Philippines Country Profile

Snapshot of the Philippines Country Profile


The Philippines has a history of corruption, and practically all governments in the country have had to struggle with the problem. Corruption in the Philippines is characterised by a combination of societal factors, institutional factors and an incentives system that contributes to corruption.

Positive developments in relation to corruption and investment:

  • The government has shown commitment to e-governance as an attempt to increase transparency and to stamp out much of the corruption caused by face-to-face interactions with public officials.

Risks of corruption:

  • Corruption is said to take place at all levels of the government, but it is more rampant among civil servants in high-level positions.
  • It is reportedly common for civil servants attempt to supplement their relatively low salaries by extracting bribes, a possibility that is greatly facilitated due to the country's complex, sometimes contradictory regulatory regime.
  • Due to a lack of transparency and accountability in the decentralisation process, local officials have been given additional authority which has increased their opportunity for personal enrichment.
  • Companies generally have little confidence in the Philippine judicial system. The main reasons for this are the allegedly incompetent court personnel, corruption and long delays of court cases.


We are currently conducting a survey, which takes just 5 minutes to complete, to improve the quality of the Business Anti-Corruption Portal. We would therefore value your feedback and appreciate if you took a moment to respond to some questions. Click here to take the survey.