Jethro's Blogosphere

Filipinos believe that President Gloria Macapagal Arroyo is the most corrupt leader the Philippines has ever had, worse than late dictator Ferdinand Marcos who ruled the country for more than 20 years, a survey showed Wednesday.

The survey, conducted by Pulse Asia Inc. in late October, showed that 42 per cent of 1,200 respondents nationwide tagged the 60-year-old economist as 'the most corrupt (president) in the history of the Philippines.'

Marcos, who was accused of looting some 5 billion dollars from the national coffers during his rule, only came second to Arroyo with 35 per cent of Filipinos believing him the most corrupt. Sixteen per cent of the respondents believed the convicted-and-pardoned Joseph Estrada was the most corrupt.

Corazon Aquino, who replaced Marcos, was considered 'the least corrupt or not corrupt (leader) in the history of the Philippines,' according to the survey.

The survey was conducted when the opposition-led Senate was conducting investigations on new corruption allegations against Arroyo, her family and close political allies.

Earlier in the week, the Berlin-based Transparency International said the Philippines is No. 10 among 180 countries where petty bribery and corruption is rampant.

But Arroyo said the popular perception does not reflect the reality of the progress her government is making in reducing corruption.

'We believe that perception will match reality in a few short years,' she said in a statement. 'The fact is that we are undertaking a strong and steady effort to curb graft through criminal justice, administrative control and procedural reforms.'