Corruption does exist in the country, however, and precisely because it is such a politicized issue one has to tread very gingerly when discussing it. In the Philippines, President Estrada seems far more serious about tackling official corruption than many observers dared hope when he took office last year. Even political appointees have been given the axe after coming under a cloud. This may explain why our survey has the Philippines being one of the few countries where the perceived level of corruption has actually decreased over the past year. The grade is still quite poor, however.
Corruption is still widespread in many government departments.
Moreover, the jury is still out on the extent to which Estrada is prepared to allow crony politics to stage a comeback. Business and politics is in an awkward mix in Taiwan. The ruling KMT continues to have investments in more than 100 companies and also is a major influence in the banking industry, making it very difficult to distinguish where politics ends and commercial interests begin. The KMT s corporate holdings, in addition to being lucrative, have also helped to prop up its dominant political position. Because the KMT is still solidly in control of virtually all of the levers of government, none of these acts are likely to be classified officially as corruption and prosecuted as such.