009, with an index score of 52.4.

Meanwhile, official government measure of happiness was pegged at 66.2 index points in 2010, down from 67.24 in 2008.

Pinoys are happiest in the areas of education, love life, friends, family and work, data from the National Statistical Coordination Board showed.

However, Filipinos think that the "most important" sources of happiness are family, health, religion or spiritual work, work as well as peace and security.

...the PH Microfinance ranking

Philippines 4th In Microfinance Ranking

 

 

EIU Report

By CHINO S. LEYCO

October 26, 2012

 

Manila Bulletin  The Philippines has ranked fourth in an annual global survey on microfinance business environment, based on the Economist Intelligence Unit's (EIU) report, citing the country's stable market.

According to the report, the country scored 63.3 points, up by 4.8 points, or two notches higher compared with last year's Global Microscope on the Microfinance Business Environment report.

The Philippines ranked fourth out of 55 countries in an annual global survey, trailing behind Peru (79.8 points), Bolivia (71.8 points), and Pakistan (67.4 points).

The Microscope 2012 survey was conducted in the 12 months ending in June.

EIU explained the rankings were based on regulatory framework and practices, in which the Philippines was placed on top along with Peru; and the supporting institutional framework, wherein the country ranked 15 along with Brazil, Nicaragua, and Uruguay.

The survey also noted the "stability" of microfinance markets, if they are vulnerable to any political shocks.

“The Bangko Sentral ng Pilipinas continues to promote an enabling environment for microfinance, seeing it as one of its key poverty reduction efforts,” the report read.

The survey has also recognized key efforts of the BSP such as increasing the ceiling for microfinance loans to P300,000 from P150,000 and the lower house's approved measure allowing foreign ownership of up to 40 percent in rural banks.

The proposed measure, however, remains pending in the Senate.

In January, the BSP approved a microfinance loan called “microfinance plus” that microenterprises and small businesses can avail of to fund their expanding operations, allowing borrowers to take out a maximum of P300,000 to fund their growing business.

Microfinance, generally, has originally intended to mean financing for microenterprises or small livelihood activities but the BSP has since expanded the loan products to include microfinance housing, micro-agri loans, micro-insurance and micro-deposits.

For all loans, it starts with P150,000 up to a maximum of P300,000. Currently, there are 202 microfinance institutions operating in the Philippines.

..the prexy

DFA: PHL assumes presidency of LMMC until 2012

GMANews – 08 jUNE 2011

The Philippines has assumed the presidency of the Group of Like-Minded Megadiverse Countries (LMMC) for 2011 to 2012 during a meeting in Canada.

The LMMC is a negotiating bloc of 19 countries that harbor 70 percent of the Earth’s biological resources.

“[The Philippine assumption of the LMMC presidency is] a vote of confidence in our stewardship of our bio-resources and our country’s environmental programs," Foreign Affairs Secretary Albert del Rosario said in a statement Tuesday

The DFA said the group met in Montreal in preparation for the “First Meeting of the Intergovernmental Committee on the Nagoya Protocol on Access and Benefits Sharing of Genetic Resources in Montreal" from June 6 to 10.

In the opening statement delivered by the Philippines, the LMMC called for immediate collaboration on measures to operationalize the Nagoya Protocol, an agreement that establishes more predictable conditions for access to genetic resources.

The Nagoya Protocol, adopted in October 2010, stemmed from the UN Convention on Biological Diversity, which the Philippines ratified on Jan. 3, 2007.

The LMMC was established in 2002 when 17 countries rich in biodiversity banded themselves together to promote their collective interests in the preservation and sustainable use of biological resources and aims to protect traditional knowledge.

“The Philippines has about 7,000 endemic plant, mammal, bird, reptile, amphibian, and fish species, and is one of the few nations that is, in its entirety, a megadiverse country and has enacted an access and benefit-sharing law in 1995," the DFA said.

The group’s members include Bolivia, Brazil, China, Colombia, Costa Rica, Democratic Republic of Congo, Ecuador, Guatemala, India, Indonesia, Iran, Kenya, Madagascar, Malaysia, Mexico, Peru, Philippines, South Africa and Venezuela. — JE/VS, GMA News