21 November 2008 – The 2008 SWS Survey of Enterprises on Corruption found seven out of ten companies were asked for a bribe in an index-transaction – a record-high since 2005. Most bribe-solicitation trends are up; previous downtrends in Metro Manila in getting local government permits and income tax transactions were reversed. Reporting of bribe-attempts also rose slightly.

The survey - the eighth SWS business survey on corruption since 2000 – has the following highlights:

1. The perception of corruption in the public sector did not improve, with three out of five seeing "a lot" of corruption in the public sector.
2. Feelings that the government can be run without corruption are weakening.
3. Improvements in ratings of sincerity in fighting corruption for the City/Municipal government, the Department of Health, the Commission on Audit, the Armed Forces of the Philippines, the Senate, the Department of Justice, the Philippine National Police, and the Comelec, compared to a similar SWS survey in 2007.
4. Less than 10% see "a lot" of private sector corruption. The usual allotment for a bribe in a private deal is still 10%, vs. 20% in a public deal.
5. Managers' feelings of efficacy in fighting corruption have declined a bit.
6. At most one out of two see business becoming more honest in taxpaying and importing.
7. Financial contributions to private anti-corruption programs are going up.
8. At most one out of two punish their corrupt executives. Trends in using four honest business practices - paying taxes honestly, issuing receipts for all revenues, keeping only one set of books, and demanding receipts for all payments for expenses - are mixed.
9. Satisfaction with national government promotion of a good business climate dropped in 2008. Satisfaction with local government promotion of a good business climate is higher, and stable. Business expectations are now only fair, compared to good in 2005-2007.

The SWS Surveys of Enterprises on Corruption have been undertaken within the Transparent Accountable Governance (TAG) project with support from The Asia Foundation (TAF). The TAG surveys were instrumental in the organization of the private sector Coalition Against Corruption in 2004. It also captures the views of Filipino managers, unlike the surveys of foreign consulting firms used to derive international corruption indexes, which use the views of typically-expatriate managers of multinational firms.

The 2008 survey is based on face-to-face interviews, over 9 September to 10 October 2008, with managers of 402 enterprises in Metro Manila, Metro Cebu, and Metro Davao, of whom 282 companies had also been represented in 2007.

View 2008 SWS Survey of Enterprises on Corruption