Fewer Filipinos yielding to ‘small scale’ bribery – poll

MANILA, Philippines – There are fewer Filipinos who give grease money to facilitate government transactions, the results of a government survey show.

The same poll results also show, however, that poor families are more likely to give in to solicited bribes to avail of social services.

These are among the key findings of the 2013 National Household Survey on Experience with Corruption in the Philippines released by the Office of the Ombudsman on Tuesday, November 25.

The survey, a rider to the 2013 Annual Poverty Indicators Survey conducted by the Philippine Statistics Authority, covered 10,864 respondent-families, representative of the country’s 21.9 million families nationwide.

The survey measured the respondents’ actual experience in small-scale corruption, particularly in bribery or “facilitation money.” It also identified public services vulnerable to corruption, and whether the bribes were initiated by the receiver or the giver.

‘Poor give bribes to get social services’

Based on the survey report, one in 20 families, or 5%, with at least one transaction with a government office claimed to have been asked for grease money, and acceded to the demand.

The Ombudsman said this represents a drop from the 2010 survey figures, where two in 20 families or 10% admitted giving bribes.

The survey report showed that the number of families who gave grease money for payment of taxes and duties shrank to 0.5% in 2013 from  6.1 % in 2010;  2.3 % from 9.9%  for access to justice; and  2.1% from 10.3%  for registry documents and licenses.

The survey report also said that poor families seeking social services are more likely to give bribes to public servants than those transacting services such as securing registry documents and licenses, accessing justice, and paying taxes and duties.

One in 20 families or 5% of families admitted giving bribes to avail of social services in 2013 – higher than the 4.1% reported in 2010. 

The social services listed in the survey include education, health care, social security, employment, livelihood and subsidies.

The Ombudsman said the survey report “surmised that bribes were given by lower income families to get an assurance that they will receive the services they need” and “at the behest of government officials.”

‘Shift in bribery practice’

The survey report also said that among public servants, those from agencies involved in processing registry documents and licenses are more likely to solicit bribes.

“A notable observation by the Office of the Ombudsman is the seeming shift in the bribery practice—from supply-driven to demand-driven. In 2010, bribery was initiated by the givers (3 out of 4 families), while in 2013, government officials solicited bribes (7 out of 10),” the Ombudsman said.

The 2013 survey report said that 5.3% of families who were asked for bribes reported the incident to the proper authorities – higher than in 2010, when only 0.8% of families reported the crime.

The top reason cited by the respondents for not reporting a solicited bribe was the incident was not worth reporting or the amount involved was too small (59%). The others were fear of reprisal (24%) and the lack of time to report (21%). – Rappler.com