The Spread of Corruption

By Teodoro Bacani Jr.
Manila Standard Today

Once again, the Philippines has received the unflattering distinction of being rated as the most corrupt country of the 13 biggest economies in Asia. Corruption, from the top to the bottom of our social and political order, is indeed our biggest shame as a nation. As a result of this corruption, more and more of our people are experiencing degrading poverty.

Just these past few days, I got some insight into the spread of corruption throughout the social fabric. Visiting my hometown in Bataan, recently, I was talking to a relative of mine who owned a sizeable business. She was asked by the BIR agents to pay P475,000. She paid the amount and was given a receipt stating that she had paid P75,000. In this single transaction, these agents stole P400,000!

Her daughter asked the BIR agents how they could stomach doing such a thing and feeding their children with stolen money. The answer she received was striking: "Ah, those who are on top are doing the same thing. Why should we not do it also?"

There you have it clearly from the mouth of the thieves themselves. They are emboldened by the bad example they get from those who are above them. What happens then, if people believe that the President and her husband are corrupt, and that she and her people are able to evade responsibility or indictment for alleged corrupt acts? What happens when the people believe that those who possess the highest authority in the land are using that authority to cover up corruption, instead of going after corrupt people with all their power?

This is what is called "scandal" in the Bible, being the cause for the stumbling of others into sin. The Lord Jesus told his followers to cut off the scandalizing member, even if it is as precious as our own eye or hand. What should the people do when the scandalizing member of the body politic is no less than the President? It is a question worth asking and discussing, with a view to common decision and communal action.

Last Thursday evening, a priest who knows many people with first-hand knowledge of corruption in the government, shed some light on how corruption had spread all over our society. He said that people who perpetrate corrupt acts developed a vocabulary which was able to mask the evil of their deeds. Thus, illicit exactions for the approval of a project are simply called SOP. Now we hear about tongpats in connection with the NBN-ZTE broadband deal. Others use "commitment" or kalakaran. In that way the moral sting is taken out of the corrupt act, and people are able to think that what they are doing is "permissible" or really not that bad at all.

The most potent weapon against corruption is the light of truth. A thief in the act of stealing flees when the lights are put on. No one can keep on stealing with the lights glaring at him. That is why those who steal from our people are most afraid of the truth. On the other hand, that is also the reason why our search for truth should be "determined and relentless" (to borrow the words of the CBCP).

Thieves who cannot bear to be exposed to the light of truth try different methods to evade the exposure of the truth. We are now familiar with the use of the defunct Executive Order 464, and the resort to executive privilege as a way of preventing the truth from coming out. But there are other ways as well. People can be bought or threatened. We have by now seen a demonstration of this in the case of Jun Lozada who was at first given the ride of his life, and then handed P50,000 as pamalengke (market money), and, previous to that, given P500,000 when he said he needed money without him specifying the amount. Administration people seem to become very generous when they want to prevent the truth from coming out.

Or else they may throw dirt at the one making the exposé, in the belief that they will damage his credibility or at least distract attention from the truth of his exposé. We have seen that also in the case of Lozada. I know that some anonymous texters have been doing that to me also, even though I can only use slingshots against the doers of venal acts.

But such tactics belong to the father of lies, the devil, and to his minions. In this protracted battle between good and evil, it is easy to discern who belong to the camp of evil. Those who lie and cover up the truth are the offspring of you know who. . . May the Lord overcome their darkness.