The Philippines finished lower in the annual 2020 worldwide corruption index by Transparency International, with the watchdog also saying the government was doing wrong things in handling the current coronavirus disease 2019 (Covid-19) pandemic.

The 2020 Corruption Perception Index of anti-corruption watchdog Transparency International showed the Philippines managed to retain its low score of 34 out 100 points, but slipped to 115^th out of 180 countries. This represents a drop of two notches from the 113^th place of the Philippines in the 2019 corruption perception index.

The country was ranked at No. 99 in the 2019 index.

Besides saying the government’s campaign against corruption remained “stagnant,” Transparency International pointed out defects on how it is handling the Covid-19 pandemic. It further said that corruption had a telling effect on how governments are able to respond to the pandemic.

“With a score of 34, efforts to control corruption in the Philippines mostly appear stagnant since 2012.  The government’s response to Covid-19 has been characterized by abusive enforcement and major violations of human rights and media freedom,” Transparency International said.

“Corruption diverts funds from essential services such as healthcare, leaving countries around the world vulnerable and under-prepared to deal with public health crises,” it added.

For the 2020 study, the Philippines was tied for 115th spot with Moldova, and was just below five countries — Bosnia and Herzegovina, Panama, Mongolia, North Macedonia —all tied at the 111th spot.  The Philippines, however, was ahead of six other countries with the same mark at the 117th ranking or Egypt, Eswatini, Zambia, Nepal, Sierra Leone, and Ukraine.

“With a score of 34, efforts to control corruption in the Philippines mostly appear stagnant since 2012.  The government’s response to Covid-19 has been characterized by abusive enforcement and major violations of human rights and media freedom,” Transparency International said.

In Southeast Asia, the Philippines was ahead of Laos (134th), Myanmar (137th) and Cambodia (160th), but was below Thailand and Vietnam (tied at 104th), Indonesia (102nd), Timor-Leste (86th), Malaysia (57th), Brunei Darussalam (35th), and Singapore (3rd).