The Philippines now ranks 105th out of 176 countries. Last year the country ranked 129th. However, despite the improved ranking, the Philippines' CPI rating remains low: 34 in a 0-100 scale, with 100 as the best possible score.
A score of zero means the country is perceived to be very corrupt, based on the CPI. A score of 100 means a country is perceived to be very clean or corruption-free.
The Philippines country overtook Indonesia (118, down from 100 in 2011) and Vietnam (124), but still fared less favorably compared with other Southeast Asian neighbors such as Thailand (88) and Malaysia (54).
Singapore, ranked fifth globally. Among Asian countries, the city-state was followed by Hong Kong (14), Japan (17), Taiwan (37), South Korea (45) and Brunei (46).
China's ranking slips
China saw its ranking slip to 80 from 75 last year, but TI Managing Director Cobus de Swardt said the Beijing leadership showed a greater understanding of the dangers of ignoring corruption, including among Chinese companies operating both at home and abroad.
Last month, state media quoted Communist Party chief Xi Jinping as saying that if corruption was allowed to run wild, the Communist Party risked major unrest and the collapse of its rule.
Swardt drew comparisons with standards in the Organisation for Economic Cooperation and Development, which groups wealthy nations. "We have seen a criminalization of bribery to the standards of the OECD," he said.
"The Chinese used to say their companies could not be held to rich country standards because they needed to catch up, but now they realize tackling this is in their own interests."
Least and most corrupt
Denmark, Finland, and New Zealand were ranked as the least corrupt with CPI scores of 90 each.
Countries perceived to be most corrupt are Somalia, North Korea, and Afghanistan, all ranking 174th with CPI scores of 8 each.
Meanwhile, Greece scored the worst ranking of all 27 European Union nations, falling below ex-communist Bulgaria as public anger about graft soars during the country's crisis.
Greece took 94th place, below the poorer, newer democracies such as Bulgaria and Romania. Italy was placed 72nd, just ahead of Bulgaria at 75th but behind Romania on 66th.
In the 2011 index, Greece was 80th with Bulgaria scoring worst among the EU nations in 86th place.
Greeks have long complained about corruption but anger has soared, particularly about tax evasion among the rich, as the government has imposed wave after wave of austerity that the country's international lenders have demanded.
The EU has kept Bulgaria and Romania out of its Schengen zone, which allows passport-free travel between member states, due to concerns about corruption. A recent study showed Bulgarians gave about 150,000 bribes to civil servants every month last year, more than in 2010.
Portugal and Ireland, which like Greece have received euro zone bailouts, were placed 33 and 25 respectively in the table.
Harder to check corruption in Russia
Elsewhere among the so-called BRICs, Swardt said Russia's new restrictions on non-governmental organizations would make it harder to monitor and check corruption. Russia ranks 133rd in the 2012 global rankings, up from 143 last year.
With Russia taking on the rotating presidency of the Group of 20 leading economies, Moscow should try to "lead by example and not by the lowest common denominator in terms of bribery", Swardt said.
Political will has a big role to play in determining whether a country moves up or down the corruption rankings, Swardt said. "Those countries stuck at the bottom are often those where political elites are very unwilling to tackle the issues in a serious manner," he said.-Interaksyon (December 05, 2012 11:18PM)
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