Philippines Scores 33 in 2024 Corruption Index Despite Rise to 114th Place

A higher ranking masks a lower score

The Philippines ranked 114th out of 180 countries and territories in Transparency International's 2024 Corruption Perceptions Index (CPI), but its score fell to 33 from 34 in 2023. The country moved up one place in the rankings because of ties and changes among other countries, even as its own score declined.

The result puts the Philippines 10 points below the global average of 43 and 11 points below the Asia Pacific average of 44. On the index's scale, zero means highly corrupt and 100 means very clean. The score summarizes expert and business assessments of corruption in the public sector.

The Philippines has remained within a narrow range for more than a decade. From 2012 through 2024, its scores stayed between 33 and 38. Its highest score during that period was 38 in 2014, while its lowest was 33 in 2021, 2022 and 2024. The latest result returns the country to that low point, five points below its 2014 peak.

By September 4, 2025, scrutiny of flood control spending and an alleged attempt to bribe a member of Congress had brought the practical stakes of public integrity into sharper focus. Questions about who receives government contracts, how projects are checked and whether wrongdoing is punished affect the services and infrastructure that communities receive.

The score also places the Philippines within a wider regional problem. Transparency International links weak controls over public money to failures in climate action, including the misuse of funds intended for disaster protection. For a country exposed to storms, rising seas and stronger typhoons, those concerns extend from government accounts to the safety of homes and communities.

What the index measures

Transparency International's CPI 2024 results page provides the full results and methodology. The index combines assessments of perceived public sector corruption, drawing on at least three credible sources for each country from a pool of 13 surveys and assessments. Those sources include the World Bank and the World Economic Forum.

The assessments are converted to a common scale from zero to 100 and combined, with uncertainty reported alongside the results. The 2024 edition draws on data covering roughly May 2023 to April 2024. Its publication year and the period covered by its underlying assessments therefore serve different purposes: one identifies the edition, while the other tells readers when the information was gathered.

Public sector corruption covers several kinds of misconduct. Bribery involves seeking or giving an improper payment or benefit. Diversion of public funds means money intended for a public purpose is directed elsewhere. Other practices assessed include using public office for private gain, conflicts of interest, nepotism, rigging procurement and allowing officials to escape punishment for breaking rules.

The index reflects how experienced observers assess the frequency and seriousness of these practices within state institutions. Its focus is perceptions of public sector corruption, rather than a direct count of corruption cases. Private sector wrongdoing and money moving through offshore financial centers fall outside its coverage, and its national score offers no breakdown identifying individual agencies as clean or corrupt.

Surveys of people's experiences provide another view. Transparency International's Global Corruption Barometer found that 86 percent of people in the Philippines regarded government corruption as a big problem. Among users of public services, 19 percent reported paying a bribe during the previous 12 months. Those figures describe public concerns and encounters with services, alongside the institutional assessments used in the CPI.

More than a decade in a narrow range

The Philippine record shows brief improvements followed by long periods with little movement. The peak of 38 in 2014 did not last, and scores returned to 33 during the pandemic years. The 2024 result matched that level after a score of 34 in 2023.

The main dates help separate the country's longer record, the period behind the latest index and the subsequent scrutiny of public works:

• 2012 to 2024: Philippine CPI scores ranged from 33 to 38.
• 2014: The country reached its highest score in that period, at 38.
• 2021 and 2022: The score stood at 33 in both years.
• 2023: The score reached 34.
• Roughly May 2023 to April 2024: The data period covered by the 2024 edition.
• 2024: The Philippines scored 33 and ranked 114th of 180 countries and territories.
• July 2022 to May 2025: The period covered by President Ferdinand Marcos Jr's account of flood mitigation contract awards.

The persistent range points to difficulties in accountability, government purchasing, law enforcement and political finance. Policy institutes in Manila have also connected the country's weak position with slower progress on transparency and judicial efficiency than that achieved by some neighbors.

Rogelio Alicor Panao, an associate professor and data scientist at the University of the Philippines, has tracked the pattern for years and challenged leaders and citizens to demand stronger integrity. He put that challenge in a question:

Have we done enough to demand better?

The challenge goes beyond announcing reforms. Policies need to produce changes that citizens and investors can see, such as clearer contract records, more reliable services and enforcement that brings cases to a conclusion.

Where the Philippines stands among its peers

Denmark, Finland, Singapore and New Zealand are among the countries at the top of the index. South Sudan, Somalia and Venezuela are among those at the bottom. The distance between these groups reflects the broad range of public sector corruption assessments captured by the index.

Within the region, the Philippines trails Japan, Taiwan, South Korea, Malaysia, Timor Leste, China, Vietnam, Indonesia, Nepal and Thailand. It shares a score of 33 with Laos and Mongolia, while scoring above Cambodia, Myanmar and North Korea.

Asia Pacific's average fell to 44 in 2024. Regional advisers say governments have failed to deliver on promises to tackle corruption, with weak controls also damaging climate action. The Philippines therefore faces two connected challenges: improving its own institutions and operating in a region where progress has also weakened.

The difference between a score and a ranking explains the Philippine result. A score records the assessment on the index's common scale. A ranking places a country in order relative to others. When countries move or share scores, a country's position can improve while its score falls, as happened to the Philippines in 2024.

Flood control awards draw scrutiny

President Ferdinand Marcos Jr said that, from July 2022 to May 2025, only 100 billion pesos from a flood mitigation budget of 545 billion pesos had been awarded, with those awards going to just 15 of 2,409 accredited contractors. The figures brought attention to both the use of the budget and the concentration of contracts.

The 15 contractors represented about 0.6 percent of the 2,409 accredited firms. That comparison shows how small the group receiving the stated awards was relative to the accredited pool. The concentration raised red flags and prompted reviews of how projects were planned, vetted and monitored.

Disclosure of irregular flood control projects, popularly called ghost projects, had intensified concern about public works. The central issue for communities is whether spending produces the flood defenses intended to protect them and whether records allow the government and the public to follow a project from approval to completion.

Marcos stopped short of naming suspects when discussing the audit findings. The President described what had surfaced as:

a disturbing assessment

The scrutiny places procurement, the process through which government buys goods, services and construction work, at the center of the debate. Decisions made before a contract is awarded matter alongside checks on the work afterward. Reviews of project selection, contractor evaluation and monitoring address different points where public money can be put at risk.

A bribery allegation adds to enforcement concerns

A senior Department of Public Works and Highways official was suspended and later arrested after allegedly trying to bribe a member of Congress to halt a probe into irregular projects. The official faces charges under the Revised Penal Code and the Anti Graft and Corrupt Practices Act.

The allegation remains an allegation, with charges rather than a final court outcome described. No next hearing date or timetable for resolving the case was given. The case adds an enforcement issue to the concerns about project planning and contract awards: investigators and lawmakers must be able to examine spending without improper pressure.

Policy researchers and business groups identify several recurring weaknesses. Fragmented planning and incomplete award data leave procurement vulnerable. Case backlogs and limited resources slow action against corruption. Political finance rules create room for conflicts of interest, while paper records delay audits and make responsibility harder to trace.

Stronger enforcement therefore depends on more than making arrests. The Ombudsman, auditors and prosecutors need resources to move cases forward and make penalties effective. Calls for action also extend to those seeking bribes and those offering them, so that both sides face credible consequences.

Why corruption matters for climate protection

Transparency International's 2024 overview connects corruption with failures in climate action. Misused or stolen money can drain projects of resources, while opaque lobbying and conflicts of interest can distort decisions about energy and disaster preparedness.

Transparency International, the organization publishing the CPI, described the connection in its overview:

The corruption crisis is a huge obstacle to solving the climate crisis.

The Philippines faces this problem in concrete spending decisions. Funds for flood control, relocation, coastal protection and clean energy need to reach their intended communities. When money is diverted or wasted, disaster losses grow and trust in government weakens. The scrutiny of flood mitigation awards shows why the handling of public contracts matters to climate readiness.

Transparency International also points to more than a thousand environmental defenders killed over the previous five years, nearly all in countries scoring below 50 on the CPI, including the Philippines. Protecting people who scrutinize environmental decisions is consequently part of both public integrity and climate protection.

Journalists, whistleblowers and citizen groups help bring spending problems into public view. Protection against retaliation allows reports of wrongdoing to lead to investigations and gives communities a stronger role in decisions affecting their safety.

Changes proposed for budgets and contracts

Independent assessments and local policy centers identify practical changes to make government spending easier to examine. Many involve carrying out existing responsibilities, improving disclosure and opening decisions to scrutiny, rather than passing new laws.

Procurement reform advocates want routine publication of studies prepared before bidding, bid evaluations and changes made to contracts after an award. They favor formats that computers can read and compare, making it easier to spot repeated patterns across large numbers of projects.

The proposals address each stage of public spending, from deciding which projects deserve funding to checking what was completed:

• Make budget planning, procurement and auditing more transparent, with citizen monitors involved from project selection through contract closeout.
• Publish complete contract information, including awards, amendments and completion reports, in open formats.
• Expand electronic procurement so bids and awards can be tracked in real time.
• Open bicameral conference committee meetings to the public to help prevent last minute budget insertions and double funding.
• Give the Ombudsman, auditors and prosecutors the resources needed for faster cases and effective penalties.
• Protect whistleblowers and journalists against retaliation.
• Simplify permits and reduce red tape so routine transactions no longer depend on unofficial payments.
• Strengthen conflict of interest rules for officials and contractors, and verify beneficial ownership to identify the people who ultimately own or control bidders.
• Modernize agency processes and data systems to reduce manual steps that delay audits and obscure responsibility.

Advocates also propose regularly rotating bids and awards committee staff and using data analysis to flag repeated awards involving a single bidder or unusual cost patterns. Tighter checks on contractors' interests would help expose hidden connections. Together, these measures aim to improve the delivery of roads, schools and flood defenses, alongside the country's integrity assessments.

What businesses and citizens stand to gain

Companies consider corruption risk when deciding where to expand. They look for fair public contracts, predictable courts, efficient customs and licensing processes that treat applicants consistently. Persistent scores in the low thirties can mean more spending on checks before doing business, fewer firms competing for public projects and tougher loan terms.

Business assessments in Manila caution that moving up one rank while losing a point is unlikely, by itself, to change investor thinking. Credible reforms and sustained enforcement matter more to firms making decisions about infrastructure, technology and climate projects.

Countries that have opened data, secured independent oversight bodies and protected civic space have improved over time. The Philippines has advantages in talent and geography. Visible gains in integrity could help attract a wider range of investors and reduce the extra return they demand to cover risk.

Citizens have a more immediate interest in the same changes: services without unofficial payments, public works that deliver what was funded and complaints that receive proper investigation. A stronger CPI score would be a signal of improving institutions. Better services and more accountable spending would be the practical results people could experience.

Key Points

• The Philippines ranked 114th of 180 countries and territories in the 2024 CPI, with its score falling from 34 to 33.
• Its rank rose by one place because of ties and changes among other countries.
• The global average was 43 and the Asia Pacific average was 44.
• Philippine scores ranged from 33 to 38 between 2012 and 2024, peaking in 2014 and reaching 33 in 2021, 2022 and 2024.
• The Philippines shared its latest score with Laos and Mongolia and trailed many regional peers.
• The Global Corruption Barometer found that 86 percent viewed government corruption as a big problem, while 19 percent of public service users reported paying a bribe.
• Marcos said 100 billion pesos from a 545 billion peso flood mitigation budget had been awarded to 15 of 2,409 accredited contractors.
• A senior public works official faces charges following an alleged attempt to bribe a member of Congress.
• Proposals include open contract data, public budget scrutiny, stronger enforcement, simpler services and protection for people reporting wrongdoing.
• Transparency International links corruption to weakened climate action, with direct stakes for disaster protection in the Philippines.