Sadly the Supreme Court ruling on the legality of the Truth Commission comes as no surprise.

We put ‘sadly’ not for the reasons that some might think – that many claim the Court to be biased against the Aquino government. It is ‘sad’ because it was perfectly clear back in May that any attempt to set up a commission which would only look at the alleged misdeeds of the Arroyo administration was a very poorly judged one. It suggested the move was much more about politics than it was about addressing the root of the problem of corruption in the Philippines.

When former Congressman and ‘showman’ Prospero Pichay Jr. accepted the chairmanship of the Local Water Utilities Administration (LWUA) a year after losing badly in the 2007 national elections, people thought that this was an extremely small consolation prize from then President Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo. It was a very low-profile position for one who had risen so far and hitherto enjoyed high profile positions with the blessing of his boss.

Pichay had at first refused to be appointed to the LWUA board on August 28, 2008. Yet just one week later he changed his mind and proudly announced how he had accepted his appointment “as the government’s water boy for LWUA board membership with a nomination to be elected as chairman.” 

On his defeat, Pichay had first been offered the post as administrator of the Overseas Workers Welfare Administration (OWWA). But organizations of migrant workers and recruitment agencies vigorously opposed this plan. 

Going to the LWUA appeared a major step back for him given Pichay had been the representative of Surigao del Sur’s first district for nine years (1998-2007). While there, he had been chair of the House Committee on National Defense (2001-2004), before subsequently heading up the House contingent to the Commission on Appointments (2004-2007).

(The Philippine Public Transparency Reporting Project next week launches the first in a series of events and reports on building accountability in Maguindanao with a public meeting in Davao featuring Governor Esmael Mangudadatu and others. Today, we take an introductory look at the official response to what was the most tragic and catastrophic failure of governance in national history. The State failed the 58 victims of the November 23, 2009 massacre – those in authority in Maguindanao are charged with involvement and complicity in their killing: Much was promised and ordered investigated or changed since then by the central government in Manila – but more than one year on, what has actually happened?)

In the immediate aftermath of the Maguindanao killings, the Office of the Ombudsman ordered an investigation into the lifestyle of senior members of the Ampatuans, the hugely wealthy and influential clan accused of orchestrating the massacre. Humphrey Monteroso, deputy ombudsman for Mindanao was quoted in Sun Star Davao as saying his team was investigating the family for possible violation of the country’s anti-graft and corruption laws. He alleged that many of the properties and other assets of the clan, conservatively estimated at PhP 3 billion (USD 68 million), were not declared in their Statement of Assets, Liabilities and Net Worth (SALN).

Huge allocations in the government's annual budget for so-called special purpose funds (SPFs) have been questioned and criticized time and again, although not enough it seems to put an end to the practice or at the very least inject some much-needed transparency into their use.

Nonetheless, the Aquino administration, which has just celebrated its first 100 days, has claimed it will address the issue of SPFs as part of its key reforms in the budget process.

Philippine constitutional bodies responsible for prosecuting officials charged with corruption appear to be failing in their mission and fairly or not, are helping sow the seeds of public distrust and anger.

Currently battling against impeachment proceedings in the 15^th Congress, the Ombudsman has long been criticized by many observers for its failure to clamp down on cases of corruption.

ABS-CBN in an article in 2009ⁱ decried the Ombudsman’s “dreadful conviction rate” in the first half of the year. According to the article, during the period from January to June 2009, figures obtained from the Sandiganbayan showed that the Office of the Ombudsman secured 22 convictions and one guilty plea against a total of 194 accused.

Launched by the Department of Education in 2004, the Food for School Program (FSP) benefited some 2.8 million students and their families - including Grade 2 student Mary Rose Alacre of Kamuning Elementary School in Quezon City.

“My mother said I need to go to school so we will have rice to eat,” the schoolgirl told the Philippine Public Transparency Reporting Project.

Can we win the battle against fixers in government?

Fixers are found wherever rules and regulations governing business or the public sector appear overly bureaucratic and complex while proper oversight and control is poor. And wherever fixers are found, corruption is seldom very far behind.

In the first Doing Business Report published by the World Bank in 2008, the Philippines ranked 133 out of 178 countries in terms of ease of doing business. In 2009, the country slipped to 141st place. This year the country dropped another three to 144 out of 183 economies.