MANILA, Philippines - The Philippines' ranking in the list of the most corrupt countries improved this year, according to anti-graft organization Transparency International's 2012 Corruption Perception Index (CPI).
The Philippines placed 105th in the list, which ranks 176 countries based on how corrupt their government is perceived to be. Last year, the country ranked 129th.
The Philippines shared 105th place with Algeria, Armenia, Bolivia, Gambia, Kosovo, Mali and Mexico.
While the country's ranking has improved, its actual CPI score shows the level of perceived corruption is still significant. The Philippines' CPI score was 34 out of 100, still among the lowest.
Based on the index, a score of zero means the country is perceived to be very corrupt and 100 means it is perceived to be very clean.
Denmark, Finland and New Zealand tied for first place on the 2012 Corruption Perceptions Index.
In Asia, Singapore ranked the highest at 5th place, followed by Hong Kong (14), Japan (17), Taiwan (37), South Korea (45) and Brunei (46).
Other Asian countries that ranked ahead of the Philippines were Malaysia (54), China (80), Thailand (88) and India (94).
The Philippines fared better than some of its Southeast Asian neighbors like Timor-Leste (113), Indonesia (118), Vietnam (123) and Laos (160).
Somalia, North Korea and Afghanistan ended up in last place on the index.
Transparency International said the CPI shows that corruption continues to be rampant around the world. Two-thirds of the 176 countries in the list had a score of below 50.
"Governments need to integrate anti-corruption actions into all public decision-making. Priorities include better rules on lobbying and political financing, making public spending and contracting more transparent and making public bodies more accountable to people,” said Huguette Labelle, Transparency International chair, in a statement.
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