An estimated P200 billion (Dh12.5 billion) is lost annually by the Philippine government to corruption, the country's chief anti-graft prosecutor Simeon Marcelo told lawmakers at a recent congress hearing.
"The greatest loss due to corruption happens at the revenue generation agencies," Marcelo said during a recent hearing conducted by the House of Representatives Committee on Appropriation on the proposed P480 million (Dh30 million) budget for the Office of the Ombudsman.
Marcelo blamed the loss on corrupt personnel in the Bureau of Internal Revenue (BIR) and Bureau of Customs, the government's two main revenue collection agencies.
The official also based his assessment on a report made by the United Nations which estimated that P100 billion (Dh6.25 billion) in taxes remained unremitted to government coffers because of corrupt officials in the customs and internal revenue bureaus.
The hearing was conducted on the heels of a report issued by President Gloria Arroyo that the Philippines has already overcome a fiscal crisis despite experiencing a serious budget shortfall last fiscal year. The budget deficit had been blamed mainly on corruption by government officials.
At the hearing, Marcelo pushed for additional funding to hire 150 more prosecutors and 500 more field investigators so his agency can keep an eye on the government's 1.5 million workforce.
"Officials of the BIR and the Customs bureau are the priority targets of our lifestyle check project. We need more personnel to handle our just-expanded investigation on the alleged massive corruption in the military," Marcelo said, referring to suspended Maj. Gen. Carlos Garcia, who is facing charges of ill-gotten wealth. The government started a lifestyle check last year on government officials to determine whether their salaries are commensurate with the kind of lifestyle they lead.
Representative Rolando Andaya Jr. of the province of Camarines conceded that Marcelo's agency has "one of the smallest investigation crew in the world" with only 87 field investigators. "The government does not have the money to hire the equivalent of two battalions of investigators and 120 lawyers for the Ombudsman," he said, citing the government's serious fiscal crunch which has been largely blamed on corruption.
International bodies are concerned over the alleged massive corruption in the Philippines, which analysts say has discouraged foreign investors.
Independent estimates suggest at least a fifth of the government budget is lost through graft.
One local watchdog group, Procurement Watch Inc., estimated that the Philippines loses P21 billion (Dh1.3 billion) a year to corruption in the procurement of government goods and services alone.
Because of the pervasive corruption in government, the Makati Business Club (MBC) one of the country's most influential groups said in June it was planning to put up a fund to fight corruption because businessmen have reached their "breaking point."
