Corruption in The Philippines Essays Example For Students

Corruption in The Philippines Essays INTRODUCTION Our report covers the major effects of corruption in the economy of the Philippines. We focused on the many issues caused by corruption being faced by the government today. We also included some essays and opinions from several users online. The first part of our report is the definition of corruption and its cause. To introduce our topic, we first defined what corruption is. We included a definition taken from the website of Philippine Anti-Graft Commission, the government agency tasked to weed out corruption on the government. There were also various definitions of corruption on the first part of our report. We also included the definition of political corruption and the different causes of corruption. These topics are further discussed on the first part. The second part indicated the various effects of corruption to the various sectors of the government. It also shows the effect of corruption not only on the government but to the people as well. The third part of this report includes different articles and essays found on the net. The authors of these essays are merely internet users, some professionals, who shared their opinions about corruption. The fourth part is the compilation of the different corruption cases in the Philippines. These are the projects that are said to be overpriced but still was approved by the administration. It also discussed the summary of the issues and the impacts caused by these projects. The fifth part is the analysis of the 3rd part. We quoted some statements from the essays and from that statement we analyzed the possible effect of corruption. The last part contains the conclusions. After the analyzing the information, we have come up with the results and the major effects of corruption to our economy. Part 1: DEFINITION OF CORRUPTION AND ITS CAUSE WHAT IS CORRUPTION? Corruption involves behavior on the part of officials in the public sector, whether politicians or civil servants, in whom they improperly and unlawfully enrich themselves, or those close to them by misuse of the public power entrusted to them. There are two types of corruption: 1. State capture/grand corruption is the condition when institutions, policies and regulations of the state are subject to purchase by private interests, which involves enormous amounts of ill-gotten wealth. This involves high amounts and high-ranking officials. 2. Petty/administrative corruption involves small amounts for payments of routine public services to be delivered or expedited, or for payoffs for small infractions. While grand corruption causes more damage than petty corruption, this does not mean that nothing should be done to minimize petty corruption. But, whether grand or petty, both are considered evils of society and results to profound consequences that affect all of us. (Phil. Anti-Graft Commission) As one of the oldest and most perplexing phenomenon in human society, political corruption exist in every country in the contemporary world and it is not exclusively a problem of developing countries. The classical concept of corruption as a general disease of the body politics was stated by ancient political philosophers Plato and Aristotle. Plato in his theory of the perverted constitutions-Democracy, oligarchy, and tyranny-worried that these regimes instead of being guided by the law were serving the interest of the rulers. These fundamental general notions of corruption all practically define corruption as dysfunctional. For it is seen as destructive of a particular political order, be it monarchy, aristocracy, or polity, the latter a constitutionally limited popular rule, and thus by definition devoid of any function within a political order. This classic conception of corruption continued into modern times, and is central to the political thought of Machiavelli, Montesquieu an d Rosseau. For Machiavelli corruption was process by which the virtue of the citizen was undermined and eventually destroyed. Since most men are weak and lacking in the virtue of the good citizen except when inspired by a great leader, the process of corruption is ever threatening. And when virtue has been corrupted, a heroic leader must appear who in rebuilding the political order infuses this virtue into the entire citizenry. Arnold Heidenheimer (1993 p. 25) Montesquieu saw corruption as the dysfunctional process by which a good political order is perverted into evil one and a monarchy into a despotism. According to Rosseau political corruption is a necessary consequence of the struggle for power. Then he argued that man had been corrupted by social and political life. It is not the corruption of man which destroyed the political system but the political system which corrupts and destroys man. Arnold Heidenheimer (1993 p. 25) There is an agreement between the views of Rosseau and Lord Acton that all powers tends to corrupt and absolute powers corrupts absolutely. Lord Acton is focused on the moral depravity which power is believed to cause in man, they no longer think about what is right action or manner, but only about which is expedient action or manner. Arnold Heidenheimer (1993 p. 16) According to Carl Fredrich (1972 p. 18) Corruption is a kind of behavior which deviates from the norm actually prevalent or behaved to prevail in a given context, such as the political. It is deviant behavior associated with a particular motivation, namely that of private gain at public expense. So he stated the concept of corruption in a way that constitutes a break of law or of standards of high moral conduct. Jacob Van Klavaren (1954, p. 5) defines corruption as the exploitation of the public. And he brought very interesting explanation taking a public official as an economic subject who, as every economic subject, tries to miximise his gain or income. Supposing that the income derived from the free-market agreement with the functional-economic income. In a system of free competition, there can be market equilibrium if both sides of the market, sellers and buyers, are equally strong and two exchange curves intersects. However, if there is a monopolistic condition on one side of the market, the monopolist will try to get the maximum profit from the other side. So the income of public official, who as an economic agent regards his office as a business, does not depend on his usefulness for the common good but upon the market situation and his talent for finding the point of maximal gain on the publics demand curve. Thus the corruption is always an exploitation of the public, which can occur only because the civil servants occupy a constitutionally independent position vis-a-vis the public. There have been a number of different attempts at defining corruption. However no precise definition can be found which applies to all forms, types and degrees of corruption, or which would be acceptable universally. According to Oxford English Dictionary (OED) the term corruption in political context is defined as â€Å"Perversion or favor, the use or existence of corrupt practices, especially in a state, publi c corruption, etc. † One of the most popular definition of corruption was given by Leslie Palmier (1983, p. 207). According to this definition corruption is seen as the use of public office for private advantage. According to Friedrich (1966, pp. 174-5) the use of public office for private advantage is not always widely perceived in a given society to be corrupt. Particularly if an individual making personal gain is simultaneously making a positive contribution to the society-there is no necessary contradiction between private advantage and contributing to the general good-many citizens will see such actions as at least acceptable and sometimes even just reward. Considering the conflict that can arise between an abstract definition of corruption and its application to a complex real world some writers have distinguished between what can crudely be called good, bad and ambiguous corruption. For example, Katsenelinbogen (1983, p236) identifies two basic types of corruption. 1. Actions whose harmful effects on society are questionable. According to Katsenelinbogen, this form of corruption involves redesigning the system and legalizing the appropriate actions of people in it. 2. Actions that unambiguously harm society. Such acts should be treated as corrupt and criminal. Then Arnold Heindehmer (1970 pp. 3-28) goes further and identifies three basic categories of corruption black, white and gray. Depending on the level of commonality of perception of a given act by public officials and citizens. White acts are more or less accepted by both groups, whereas Grey acts are those about which both officials and citizens disagree. Black acts are perceived as wrong by both officials and citizens. It is evident from the above discussion that there is a wide range of definitions of corruption. For our further discussion about the forms of corruption we take the definition given by Leslie Palmier (1983, p. 207) use of public office for private gain. This definition is both simple and sufficiently broad to cover most of the corruption that we face, and it is also widely used in literature. Public office offers many opportunities for private gain. Bribes are one of the main tools of corruption. The Oxford English Dictionary defines a bribe as â€Å"a reward given to pervert the judgment or corrupt the conduct. A bribe consists of an offer of money by an outside party to secure desired action from the governmental officials. Bribes can influence the choice of private parties to supply public goods and services and the exact terms of those supply contracts. According to Robert Thobabeen (1991, p. 62) buying contracts can be called also Kickbacks when government officials may use their bargaining power with contractors and their discretion in awarding contracts to obtain a fee or service charge for arraigning the contract. A percentage, usually 5 percent, of the contracts is returned or kicked back to the public officials by the contractor. According to World Bank report (1997 p. 20) Bribes can influence the allocation of monetary benefits (for evasion, subsidies, pensions, or unemployment insurance. ) Bribes can be used to reduce amount of taxes or other fees collected by government from private parties. In many countries tax bill is negotiable. Bribes may be demanded or offered for the issuance of license that conveys an exclusive right, such as a land development concession or exploitation of a natural rescores. Sometimes politicians and bureaucrats deliberately put in place policies that crate control rights, which they profit from by selling. Bribes can speed up the government’s granting of permission to carry out legal activities. Bribes can alter outcomes of the legal and regulatory process, by inducing the government either to fail to stop illegal activities or to unduly favor party over another in court or other legal proceeding. The converse of bribery is extortion, the abuse or threat of power in such a ways to secure response in payment of money or other valuable things. Extortion according to the Oxford English Dictionary is the act or practice of extorting (defined as either to wrest or wring from a person, extract by torture or to obtain from a reluctant person by violence, torture, intimidation, or abuse of legal or official authority, or – in a weaker sense by importing, overwhelming arguments or any powerful influence) or wresting especially money, from a person by force on by undue exercise of authority or power. Another type of corruption is the misuse of public property and funds. Control of property provides opportunities for mismanagement and corruption. An extreme form is the large-scale â€Å"spontaneous† privatization of state assets by enterprise managers and other officials in some transition economies. According to Leslie Holmes (1999, p. 5) the process of privatization which is ultimately implemented by the state provides new opportunities to state officials. They can demand or request bribes and kickbacks from private agents interested in purchasing a formerly state-owned business. At the other end of the scale is petty theft of items such as office equipment and stationary, vehicles and fuel. The perpetrators of petty theft are usually middle and lower-level officials, compensating, in some cases, for inadequate salaries. Theft of government financial resources is another form of corruption, officials may pocket tax revenues or fees (often with the collusion of the payer, in effect combining theft with bribery) steal cash from treasures, extend advances to themselves that are never repaid, or draw pay for fictitious â€Å"ghost† workers, a pattern well documented in the reports of audit authorities. For example former Philippines president Ferdinant Morcos was accused of stealing millions of dollars, much of it in American foreign aid. In another example in Iran-Contra affair in which profits from the sale of US government property (antitank and antiaircraft missiles) were diverted to private arms dealers and to counterrevolutionaries in Latin America. Robert Thobabeen (1991, p. 63) brings another form of corruption Influence Peddling when individuals with access to people in high places are sometimes tempted to trade on the influence of high ranking government officials. There is money to be made through sale of access, the arrangement of contracts and timely intervention to secure favorable disposition of regulatory decisions and government contract. The use of these kinds of connections for personal gain is usually described as influence peddling. Patronage is another form of corruption. The assignment of government positions to political supporters has long been a practice in politics. While civil service regulations at the national and state level may effectively curtail the number of patronage jobs, political appointments remain at the top levels of government and provide a legitimate way for elected politicians to influence bureaucracy through the appointment of legal executive officials. The process becomes corrupt when appointees are expected to pay for their jobs. The custom of rewarding wealthy campaign contributors with appointments as ambassadors has been traditional in presidential politics. Leslie Holmes (1993, p. 205) brings three major forms of patronage. These are the following. Nepotism In this context is the granting of public office on the bases of family ties. This is a good example of a point where different cultures have very different attitudes towards some forms of corruption. Shared experience there the patron and client have usually worked together in the past and are on good terms nd the patron promotes or has promoted the client on the basis of these past experience and warm relationship. Shared Interest In this case, the patron does not have common experience with someone he she wishes to promote, but rather a common interest (for example, they both come from the same republic and/or are of same ethnic group; they both favor a large increase in defense expenditure in contrast to what others want, they are of the same gender. ) Corruption in a society can be rare or widespread. If it is rare, consisting of a few individual acts, it is straightforward to detect and punish. In such cases noncorrupt behavior is the norm, and institutions in both the public and private sector support integrity in public life such institutions, both formal and informal, are sufficiently strong to return to a noncorrupt, equilibrium In contrast, corruption is systemic where bribery, or a large or small scale, is routine in leading between the public sector and firms or individuals. Where systemic corruption exists, formal and informal rules are at odds with one another bribery may be illegal but is understood by everyone to be routine in transactions with the government. There are many countries in which bribery characterizes the rules of the game in private public interactions. What is Political Corruption? Political corruption is the use of legislated powers by government officials for illegitimate private gain. Misuse of government power for other purposes, such as repression of political opponents and general police brutality, is not considered political corruption. Neither are illegal acts by private persons or corporations not directly involved with the government. An illegal act by an officeholder constitutes political corruption only if the act is directly related to their official duties. Forms of corruption vary, but include bribery, extortion, cronyism, nepotism, patronage, graft, and embezzlement. While corruption may facilitate criminal enterprise such as drug trafficking, money laundering, and human trafficking, it is not restricted to these activities. The activities that constitute illegal corruption differ depending on the country or jurisdiction. For instance, certain political funding practices that are legal in one place may be illegal in another. In some cases, government officials have broad or poorly defined powers, which make it difficult to distinguish between legal and illegal actions. Worldwide, bribery alone is estimated to involve over 1 trillion US dollars annually. A state of unrestrained political corruption is known as a kleptocracy, literally meaning rule by thieves. (wikipedia) CAUSES OF CORRUPTION Leslie Holmes (1993 p. 157) the causes of corruption divides into three categories, cultural, psychological, and system-related. Cultural factor: â€Å"In many countries certain types of corruption are more or less acceptable often depending on the scale in the traditional political culture. † Some countries have more of a reputation for corruption particularly because of traditional attitudes towards family, kinship, etc. The other factor of causing corruption is psychological factor. There are number of psychological factors that help to explain some types of corruption. Taking into account the internal factors of individuals some individuals are naturally evil and will commit criminal acts, including corrupt ones in any type of system. The external factors, individuals relationship to the group is also important. According to Holmes (1993, p. 165) â€Å"the power of both peerpressure and peer-comparison can be great, for instance in the words of one artist â€Å"when the best of people take bribes, isnt it the fool who doesnt? In other words if individuals see others around them benefiting from corruption, they may well choose to indulge too. † Human weakness also may cause corruption. Some people find it difficult to reject offers from a person of a generous nature. Some officials will accept gifts because they know they have been particularly helpful to someone and either feels they deserv e a reward (that is they feel that a reward is not inappropriate), or else genuinely do not want to offend or embarrass a grateful supplicant. According to Holmes (1993) â€Å"nepotism also as a form of corruption can be explained in psychological term. The blood is thicker than water syndrome wanting to help ones family. Nepotism can be explained in terms of individuals seeking to maximize their own power and the lust for power is a psychological variable. † System related factors: One of the factors that distinguishes post-communist states from transitional societies elsewhere is that they have been undergoing multiple and simultaneous transitions since the collapse of communist power in 1989-1991. In addition they had to introduce fundamental economic, legal, ideological and social change. Many also had to redefine their boundaries and identities, and realign themselves in international military and trading block. The sheer scope of attempted change is one significant reason why most post-communist states have suffered a severe legislative lag in the past decade. This lag has meant that laws have often been either in essence non-existence or else vague and contradictory. This situation is ripe for both corruption and organized crime. When officials have monopoly power over provision of a government good it is crucial for explaining the incidence of corruption without theft. Monopoly power could exist for the legal reason that a certain officials are the only charged with performing a certain task. Whether an official will be in a favorable position to extract bribes from clients depends not only on whether they have a monopoly over their particular activity, but also upon the rules and regulations regarding the distribution of government goods. The greater the amount of discretion which is given to an agent, the more opportunities there will be for agents to give favorable interpretations of government rules and regulations to businesses in exchange for illegal payments. For example in terms of the level of discretion, when a custom agent is allowed to apply one of several tariff rates to a product, or when a tax inspector is given substantial room to decide whether companies are given deductions or not, there will be an incentive to demand a bribe in exchange for offering favorable treatment. Asymmetries of information present principles with a challenge in that they often find it difficult to monitor the actions of agents effectively and hold them accountable for their actions when they fell to carry out an assigned task. Political structure is crucial element in the evolution of corruption. Political structures where representative processes to enforce governmental accountability are weak or absent would be expected to provide the greatest opportunities for corruption. The judicial system also has an important role in giving opportunities for corrupt acts. But it is very important the degree of separation of power between judiciary and government because it may have very significant influence on judiciary system in playing its key role. The poor drafting of laws and regulations also creates many opportunities for corrupt acts. Smog EssayBishops have openly debunked each others political views, including Bishop Juan de Dios Pueblos, an influential clergyman from Butuan province and member of the CBCP, who warned the head of the clergy, Iloilo Archbishop Angel Lagdameo, that he stands to get ousted from his post for airing anti-government statements without prior consultation with the CBCP. While the CBCP has released a number of pastoral statements during its biannual meetings, stating the clergys position on the various scandals involving Arroyo, it was the first time that the so-called Mindanao and Northern Luzon blocs of the clergy had come out to express their all-out support for Arroyo. That unified regional stand from the two influential blocs was unprecedented, according to church sources. On the other side of the godly divide, priest Robert Reyes, a well-known Arroyo critic, has said that the CBCPs refusal to take on the voice of the people in opposition to the government has reduced the clergy to irrelevance. Several senior clergy members were seen in attendance at recent mass anti-government interfaith prayer rallies held in Manila, including CBCP leader Lagdameo. Archbishop Oscar Cruz, a former CBCP president, said recently that the division among the clergy is not a question of faith and morals, where we are united, but of a judgment call on the ethical dimension of a government. Bishop Broderick Pabillo, meanwhile, was seen at the February 29 interfaith rally, but refused to go on stage or entertain media interviews. Pabillo, head of the CBCPs social arm, sat beside Rodolfo Noel Lozada Jr, the oppositions whistleblower in the ZTE corruption case, when he first presented himself to the media after coming out of hiding in Hong Kong due to concerns for his personal safety. The fractured clergy marks a stark contrast to the pivotal role men of the cloth played in mobilizing the masses in 1986, when so-called peoples power rallies overthrew Ferdinand Marcos authoritarian and corrupt government. Then the clergy rallied around the straight-talking Archbishop Jaime Cardinal Sin, who emerged as a force of moral authority for the disenfranchised masses; today, no such charismatic figure has emerged to check or challenge Arroyos legitimacy. Friends in high places Thats in part because Arroyo has deftly played the religion card. The Philippines is a predominantly Catholic country and senior bishops have in the past flexed their moral authority to affect political outcomes, including elections and crucial laws and legislation. But a series of controversial incidents, many involving financial links to Arroyos administration, has called the clergys own legitimacy into question. Nueva Vizcaya Bishop Ramon Villena recently admitted in a newspaper report that the Philippine Charity Sweepstakes Office (PCSO), the lottery run by the Office of the President, had given him 1. 6 million pesos (US$39,000) to build a hospital for the poor in his home province. However, the total assistance given to Villenas province, according to the report, was 3. 2 million pesos. The report also showed that the Catholic Church-run Radio Veritas received more than 2 million pesos in ad placements from the PCSO, which while not necessarily a new development, represented a huge increase in the amount of government funds doled out for similar initiatives in the past. That gifts or money would blind the eyes of bishops and seal their lips to gross corruption when solidly proven would be a tragic contradiction to their experience as pastors at Edsa I and Edsa II, said Cotabato Archbishop Orlando Quevedo, a former CBCP president, referring to the clergys participation in past peoples power movements which overthrew corrupt governments. The CBCPs current president, Lagdameo, while quiet on previous scandals involving Arroyo and despite the issuance of carefully worded joint CBCP statements, has personally attacked the mbattled premier since the ZTE scandal broke out. Two of his statements called on the people to engage in communal action and get involved in a brand n ew people power, which was interpreted by many as calling for a new peoples power movement. Lagdameos statements were strongly criticized by pro-Arroyo bishops. Before Lagdameo took the CBCPs helm, its previous leader, Fernando Capalla, was a personal friend to Arroyo. Church insiders say that Capalla, who also sat as one of the governments peace negotiators in talks with Muslim secessionists, was frequently escorted by presidential guards from the airport whenever he flew into Manila. It was thus notable, some say, that during Capallas tenure when explosive vote-rigging charges against Arroyo broke that the bishops did not support calls for her resignation or impeachment. When a government agent who claimed responsibility for wiretapping a conversation between Arroyo and a senior election official in 2004 in which the two appear to have predetermined vote counts for various constituencies across the country took refuge at a Manila seminary, Cardinal Gaudencio Rosales ordered that he be turned over to the military. Rosales, who is a relative to one of Arroyos closest aides, has admitted in press interviews that he has received a 1 million peso donation from the Presidential Palace for his various livelihood projects targeting Manilas poor populations. As successor to the incorruptible Cardinal Sin, many Filipinos have looked on Rosales to be a strong voice against government abuse. Cebu Archbishop Ricardo Cardinal Vidal, who was the CBCPs president when the clergy called for a civil disobedience campaign after Marcos rigged the results of 1986 snap elections against Corazon Aquino, has likewise shot down calls for the clergy to endorse Arroyos resignation. Despite his key role in orchestrating Marcos ouster, the senior clergyman has said a declaration against Arroyo is beyond the clergys authority and should be left to the political opposition. Where bishops have failed to take a unified stand, Catholic nuns notably have in their statements and actions. For instance, they have stood guard around Lozada, the key opposition witness in the Senate inquiry into the ZTE scandal, to provide divine protection against possible assassination a move that evoked images of activist nuns holding rosaries and blocking military tanks during the Philippines first peoples power revolution in 1986. Most of the nuns belonged to the Association of Major Religious Superiors of the Philippines, a network of 200 congregations with a long track record of involvement in national sociopolitical issues, dating to the period of martial law in the 1970s. But then, as now, the nuns lack the clout of the bishops, which Arroyo has effectively divided and ruled to her political advantage. ‘We can do much more for our country’ By Gemma Dimaculangan Philippine Daily Inquirer First Posted 02:07am (Mla time) 03/23/2008 Filipinos know that their country is not in good shape because of corruption and other problems. Unless moderated, kickbacks can account for at least a third of the cost of government projects, resulting in shoddy roads and bridges, lack of medicines in public hospitals, unused telecommunication equipment, shortage of schools and teachers, among others. Allegations that Malacanang officials are involved in massive corruption have triggered a political crisis. Many people have expressed disgust over the greed of the officials, who deny the allegations. Among them is Gemma Dimaculangan, who describes herself as an ordinary citizen. Doing what she calls â€Å"something concrete,† she has written a letter she posted on the Internet to let others know that there are â€Å"Filipinos who dream of something better for the Philippines. † Titled â€Å"To all Filipinos everywhere,† the letter lists what parents, teachers, students, graduates, young professionals and other citizens should do to achieve that dream. –Ed. MANILA, Philippines—I used to think that corruption and criminality in the Philippines were caused by poverty. But recent events tell me this isn’t true. It is one thing to see people turn into drug addicts, prostitutes, thieves and murderers because of hunger and poverty, but what excuse do these rich, educated people have that could possibly explain their bizarre behavior? And to think I was always so relieved when petty snatchers got caught and locked away in jail because I never fully realized that the big time thieves were out there, making the laws and running our country. Can it get any worse than this? Every night, I come home and am compelled to turn on my TV to watch the latest turn of events. I am mesmerized by these characters. They are not men. They are caricatures of men—too unreal to be believable and too bad to be real. To see these â€Å"honorable† crooks lambast each other, call each one names, look each other in the eye and accuse the other of committing the very same crimes that they themselves are guilty of, is so comical and appalling that I don’t know whether to laugh or cry. It is entertainment at its worst! Criminals in ‘barong’ I have never seen so many criminals roaming around unfettered and looking smug until now. These criminals wear suits and barong, strut around with the confidence of the rich and famous, inspire fear and awe from the very citizens who voted them to power, bear titles like â€Å"Honorable,† â€Å"Senator,† â€Å"Justice,† â€Å"General† and worse, â€Å"President. † Ironically, these lawless individuals practice law, make our laws, enforce the law. And we wonder why our policemen act the way they do! These are their leaders and the leaders of this nation—Robin Hoodlum and his band of moneymen. Their motto? â€Å"Rob the poor, moderate the greed of the rich. It makes me wonder where on earth these people came from, and what kind of upbringing they had to make them act the way they do for all the world to see. It makes me wonder what kind of schools they went to, what kind of teachers they had, what kind of env ironment would produce such creatures who can lie, cheat and steal from an already indebted country and from the impoverished people they had vowed to serve. It makes me wonder what their children and grandchildren think of them, and if they are breeding a whole new generation of improved Filipino crooks and liars with maybe a tad more style but equally negligible conscience. Heaven forbid! Taxpayer I am an ordinary citizen and taxpayer. I am blessed with a job that pays for my needs and those of my family’s, even though 30 percent of my earnings go to the nation’s coffers. Just like others with my lot, I have complained time and again because our government could not provide enough of the basic services that I expect and deserve. Rutted roads, poor educational system, poor social services, poor health services, poor everything. But I have always thought that was what all Third World countries were all about, and my complaints never amounted to anything. And then this. Scandalous government deals. Plundering presidents pointing fingers. Senators associated with crooks. Congressmen who accept bribes. Big-time lawyers on the side of injustice. De Venecia ratting on his boss only after his interminable term has ended, Enrile inquiring about someone’s morality! The already filthy rich Abalos and Arroyo wanting more money than they or their great grandchildren could ever spend in a lifetime. Joker making a joke of his own â€Å"pag bad ka, lagot ka! † slogan. Defensor rendered defenseless. General Razon involved in kidnapping. Security men providing anything but a sense of security. And it’s all about money, money, money that the average Juan de la Cruz could not even imagine in his dreams. Is it any wonder why our few remaining decent and hardworking citizens are leaving to work in other countries? And worst of all, we are once again saddled with a power-hungry President whose addiction has her clinging on to it like barnacle on a rusty ship. â€Å"Love (of power) is blind† takes a whole new meaning when PGMA time and again turns a blind eye to her husband’s financial deals. And still blinded with all that is happening, she opts to traipse around the world with her cohorts in tow while her country is in shambles. Disgust They say the few stupid ones like me who remain in the Philippines are no longer capable of showing disgust. I don’t agree. Many like me feel anger at the brazenness of men we call our leaders, embarrassment to share the same nationality with them, frustration for our nation and helplessness at my own ineffectuality. It is not that I won’t make a stand. It is just that I am afraid my actions would only be futile. After all, these monsters are capable of anything. They can hurt me and my family. They already have, though I may not yet feel it. But I am writing this because I need to do something concrete. I need to let others know that ordinary citizens like me do not remain lukewarm to issues that would later affect me and my children. I want to make it known that there are also Filipinos who dream of something better for the Philippines. I want them to know that my country is not filled with scalawags and crooks in every corner, and that there are citizens left who believe in decency, fairness, the right to speak, the right to voice out ideas, the right to tell the people we have trusted to lead us that they have abused their power and that it is time for them to step down. Summon power of good I refuse to let this country go to hell because it is the only country I call mine and it is my responsibility to make sure I have done what I could for it. Those of us who do not have the wealth, power or position to battle the evil crime lords in government can summon the power of good. We can pray. We can do this with our families every night. We can offer petitions every time we celebrate Mass. We can ask others to pray, too, including relatives and friends here and overseas. And we can offer sacrifices along with our petitions, just so we can get Him to hear our message that we are desperate in ridding our nation of these vermin. After all, they cannot be more powerful than God! I implore mothers out there to raise your children the best way you can. Do not smother, pamper, or lavish them with too much of the material comforts of life even if you can well afford them. Teach them that there are more important things in this world. Teach kids honesty, fair play I beg all fathers to spend time with their children, to teach them the virtues of hard work, honesty, fair play, sharing, dignity and compassion—right from the sandbox till they are old enough to go on their own. Not just in your homes, but at work, in school, everywhere you go. Be good role models. Be shining examples for your children so they will learn to be responsible adults who will carry and pass on your family name with pride and honor. I call on educators and teachers—we always underestimate the power of your influence on the minds of our youth. Encourage them to be aware of what is happening in their surroundings. Instill in them a love of their country, inculcate in them the value of perseverance in order to gain real, worthwhile knowledge, help us mold our children into honorable men and women. Encourage our graduates, our best and brightest, to do what they can to lift this country from the mire our traditional politicians have sunk us into. The youth is our future—and it would be largely because of you, our educators, that we will be able to repopulate the seats of power with good leaders, presidents, senators, congressmen, justices, lawmakers, law enforcers and lawful citizens. I ask all students, young people and young professionals everywhere to look around and get involved in what is happening. Do not let your youth be an excuse for failure to concern yourselves with the harsh realities you see. But neither let this make you cynical, because we need your idealism and fresh perspective just as you need the wisdom of your elders. YOUR COUNTRY NEEDS YOU! Let your voices be heard. Do what you can for this land of your ancestors and your heritage. Use technology and all available resources at hand to spread good. Text meaningful messages to awaken social conscience. Try your best to fight moral decay because I promise you will not regret it when you become parents yourselves. You will look back at your past misdeeds and pray that your children will do better than you did. Remember that there are a few who are capable of running this country. You can join their ranks and make their numbers grow. We are tired of the old trapos. We need brave idealistic leaders who will think of the greater good before anything else. Do your utmost to excel in your chosen field. Be good lawyers, civil servants, accountants, computer techies, engineers, doctors, military men so that when you are called to serve in government, you will have credibility and a record that can speak for itself. For love of this country, for the future of our children, for the many who have sacrificed and died to uphold our rights and ideals, I urge you to do what you can. As ordinary citizens, we can do much more for the Philippines than sit around and let crooks lead us to perdition. We owe ourselves this. And we owe our country even more. Gemma Dimaculangan is a medical technologist working in Metro Manila. ) Doing much for the country By Conrado de Quiros Philippine Daily Inquirer First Posted 00:29:00 03/27/2008 I COULDNT agree more with what Gemma Dimaculangan said last Sunday. Dimaculangan, a medical technologist living in Metro Manila, po sted a letter on the Internet to express her thoughts about the current situation, which became this newspapers Talk of the Towns featured piece (We can do much for our country). Dimaculangan begins by making her disgust known in no uncertain termsindeed in the most heartfelt terms. I have never seen so many criminals roaming around unfettered and looking smug until now. These criminals wear suits and barong, strut around with the confidence of the rich and famous, inspire fear and awe from the citizens, bear titles like Honorable, Senator, Justice, General, and worse, President. After several more paragraphs devoted to her thought, Dimaculangan says: They say the few stupid ones like me who remain in the Philippines are no longer capable of showing disgust. I dont agree. Many like me feel anger at the brazenness of men we call our leaders . We are not powerless before this, said Dimaculangan. We can meet this bane by summoning Good. Quite apart from imploring God to heed our prayers and send a few thunderbolts in the right direction, or rid our nation of these vermin, as she herself puts it, we can do several things. We can, as parents, students, teachers, professionals, and ordinary folk teach and/or learn the right values, the better to push back the forces of darkness. I leave the reader to go more lengthily into Dimaculangans proposals. Ive only a couple of caveats to add to her piece. The first has to do with her diagnosis of the symptoms and the second with her prescription for a cure. I completely agree that what we are witnessing today is corruption of staggering proportions. And I thought it was inspired that our editors tacked on the same page accompanying Dimaculangans article a news item that drove home her point. That item was the Political and Economic Risk Consultancys survey reaffirming the Philippines standing as the most corrupt country in Asia. That is truly an accomplishment of world-class proportions, if a horrendously unsavory one. To be more corrupt than China or India or Pakistan or Indonesia or Cambodia is to pillage far more monumentally than the countries that invented monuments. It is a monument to infamy in and of itself. But as the PERC itself says, what makes the Philippine case uniquesad is the word it charitably usesis not just the quantity of the corruption but the quality of it. PERC sees the difference as the Philippines openly discussing the numerous perfidies in the media whereas the other Asian countries, for one reason or another, are unable to do so. That is a minor difference from where I stand.