Poll: Almost half of Pinoys think AFP is ‘most corrupt’ govt agency

(Updated 1:08 p.m.) Almost half of Filipinos think that the Armed Forces of the Philippines (AFP) is the “most corrupt" government agency at present due to various anomalies linked to some of its past officials, a survey by pollster Pulse Asia revealed Monday. About one in every two Filipinos (48.9 percent) perceived the AFP as the government institution where corruption is most prevalent, followed by the Philippine National Police, which a fourth of the survey’s 1,200 respondents labeled as most corrupt. The number of respondents who think the military is the most corrupt government agency rose from only 8.1 percent in February 2009 to 48.9 percent in March this year—an increase of more than 40 percentage points, according to Pulse Asia. GMA News Online contacted AFP spokesperson Brig. Gen. Jose Mabanta for military’s reaction on the Pulse Asia survey, but the official has yet to respond as of posting time. The Department of Public Works and Highways (DPWH), which was perceived as the most corrupt agency in early 2009, dropped to third place with 18.2 percent due to the “sizeable" increase in the corruption perception in the military. The survey was conducted from Feb. 24 to March 6 this year, when the congressional investigations on the alleged corruption involving former high-ranking military officials based on testimonies by former AFP budget officer George Rabusa and former state auditor Heidi Mendoza made headlines. The poll was conducted in Metro Manila, parts of Luzon, Visayas and Mindanao through face-to-face interviews. It has a margin of error of plus-or-minus three percent. ‘High’ awareness on AFP corruption The same survey also showed that there is a “high" public awareness regarding the alleged corruption in the military. Four out of every five respondents (81 percent) reported awareness of the issues hounding the military, particularly the accusations of “welcome and send-off gifts" given to military top brass, based on Rabusa’s testimonies. Pulse Asia attributed this high public awareness, which cuts across geographic areas and socio-economic classes, “to the extensive media coverage of the alleged corrupt practices within the military." Almost half of the respondents (47 percent), however, think that personalities in the congressional probe—including Mendoza and Rabusa themselves—are “equally not believable." A big majority (60 percent) of those who took part in the survey meanwhile said the congressional hearings on the alleged corruption on the military should continue. Only 33 percent of the respondents think that the issue on military corruption should be left to the courts, while a smaller portion (7 percent) thinks that the allegations should not be acted upon by any government agency. DSWD perceived as ‘least corrupt’ The Department of Social Welfare and Development (DSWD), meanwhile, was perceived by one in ten respondents (10.5 percent) as the “least corrupt" government agency. The DSWD was followed by the Department of Health (9.2 percent) and the Department of Education (DepEd). Most of the survey respondents (64 percent), however, said that there is no government agency where corruption does not take place. - VVP/KBK, GMA News