Study: 90% of Pinoys don't pay bribes

MANILA, Philippines - A majority of Filipinos do not pay bribes in exchange for government services and transactional favors, a survey of the National Statistics Office (NSO) revealed.

Commissioned by the Office of the Ombudsman in 2010, the results of the study showed that 90 percent of the respondents from 26,000 households nationwide do not pay bribes or grease money when transacting business in government.

This is lower than the 16 percent bribe incidence in the Philippines reported by Transparency International in the 2010 Global Corruption Barometer.

Results also indicated that those living in Southern Luzon are less likely to give bribes, while those living in the National Capital Region are least likely to volunteer giving grease money compared to those in other regions.

The Office of the Ombudsman said the low incidence could be attributed to reduced red tape in government agencies, improved service delivery and customer satisfaction, or non-tolerance of corruption.

Meanwhile, out of the 10 percent who personally experienced graft and corruption, one out of every four was asked for bribe money, while the rest voluntarily paid grease money even without being asked to.

“This means that most of the bribery incidence in government agencies occurred at the instance of the giver and not from government officials,” the Office of the Ombudsman said.

The Office of the Ombudsman added that 99 percent of those who have been asked to pay bribes or grease money do not report the incident to proper authorities.

The nationwide survey is in line with the 2010 Annual Poverty Indicators Survey conducted by the NSO more than a year ago and it seeks to measure the scale of corruption in the Philippines in terms of actual experience as opposed to mere perceptions or public opinions usually reported by local and international survey groups.