High prices and corruption are intertwined

More than anything else under the sun, Filipinos are usually most bothered by the soaring prices of basic goods and services.

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But now, for the first time in years, corruption has emerged as the second most worrisome issue, alongside access to affordable food like rice, meat, and vegetables.

The problem of corruption has long been treated as merely a moral issue, or something to condemn in speeches but often seemingly tolerated in practice. Not anymore. The latest OCTA Research survey released last week shows Filipinos now see corruption as an economic emergency.

Nearly one in three survey respondents ranked corruption among the country's most pressing problems, the highest since 2021. The surge, from 13 percent last July to 31 percent in September, comes amid continued price increases and prevailing outrage over nonexistent and substandard flood-control infrastructure projects.

As OCTA Research president Ranjit Rye observed, Filipinos "are not angry mindlessly. They're expecting something by way of accountability and institutional reform." It now seems people are connecting the dots. The effects of corruption have become a daily economic burden that makes life more expensive.

Before I took up law at UP, I earned a degree in economics at UST, where I learned that corruption doesn't just enrich a few; it penalizes everyone else, especially the poor, through higher prices. Trust is economic capital — and corruption erodes trust. Investor confidence weakens, job creation slows down, credit ratings fall, and the cost of government borrowing rises.