MANILA, Philippines - The Philippines has secured a fresh recognition of its anti-corruption efforts, improving its score and rank in a regional survey that gave its nod to the outgoing Aquino administration.

The country ranked 10th out of 16 countries on the latest Perceptions of Corruption in Asia, the US and Australia by global think tank Political and Economic Risk Consultancy Ltd. (PERC).

Last year, the country was in 12th place.

It also improved its score to 7.05 points from 7.43 the prior year. The gauging scale was zero to 10, with 10 being the most corrupt.

“The Philippines was the only country we surveyed where there was an improvement of more than five percent. This is an example of how leadership can make a difference,” PERC said in the report.

“President Aquino has personally maintained an image for being ‘clean’ and for trying to reduce the problem,” it added.

Finance Secretary Cesar Purisima welcomed the survey results. “Over the past six years, we have registered marked improvements across every significant indicator and international ranking. It’s clear as day: President Aquino’s good governance agenda has driven up this virtuous cycle,” Purisima said in a statement yesterday.

“With the wind on our backs, we ought to double down on rooting out corruption – the better to optimize our public resources to invest in our people,” he added.

The Philippines placed higher than some of its peers in Southeast Asia, namely Thailand with 7.67 points in 12th place, Cambodia (7.75, 13th), Vietnam (7.92, 14th) and Indonesia (8.0, 15th).

It also placed a notch higher than China, which scored 7.65 points.

Those with higher rank included Malaysia (6.95, 9th) and Taiwan (6.08, 6th). The US placed fifth with 4.61, while Singapore topped the list with 1.67.

While corruption in the country remains a “serious problem,” the report said Aquino’s performance was enough to move the country higher in the rankings compared to his two predecessors.