The commission formed by President Rodrigo Duterte to stamp out corruption said the situation “continues to be alarming.”
Dante Jimenez, chairman of the Presidential Anti-Corruption Commission (PACC), said in his Ulat ng Bayan (report to the nation), that corruption is ingrained in all branches of government.
He said that a “rotten culture of corruption” had wormed its way into the country’s bureaucracy, legislature and judiciary, “from top to bottom.”
Jimenez said that from March 2018, when the PACC started taking complaints, up to the end of September, a total of 59 complaints against various government departments and agencies were received.
Topping the list was the Department of Public Works and Highways (DPWH), followed by government-owned and controlled corporations at second, and both the Department of Environment and Natural Resources and the Department of Finance at third.
Jimenez said corruption at the DPWH occurs at the level of district engineers, who are influenced by politicians.
The Departments of Agriculture, Foreign Affairs, Transportation, Labour and Employment and the National Commission on Indigenous Peoples were all tied at number four on the list.
He said the reports came from the Office of the President, which were then forwarded to the PACC. Four inquiries have been conducted so far, Jimenez said. “The corruption situation in our country today continues to be alarming. Corruption in high places, in the 
rank-and-file. Corruption everywhere,” Jimenez said.
In the Executive branch, Jimenez said the Bureau of Internal Revenue (BIR) and the Bureau of Customs (BoC) are among the most corrupt collection agencies, with personnel involved in cases of embezzlement and extortion.
He cited a case in which three BIR personnel in Makati were entrapped for attempting to extort P600,000 from a businessman in June.
He slammed the “tara” system at the BIR, in which officials of the bureau were showered with bribe money.
The PACC chairman also said three suspects were nabbed in May for attempting to smuggle P6mn worth of gold jewellery through the Ninoy Aquino International Airport, where the commission recommended the suspension of three prosecutors, one former district collector, a lawyer from the BoC legal division and a flight supervisor. It also recommended lifestyle checks.
Jimenez slammed Congress’ use of the pork barrel system, even after the Supreme Court ruling declaring it unconstitutional in 2013.
Corruption is also rampant in the judiciary, through bribes either for investigations to move or for a speedy or favourable resolution of cases.
“I have witnessed or personally experienced various forms of corruption in the judicial system. A victim has to hurdle layers of corrupt practices in the five pillars of the criminal justice system, namely investigation, prosecution, the courts, penology and community pillar,” Jimenez said.
Moreover, corruption is rampant in the penal system. “Special treatment is afforded to rich or influential inmates. The Witness Protection Programme needs strengthening to encourage more witnesses of crimes and corruption to come out,” he said. He said the PACC conducted regional missions in Bicol and found that the Calabanga Municipal Fish Port with Ice Plant and Cold Storage remained unused and 
non-operational for two years since its inauguration on May 5, 2016. The project cost P96mn.
Also, it found that the Calabanga Infirmary and Rehabilitation Project worth P20mn was “completely non-operational because of its remote and isolated location, lack of equipment and substandard construction.”
The Bicol Medical Center remained unoccupied and non-operational even after two inaugurations, he said.
The commission also had a mission in Mindanao, on issues involving the National Treasury and the National Irrigation Administration, among other agencies.
The PACC bared that from March 7 to December 29, it assumed jurisdiction and initiation of three motu proprio cases — the alleged ghost purchases at the V Luna Medical Center, the dismissal of the drug case against Kerwin Espinosa, et al., by prosecutors and the alleged smuggling at the airport involving customs officials.
It had three fact-finding inquiries and investigations on the issues of the Dengvaxia anti-dengue vaccine, alleged corruption in Duty Free Philippines Corp and alleged corruption in the Department of Labour and Employment.
The PACC was formed by President Rodrigo Duterte on Oct 4, 2017 through Executive Order 43.
It has the power, “concurrently with the Office of the Ombudsman,” to investigate the administrative cases of presidential appointees in the Executive branch.