‘Corrupt’ tag on Iloilo a challenge, says DTI

The latest Social Weather Station (SWS) survey which indicated the perception of corruption in the province and city of Iloilo should serve as a challenge and wakeup call to review and improve areas of concerns to eliminate that perception, according to DTI provincial director Wilhelm Malones.

In an interview during the sidelights of the Business Registration Roadshow held yesterday at the Iloilo Grand Hotel, Malones said, in his personal view, the result of the SWS survey is a way to review, for example, the structures related to starting business in Iloilo to make the processes satisfy the requirements of the business community.

“It’s a way to review ourselves kung diin kita nagkulang nga steps or procedure or areas nga dapat i-improve naton as far as the registration, or business establishment is concerned, and in what areas also can we improve to better relate to the requirements of the business community,” he said.

Malones noted that the city and provincial governments already have the existing structures that would answer the perceived problem in the city and province of Iloilo, like the Iloilo City Investment Board created in 2009 and the Provincial Investment Incentives Board created in 2011.

He said the local government units must only need to identify in which areas they are strong and in which areas they need to improve.

“Ining structures would also address sinang ginpakita sa aton nga results sang SWS survey, that could also be a form of structures that would address those concerns, we just have to identify kung din na ta matutok na area so that in areas we need some improvements, especiall ang mabudlay or madugay nga process, dira kita ma-reduce sang steps or processing time, so that we can erase perceptions, or probably eliminate or reduce perceptions of corruption (in Iloilo),” he said.

POSITIVE SIDE

Meanwhile, Malones is optimistic that the survey is a positive indicator of Iloilo’s growth and economic performance, saying the inclusion in the survey indicates that Iloilo is now being considered as one of the top performers and economic indicators of the country.

“Ako, on my part, that would be a very welcome development because they included Iloilo City as an indicator of the Philippine performance,” he said, noting the frequently included in the surveys are Cavite, Laguna, Batangas, Cebu and Davao.

“Somehow, this year, we see that may ara naman gid ya na growth potential ang province at city of Iloilo so gina-include na nila, so that, na siguro kita man, can be awakened na kita gale is part of the big group in the PH na maka-contribute so much in as far as the performance of the PH business is concern,” he said.

“Karon, we are now recognized as one of those big players sa aton development of the industry in the PH is concerned,” he added.

MABILOG TO MEET SWS

On the other hand, Iloilo City Mayor Jed Patrick Mabilog said he will meet with officials of the SWS to discuss what their basis was for such result.

“I am not questioning the results but I want to know what their basis was so that corrective measures will be implemented immediately,” Mabilog said.

The SWS survey was conducted last July 16 to Oct. 16, 2012 among 100 respondents composed of 33 large businesses and 67 small and medium businesses in Metro Iloilo.

Metro Iloilo is composed of Iloilo City and neighboring towns like Oton, San Miguel, Pavia and Leganes.

The survey showed that 70 percent of the respondents believe that corruption happens in the provincial level and 69 percent said it happens in the barangay level.

The survey also showed that 40 percent of those interviewed said that most businesses give bribes to win public sector contracts.

Also, the business sector perceives that there is corruption among Iloilo government employees; 66 percent believe it happens among middle level managers; 71, supervisory level; 57 percent, cabinet level; and 58 percent, rank and file employees.

The survey also showed that only 33 percent of the respondents believe that the Iloilo City government is sincere in fighting corruption.

For his part, Leganes Mayor Enrique Rojas denied that corruption exists in his administration.

“That’s not true nowadays. Maybe they were referring to before. However, I will look into it,” he stated in a text message sent to The News Today.*