CORRUPTION TAKES CENTERSTAGE

The Philippine Star
04/30/10

The issue of corruption without doubt is playing a definitive role in determining who the country’s next president will be. The candidate smudged by perceptions of corruption or even affiliated with corrupt individuals will likely find himself at the trailing end of surveys.

Take Manny Villar. Apparently still unable to quash allegations of influencing the allocation of funds for the controversial C-5 road extension project, his strong early bid has now been reduced to fighting fires, or in his own words, “swimming in black propaganda.”

His strong advertising offensive even before the start of the election campaign period also seems to be working against him especially after the estimated cost of his media blitz was reported to have run to several billion pesos.

Take Erap. Duplicating the landslide vote that he earned during the presidential elections of 1998 would seem a tough feat these days even if former president Corazon Aquino and representatives of the Catholic Church “apologized” for ushering him out of office through another “people power” movement.

Joseph “Erap” Estrada, the 13th president of the Republic and an action movie icon, is still a crowd favorite. But shades of the BW scandal, stories of “jueteng” payoffs, all-night drinking and gambling sessions, and countless concubines that were brought to the public eye during his impeachment case have not been forgotten. This has diminished the number of people supporting him for the presidential bid.

Take Gibo. The presidential standard bearer of the current administration’s ruling party has not been able to distance himself from the perceived corrupt government of Gloria Macapagal Arroyo, who is likewise spooked by her connivance in alleged shady deals involving her husband, the First Gentleman.

Erap has praised Gibo as the most qualified of the presidential candidates. Gilbert Teodoro, son of former and respected Social Security System administrator Gilberto Teodoro Sr., has a Harvard degree and no stories of irregularities hounding him. But this does not seem to be enough. And, oh, Erap’s endorsement may have done more harm than good.

Failed war against corruption

That the corruption issue has taken to the fore in this political exercise is not difficult to understand. Filipinos are fed up with all the old and new tricks that unscrupulous politicians employ to “earn quick and big bucks” while in power.

The popular Guiness Book of World Records in the late 1980s was the first to take note that the Philippines was a corrupt nation, an apparent dig on President Ferdinand Marcos who was still holding on to power after more than a decade of autocratic rule.

Such notoriety had never been dispelled even by the government of Corazon Aquino, who had succeeded Marcos. She, who was the embodiment of all that was not to be desired with the former dictatorial regime, realized that pure intentions were not enough.

In fact, succeeding presidents vowed a war against corruption – stern words during inaugural speeches, or government crusades when national and international survey results would bring the issue to public light, or statements whenever convenient to gain good public mileage.

Thanks to Filipinos’ heightened concern about corruption, several government agencies and even campaigns have been organized to run after those who are accused or suspected of wrongdoing. The Presidential Commission on Good Government, the Ombudsman, and the Sandiganbayan are just a few.

Somewhere along the line, though, these same government offices found themselves thrust in the direct firing line, accused of coddling corrupt officials or of dragging their feet on sensitive issues. Pretty soon, those who were supposed to run after the crooks were accused being in the same dirty league.

Moral fiber and platforms

And so, in less than two weeks Filipinos will choose the next President to represent their interests in government for the next six years. And the signs are that the single most important criteria for most of them will involve moral fiber. In simple terms: who is good and who is evil (or may be influenced by evil)?

This could partly explain the current leading position of Noynoy Aquino. A virtual nobody in Philippine politics until his mother died late last year, Benigno “Noynoy” Aquino III was about as reluctant as his mother had been when prodded to lead the opposition against the incumbent.

Today, Noynoy’s campaign bid is being bolstered by an anti-corruption tagline. It has shielded him from accusations about the mishandling of the family’s Luisita Hacienda holdings, or the recent allegations of depression and melancholia while a college student.

Even the issue of a lack of “galing at talino” (capability and intelligence) has been set aside by the perception that Noynoy will not allow his name to be tainted with corruption.

In fairness, all presidential candidates do have their own proposed platforms of governance that can be gleaned from their respective websites. But what Aquino or Villar or Estrada or Teodoro proposes to do when elected now seems to be relegated to the background since all of their promises sound the same, supposedly for the country’s benefit.

With the passion against corruption ignited, what is important for most of Filipino voters now is that the candidate who is chosen to live in Malacanang and sit behind that all-most-powerful seal of the land will not dirty his (or her) hands.

For sure, though, whoever gets to be elected president will need more than just well-meaning intentions. As Cory had admitted in 1989, two years after she assumed office, “Corruption has returned, if not on the same scale, at least with equal shamelessness.”

Corruption is two-headed

If there is one lesson we can draw from the Filipino’s experience with corruption, one that has spanned most of our lifetimes, it is that corruption is two-headed and the war against it needs to be waged by all if the country is to win.

Both the corruptor and the corrupted need to be stopped. If politicians are guilty, so are businessmen who participate or even initiate such deals. If a policeman receives a bribe, shame on the citizen who offers or agrees.

The fight against corruption is a tough act, something that will take time and effort to win. And it will need a steely reserve and plenty of discipline not just from our political leaders but also from each and every one of us.

Should you wish to share any insights, write me at Link Edge, 25th Floor, 139 Corporate Center, Valero Street, SalcedoVillage, 1227 MakatiCity. Or e-mail me at reydgamboa@yahoo.com. For a compilation of previous articles, visit www.BizlinksPhilippines.net