Caraga, Region VI have least number of govt scalawags; NCR has most

MANILA, Philippines- Mindanaoans, Ilonggos, hold your heads high. Three decades’ worth of records from the Sandiganbayan showed public officials from the Caraga Region and the Western Visayas are the least corrupt in the country. From 1979 to 2008 or a period of almost 30 years, only 41 cases were filed before the country’s special anti-graft court against government officials from Caraga administrative region, which is composed of the provinces of Agusan del Norte, Agusan del Sur, Dinagat Islands, Surigao del Norte and Surigao del Sur; and the cities of Cabadbaran, Bayugan, Butuan, Surigao and Bislig. Coming in as the country’s second “cleanest" region is Region VI, comprising the provinces of Iloilo, Aklan, Capiz, Antique, Guimaras and Negros Occidental. It posted only 936 cases filed over the same period. As can be expected, Metro Manila, where most of the government offices are located, posted the most number of public officials indicted for criminal charges with 6,841. Sandiganbayan records listed the five ‘least corrupt regions’ as: Region XIII/Caraga (41 cases), Region VI/Western Visayas (936), Region V/Bicol Region (1,303), Region XI/Davao Region (1,362), and Region XII/Central Mindanao (1,385). They were followed by Region I/Ilocos Region (1,729), Region IX/Zamboanga Peninsula (1,738), Region II/Cagayan Valley (1,762), Region VIII/Eastern Visayas (1,777), and Region X/Northern Mindanao (2,071). While the four "most corrupt regions" are Region III/Central Luzon (2,154), Region IV/Southern Tagalog (2,935), Region VII/Central Visayas (3,313), and NCR (6,841). The Autonomous Region for Muslim Mindanao and the Cordillera Autonomous Region were not included in the Sandiganbayan report. The same statistics from the court showed malversation cases were the most prevalent in government offices all over the country accounting for 9,237 cases or 31.48 percent, followed by graft charges which numbered 6,296 indictments for 21.45 percent and falsification cases counting 5,480 or 18.67 percent.- GMANews.TV