Corruption pulls down Manila in Smart Cities

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April 1, 2026 | 12:00am

MANILA, Philippines — Amid persistent corruption concerns, Manila’s ranking dropped in the latest Smart City Index of Switzerland-based Institute for Management Development’s World Competitiveness Center.

With 120 residents as respondents, the index found 71 percent cited corruption as an urgent priority in Manila.

Anomalous flood control initiatives last year exposed systemic corruption in the government’s infrastructure projects.

Other priority areas or concerns are health service (51.6 percent), road congestion (49.2 percent), security (44.4 percent) and unemployment (41.1 percent).

Manila slid to the 132nd spot out of 148 cities.

In last year’s edition, the Philippines fell by four places, from 121 to 125.