Corruption in Philippines-Free-Samples for Students-Myassignment

Question: Write Your Business Menorandumrandum Decide if a menorandumramdum needs to be sent; in some situations it may be more efficient to just talk directly to the relevant party. Some information may be too sensitive to send out in a menorandum. Answer: MEMORANDUM TO: Gartner Corp. FROM: Luther Rex (Paralegal: Sirius Plc) CC: Arthur Wesley (Head: Sirius Plc) DATE: December 17, 2017 SUBJECT: Corruption in Philippines Corruption is something which includes dishonest or fraudulent conduct by such people who hold the power and includes the acts of bribery, adulteration of resources and falsification (Rose-Ackerman Palifka, 2016, p. 50). It is a very complex and a multi-dimensional issue, the ill-effects of which cross the borders. These particularly have a negative impact on the business and thus it becomes crucial that before a country is chosen as a target market, the status of corruption in such nation is analysed. The purpose of this memorandum is to educate the readers about the rampant corruption in Philippines which makes it as an unattractive target market. In Philippines, there is wide-spread and rampant corruption and the modes of indulging in such activities include bribery, embezzlement, graft, nepotism, patronage, and backdoor deals (You, 2014, 194). Due to the high levels of corruption, there is a restriction on the business which can be carried on in the nation. There is extensive bribery prevalent in public administration and the laws which have been drawn are vague and complex, which have resulted in the companies being vulnerable to be extorted and also manipulated by the public officials. There is a commonality of incidents like favouritism and undue influence in the courtrooms of the nation, as a result of which, the process of dispute resolution results becomes unfair and time consuming, and all these make the business environment very uncertain (GAN Integrity, 2017). The administration of Philippines presently is plagued with corruption and even the companies in the nation regularly engage in fraud when the export import documentation are filed. Even though the Anti-Graft and Corrupt Practices Act criminalizes the active and passive bribery, abuse of office, and conflict of interest, the same is still present. There is a prohibition upon giving gifts till the time the same is of a very minimalistic value with local customs. Though, the anti-corruption regulations fail big time in addressing the facilitation payment, plus there is a lack of criminalization of the private sector bribery. The legislative frameworks are scattered for the purpose of fighting corruption, and it is not enforced effectively owing to the non-cooperative and the puny law enforcement agencies (Quah, 2010, p. 10). Presently, the businesses work in a global environment and the occurrences of one nation do have an impact over the others. A very common example of prevalence of corruption in the nation, particularly in global context can be seen in the custom administration of the nation. This is because when the companies deal with the custom administration of the nation, they are likely to encounter incident of corruption. There have been indications by the companies regarding the bribes and payments being prevalent in procedures of export and import. A quarter of companies shave shown that it is expected from them to give gifts if they want to attain an import license. A survey conducted highlighted that the Bureau of Customs was the only receiving agency and it had bad ratings in the matter of its commitment to fight corruption. There is also a burden of import procedure where the most commonly cited factor of problem continues to be corruption at the border. The procedures in context of their efficiency and time predictability have attained very poor ratings. When compared to the average of the region, the costs of compliance in Philippines are quite high. The activities of smuggling are quite common and the Bureau incidents the smuggling of products like cigarettes, oil and vehicles in the nation, which has resulted in high tax evasions. There is also a commonality of under voicing the imports and exports, as a result of which, Philippines has to lose its billions in revenue each year (GAN Integrity, 2017). Philippines slipped further on the Annual Corruption Perceptions Index which is a proof of the failure of the government of the nation, even when different statutory frameworks have been adopted in the nation. The war on drugs has failed to have any impact over the prevalent corruption and the nation continues to slip in its global rankings due to the perceived level of corruption in its public sector. The poor performance is stated to be caused due to absence of proper oversight, unaccountable government, insecurity, and the shrinking space for civil society (Rappler, 2017). Another example which shows the problems which the businesses would have to face in context of presence of corruption in the nation is the high risk of corruption being faced in the nation when the businesses deal with tax administration. One in seven companies has indicated that they are expected to forward gifts to the tax officials in the meetings. The tax regulations have been cited as a problematic issue for undertaking business in the nation. It has also been indicated by the companies that only 1/5th of the businesses pay their taxes in an honest manner. There is a commonality of extortion and embezzlement as per the officials of Bureau of Internal Revenue. There is also a high corruption risk in the land administration. 2 out of 5 companies indicate that they have to give gifts for getting corruption permits (GAN Integrity, 2017). The police of the nation are also highly corrupt where the national police force is regarded as amongst the most corrupt institutions of the nation. The companies also need to take a note that the legal anti-corruption framework of the nation is poorly enforced, apart from being complicated, and this is coupled with the lack of corporation amongst the law enforcement agencies, with the officials being prosecuted or convicted in cases of corruption in a very rare scenario (GAN Integrity, 2017). Thus, before carrying on any sort of business with or in Philippines, and before finalizing the nation as the target market, the businesses should take note of the highly prevalent corruption practices. The advice to choose Philippines as a target market is thus not given. References GAN Integrity. (2017). The Philippines Corruption Report. Retrieved from: https://www.business-anti-corruption.com/country-profiles/the-philippines Quah, J. S. (2010). Curbing corruption in the Philippines: is this an impossible dream?.Philippine Journal of Public Administration,54(1-2), 1-43. Rappler. (2017). PH ranking in global corruption index worsens Retrieved from: https://www.rappler.com/move-ph/issues/corruption/159439-philippines-corruption-perceptions-index-2016-rank Rose-Ackerman, S., Palifka, B. J. (2016).Corruption and government: Causes, consequences, and reform. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press. You, J. S. (2014). Land Reform, Inequality, and Corruption: A Comparative Historical Study of Korea, Taiwan, and the Philippines. SSRN Paper.