The Lowdown on the Decrease in Bribes for Public Sector Contracts in Cagayan de Oro

Many people were baffled when President Gloria Arroyo publicly cited Mayor Vicente Emano during her sixth state-of-the-nation address (Sona) for the decrease in bribes given for public sector contracts in Cagayan de Oro in 2006 compared to last year.

The President said : "Progress demands good governance. I congratulate Dongkoy Emano for…reports [that] corruption in public contracts in Cagayan de Oro dropped from 65 percent last year to 38 percent this year."

Former Vice Mayor Tony Soriano asked," How can it be possible when the COA (Commission on Audit) just released its findings about the millions of pesos in unaccounted funds (in Cagayan de Oro)?" asked Soriano.

Well, Tony, remember you're in the Philippines, where everything is possible, like having two Filipinos conquer Mt. Everest at the same time.

Here's some salient points that people ought to know regarding the President's remarks on Hizzoner and the reported decrease in corruption:

1. The figures came from the SWS Surveys of Enterprises on Corruption dated 06 July 2006.

2. The SWS Surveys of Enterprises on Corruption have been undertaken, in close partnership with the Makati Business Club, within the Transparent Accountable Governance (TAG) project, which aims to promote transparency and accountability in government and to help build a counter-corruption culture. The TAG surveys were instrumental in the organization of the private sector Coalition Against Corruption in 2004.

3. The TAG surveys have been funded by The Asia Foundation from resources provided by the United States Agency for International Development. Findings described in this survey report do not necessarily reflect the views of TAF or USAID.

4. From Metro Manila in the first three rounds during 2000-2003, the TAG surveys added Metro Cebu and Metro Davao starting 2004, and Cavite-Laguna-Batangas (CALABA) and Cagayan de Oro-Iligan (CDO/I) starting 2005.

5. SWS has worked with local business associations in obtaining sampling frames, updating the survey agenda through focus groups, and disseminating the survey findings. SWS has worked in the Cagayan de Oro – Iligan City area with the Oro Chamber, Financial Executives Institute (FinEx-CDO), Oro Jaycees, Xavier University (XU) and Iligan Chamber CCIFII).

6. In each area, sampling is stratified into one-third large (total 231 companies in 2006) and two-thirds small/medium (469 companies in 2006), which are combined without weighting.

7. The previous year's sample of companies is approached again, with those unable to respond replaced by random drawings from the cumulative list of companies interviewed in earlier years.

8. The TAG surveys report the views of Filipino managers, unlike the surveys of foreign consulting firms used to derive international corruption indexes, which use the views of typically-expatriate managers of multinational firms.

9. Here's what the reports said exactly about the decrease in bribes for public sector contracts over the past year : The proportions of managers saying that "most" or "almost all" of the companies in their line of business give bribes to win public sector contracts declined in Metro Manila (46% in 2006 from 57% in 2003), in Metro Cebu (47% in 2006 from 62% in 2004), in Metro Davao (49% in 2006 from 57% in 2005), and in CDO/I (38% in 2006 from 65% in 2005). In CALABA it was 47%, unchanged from 2005.

10. From this, we can immediately discern the following:

10.1 The area covered by the survey is actually Cagayan de Oro-Iligan. Why the President chose to ignore Mayor Lawrence Cruz in her kudos? Good question.

10.2 In fairness to the report, it shows that the incidence of bribery for public sector contracts is now lowest in the Cagayan de Oro/Iligan area among the areas surveyed (38% vs. 46% in NCR, 47% in Metro Cebu and the CALABA area, and 49% in Metro Davao! Holy smokes! The body count from the DDS may be climbing any day now, kaulaw kang Mayor Digong!)

10.3 The report further shows that bribery incidence is not only lowest in the CDO/I area but also decreased by the largest margin over the past year! (-27% for 2005-2006 vs -16% for Metro Cebu over 2004-2006, -11% in NCR over 2003-2006, -8% in Metro Davao for 2005-2006 and unchanged in CALABA (still at 47% for 2005 and 2006).

10.4 While bribe giving may be the lowest among the areas surveyed and decreased the most over the past year, nevertheless, it still exists as shown by the 38 percent incidence in the latest survey.

So far so good, but now for what the report does not say:

1. It did not specify the role played by the local government in curbing bribe giving in public sector contracts. What the survey counted was the incidence of bribes the respondents gave to win their government contracts. So was the President fair in crediting Hizzoner for this accomplishment? Did she mean anything by failing to mention Iligan Mayor Lawrence Cruz's role in this truly laudable accomplishment?

2. It likewise did not specify the role played by the private sector in curbing bribe giving for public sector contracts in the CDO/I area. It's very possible that the local cooperators of this survey (Oro Chamber, Finex, Oro Jaycees, XU and CCIFII) played an even bigger role in curbing bribe giving by simply not putting up with the practice anymore! But no one talks about those things….

This particular statistic is a cause for celebration not only for the Mayor's Office for its being mentioned publicly in front of the whole nation, but for the entire business sector and civil society as well who helped bring down this figure to its present level.

The President is right in sharing and giving credit where it is due, but lest we get carried away by insincere back slapping, huzzas and hossanahs, it is wise to give pause and ponder on what Balay Mindanaw's Kaloy Manlupig had to say about the President's 6th Sona:

"Yes, she is correct in acknowledging our individual and collective victories as a nation. The almost total absence of national government's role/contribution in most of these victories, only drives home the point that the peoples and communities especially of Mindanaw CAN win victories by and for ourselves."

Enough said.

for more details, click the link to visit the SWS website:

http://www.sws.org.ph/pr060706.htm