From day one, the issue has been corruption. Marcos pillaged the economy through the draconian martial law powers. Others had corrupt administrations either by themselves or through their sub-alterns. GMA had her emergency powers and executive orders to hide the trail of corruption. In varying degrees of culpability, the Pinoys have been led, or misled, by corrupt governments.
To paraphrase Bill Clinton, “It is corruption, stupid!”. It is the centerpiece issue of the recent presidential election. It is the dream of the people that P-Noy gets rid of corruption.
No sound bites about good economic fundamentals can sanitize the fact that what drives investors away is corruption. If you have a government that deals with a foreign investor not on how the country will benefit but how the pocket would fatten, then you will have an economy that faces a blank wall – neither here nor there.
The people obviously find in P-Noy the purest of intentions to govern, and to do so at the best of his ability. We too, find in P-Noy the sterling traits that made Ninoy a hero, and Cory a democratic icon. Character does not come overnight. It goes with breeding. It goes with nurturing. It is born to a family.
This we can concede: P-Noy is, and will not be corrupt. But this early, we cannot yet concede that the people around him will be incorruptible. Power, privilege, and the flirtations with the green bucks, these three, require almost divine traits.
Already, a member of P-Noy’s inner circle, when asked whether he favors the scrapping of the pork barrel for legislators, vehemently objected to such a move. This same objection resonates throughout the halls of the House of Representatives and the Senate.
Weeding-out corruption cannot be bottom to the top. It has to be from top to bottom, from the leaders to the governed.
Face it, without the P70 million per annum pork barrel, congressional aspirants would have second thought running for a seat. The salary of a congressman does not reach one million per annum. Even if it does, it is never enough. Without the pork barrel and the running cut of even up to 40 percent, congressmen will have to live simple lives or face bankruptcy if they continue with their present lifestyle of ostentations and profligacy.
Other government officials, they too mulct the people with the famous “intelligence funds” which are not subject to audit. Local government officials too enjoy this privilege. In the guise of gathering intelligence for effective governance, millions are allocated. How these intelligence funds would be spent no one could inquire. Had the money been spent for intelligence gathering, many crimes could have been prevented.
Truth of the matter, of the keepers of intelligence funds, only then Mayor Duterte of Davao City put the money in its intended use.
Easily, intelligence fund could eclipse pork barrel as a source of corruption.
There are other sources of corruption committed by other government officials, like commissions in a contract, grease money, and other form of extortions, open or hidden.
But of the sources of corruption, P-Noy should address the issues of pork barrel and intelligence funds. The congressmen are elected, as enshrined in the constitution, to legislate laws, and not to build roads, bridges, and buildings. The constitution mandated the executive branch to implement laws and policies. The constitutional allocation of power should not be blurred with pork barrel.
On the issue of intelligence fund, the constitution is clear that all public funds must be accounted for. Not to subject this kind of fund to audit is negating people’s will.
In getting rid of these pork barrels and intelligence funds, P-Noy may have to get roughshod even with his party mates. The uproar will be loud, stinging, and at times brutal.
This is a tall order for P-Noy. But he has to start the cleaning process. That is the raison d'être of his election.
