Tracking Anti-Corruption Initiatives: Perceptions and Experiences in the Philippines

Tracking anti-corruption initiatives and strategic focus as perceived and experienced by four government agencies in Region XI showed that the government remains to be the main player in combating graft and corruption in the country. Political leadership and political will of leadership play crucial roles in combating corruption. The customs service was identified on top of the highly important institutional reforms and high importance was placed on transparency and a review on pay and incentives. Also high expectations were placed upon civil society participation, including corporate responsibility, community involvement, empirical surveys and scorecard. Tax simplification and fiscal discipline were also deemed highly important, while in terms of financial controls, emphasis were focused on procurement audit and financial reforms, budgetary control and treasury development. In legal reforms, ranked highly important were judicial independence and enforcement of visible grand corruption cases