reforming campaign finance
The dynamics of electoral politics as practiced in the Philippines—particularly, the financial requirements to obtain and retain office and
placate core constituencies—create dysfunctional incentives that degrade the performance of the public sector as a whole. In its issues, nature, and institutional origins, issues of corruption in politics are bigger than campaign finance reform and different from petty corruption in procurement and bribery in the civil service.
Although these issues have been acknowledged in the Philippines and demand due consideration, the World Bank’s recommendations do not address them for lack of expertise and jurisdiction in this area. Nevertheless, reforms of political processes and systems should be an integral part of the government’s overall anticorruption program.