Public ethics and corruption of the Philippines, Thailand and Malaysia

Every year, a list of countries ranking from the less corrupt to the most corrupt is being
released. Some of the Asian countries are mostly found in the mid to the bottom part of the list
which is quite sad but is reality. Let’s take a look at some countries like Thailand, Malaysia and
the Philippines. First, corruption is basically the abuse of power vested in a person for private
and personal gain. Corruption doesn’t only exist in the public sector, this can also happen in the
private sector. Even in the company you are currently affiliated with, corruption is possible to
exist. This can be committed in many forms like bribery, nepotism, lobbying, extortion, graft,
and embezzlement. By simply doing what is beyond your authority or doing less of what is asked
for you to do, with the personal benefit awaiting at the end, you are considered corrupt one way
or another. Overtime, arising corruption has gone mad in different countries which hardly affect
their way of governing their people and their economy is affected as well.

Basically, being a Thai, they are inculcated by the moral and ethical lessons thought by
the monks starting from when they were still kids. Buddhist teaching emphasized good vs. bad,
right vs. wrong and merit vs. de-merits. They are also thought the virtue of rightful actions and
refraining from sinful and wrongful acts like being greedy, taking or stealing what is not
rightfully owned. From the beginning, Thai people have good values and ethics that they can
bring when taking part in the public administration. But looking at its current state, these values
have declined, slowly vanishing and eroded. In Thailand, corruption spreads like wild fire where
it happens everywhere especially in the national government. The lack of public interest values is
one reason why corruption is very rampant in the country. Since ethics was not given much
attention in the past administration and leaders, it was then copied and followed by the following
administration. In the past, the Thai public sector has not devoted an ample time and interest in
helping and inculcating public officials to learn public ethics that can be used as their grounds in
providing service to the people. What makes it even sadder is that most if not all Thai public
officials run for position with less public interest and more on their self interest, benefit or the
advantages a public official may get in the government. Another reason for corruption is
patronizing these patron-client relations. Mutual assistance, trust and reciprocity trigger the rise
of corruption. In Thailand, some officials often take advantage of their power and position
especially when their family, a kin or business partners are the people who need their help. The
public official can be considered as the patron and these people who will receive the favor of the
official is called the client. It is practiced there that once you give something, you will also
receive something in return. The return I’m emphasizing are the resources, may it be in kind or
monetary, loyalty and etc. Thailand’s way of fighting corruption is establishing a counter-
corruption agency where it is independent, has integrity and autonomy to carry out its task and
purpose in combating corruption. These independent agencies receive and investigate complains,
recommend and takes action about corruption in the place. The National Anti-Corruption
Commission (NACC) was expected to be the key player in battling corruption and abuse of
power by public officials. And agencies such as Human Right Commission, the Office of the
Ombudsman and the Election Commission are responsible in dealing with other forms of
corruption such as frauds, collusion, conspiracy and other forms of unethical behaviors in public
service. Even if these agencies are independent by nature, political interference still happened
which makes it more challenging in fighting corruption at that time. Next, these agencies are
newly established and but this doesn’t mean it started with a clean slate. Some people placed in
this agency are somehow one way or another already affiliated with other public officers.
Numerous numbers of anti-corruption groups or agencies are established working to fight
corruption buts still it is a prevalent problem in Thailand. To secure a corruption-free
bureaucracy, it is important to uphold ethical values when entering public administration and
government interference shouldn’t be entertained in these independent agencies.

Unlike the other Asian countries, Malaysia’s rate of corruption is relatively low. Ethics
plays a big role in the public administration of Malaysia as this should serve as the grounds of
the public official’s true intention in seeking a seat in the government. A person might have the
purest intention in the beginning but may be subject or forced to change because of the
unrelenting pressure from their political masters or even by just the mere fact that the work
environment is unethical in practice. This being said, corruption still exists one way or another
because of the greed in power and personal interest even if there are anticorruption laws. Another
factor why corruption thrived in Malaysia is the lack of political commitment and ineffective
execution of the existing measures. Malaysia has done effort to fight and restrain corruption and
unethical behavior in the government. The passing of Anti-Corruption Agency Act 1982 and the
Prevention of Corruption Act in 1961 have been tools in promoting and maintaining integrity.
With the continuous effort to stop corruption, it is still not absolute. Challenges still exist as these
measures can still be manipulated and interfered by the higher ranking officials of the political
system of Malaysia. Given the fact that Malaysia has lower rate of corruption, they can surpass
this national problem if selected and appointed officials will seriously commit their selves as
leaders of the country and maintain public ethics not just in words but also in action. Starting
from there, Malaysia can be successful in their quest of having a corruption-free country.

Lastly, the Philippines. Philippines is a democratic country where its people has the
highest power to elect qualified and desirable officials to sit and govern the country. Philippines
has always been in the bottom portion of list every year and this is very alarming. It has been a
problem for decades yet it is still not resolved nor minimized. Public ethics is important as this
helps in isolating corruption. An official’s willingness to do public service with utmost sincerity
can be a tool for corruption not to rise. Ethical behavior can be learned but first a person must
acknowledge the problem and should be willing to take the change. Corruption is very rampant
in the Philippines as this has been practiced for ages. This occurs in the different sectors of the
Philippine government. Extensive bribery, conflict of interest, abuse of office, undue influence,
manipulation, unfair dispute solution, favoritism, and etc. are some reasons why corruption in the
country has not vanished. The patron-client culture is a challenge in fighting against corruption.
This has been practiced in the country that you need to give or receive something in exchange of
the connection, favor and help. The effectiveness of executing the existing measures is also a
challenge in the process of stopping corruption. There are several initiatives the country has
established, in the case of the Philippines, like the Presidential Anti-Graft Commission (PAGC)
which aims to stop irregular and corrupt practices. Another anti-corruption program is the Run
After Tax Evaders program which handles and investigate tax evasion cases as this is very
common in the Philippines. Although it will be a long journey for the Philippines to fully
terminate corruption, it is still possible if programs are carried out properly and are doing its
purpose. Expected penalties should be observed if proven guilty with such crime. The aim to
stop corruption in the Philippines needs a multi-prolonged strategy to raise awareness to the
community of the problem and creates pressure to the public officials to be responsible for their
decisions and actions.

Thailand, Malaysia and the Philippines have a widespread of corruption cases. The
common ground of these three countries is that corruption starts with the lack of observing
public ethics which is a must in public service. Each country has done and laid out programs and
agencies to handle this problem. These measures are a success if people start to be aware and do
not accept corrupt acts just the way the government is doing now.