PRESIDENT Ferdinand “Bongbong” Marcos Jr.
PRESIDENT Ferdinand “Bongbong” Marcos Jr. has acknowledged that the flood control projects are mired in corruption, and that Manila’s streets, as well as low-lying provinces and towns, continue to suffer from the unwelcome visitations of floods because what should have gone into dealing with the problem has lined the pockets of the incorrigibly corrupt.
We have anti-corruption laws, and there are several regulatory measures in check and vanguard agencies, including the virtually omnipotent Commission on Audit .But laws are only as efficacious as their enforcement. President Bongbong has been admirably forthright, refusing to sweep under the rug the prevalence of corruption both before his watch and under his. What the people now await is decisive action to exorcise government projects of the ghosts that have haunted them.It has to be acknowledged that there are many in government who remain unyielding in principle and unsullied in character, both in their official and their personal lives. But one righteous office head or department secretary may face the formidable challenge of a whole catena of underlings for whom shady deals and outrightly corrupt deals are “standard operating procedure.” And that is just where the problem is — and perhaps, the solution as well. Corruption thrives despite the outcry against it because we, the people, have become habituated to it. We sweet-talk our way out of traffic violations or gladly slip irresistible bills into enforcers’ hands because we do not want the trouble of having to deal with a traffic violation ticket. We look for “friendly” bureaucrats who are willing to “expedite” the release of licenses and permits provided that we “come across.” as well as its strength — lies in its trust in the people. The obvious primary response to the problem of corruption lies in the persons we elect to public office. And already, at the very starting point, the rot in our national existence marks its infectious presence, for elections are steeped in corrupt practices, vote-buying and the corruption of voters not the least among them. So, the corrupt are vested with the mantle of governmental power because we, the corrupt, vote them into power — and later on, pathetically and stupidly, complain about the blatant dishonesty, double-dealing and self-aggrandizement. Before the elections, I wrote a piece that pointed out the fact that opportunists find the campaign period very profitable, for they can approach candidates with any request — from the cost of coffins to paying for wedding banquets — with the confidence that they will not be turned down.The people, though, wield a powerful weapon: what I call “democratic vigilance.” Townspeople are witnesses to government projects and while not everyone may be familiar with the demands of sound infrastructure construction, there are those who are, and anyone will have a sense that things are not right. When an airport, for example, takes decades to complete, then something is certainly amiss. When roads that should have been paved are rutted after only a few months, then government money most assuredly fell down some rabbit-hole into a private cache. When a newly elected public official builds a mansion and is ostentatious in his display of wealth, the provenance of his instantaneous prosperity should be a matter of public concern and inquiry. When, in violation of existing laws expediting government processes, it takes forever to make the rounds of the many desks through which it must pass, then the salutary policy of the state is frustrated. When government property is purloined by those who do not have a right to it, why is there tolerance if not tacit approbation?That is where the trouble is. We mutter, whimper, complain and protest — but, with surprising docility, we accept whatever is dished out to us by the corrupt in public office. Were we as vigilant as the people of a democracy are supposed to be, we would publicly point out defective and faulty government projects, call out those who exact favors for the performance of official duties, report wrongdoing and willingly testify when charges are filed. In fact, the many in government service who have not compromised their integrity should be incomparably helpful allies in the democratic crusade against corruption. They know when bids and awards are channeled to favored bidders. They know where official processes are skewed. They know when official coffers become porous and their guardians complicit in the plunder of the money of the Republic. Unfortunately, many, because of fear or out of a desire to ingratiate themselves with the deities of bureaucracy, become privy by their silence, and their refusal to rise and to point to the culprits. That can obviously be very risky, but once more, the strength of democracy should lie in the barrier of collective security that a vigilant people should constitute, for those who bravely indict those who misappropriate, misspend, receive that to which they have no legal title and plunder.Rather than resigning ourselves to the position of victims of corruption in government, we can rise to the challenge of democratic vigilance, do our part, cultivate the virtue of democratic courage and instill it in our young — or become accomplices to so egregious a wrong and thereby lose every right to protest and to whine.rannie_aquino@sanbeda.edu.phrannie_aquino@csu.edu.ph
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