Tony La Vina
Dean, Ateneo School of Government
When I first met Heidi Mendoza, she impressed me as an ebullient and high-spirited person. I have gotten to know Heidi because she is a member of the board of advisers of EHEM, an anti-corruption program based in the Ateneo School of Government where I am Dean. She has also worked in the past as a resource person for the Affiliated Network on Social Accountability—East Asia Pacific which is also based in AsoG. I was impressed with the excellence and professionalism that characterized her work as a public accountant and an advocate of good governance. But what I really like about Heidi is her sense of humor and readiness to laugh, including at herself. Until lately, she has never betrayed any hint of the emotional turmoil within her. But behind this woman is an indomitable and resolute spirit that would shame even the strongest and most courageous amongst the men in this “macho” society of ours.
Heidi Mendoza had a promising career as a public accountant. An expert in the field of audit, investigation, and fraud examination, she was employed by the Commission on Audit, holding responsible positions in the Commission for the better part of her professional career. Everything was going well for Heidi when in September 2004 she was requested by then Ombudsman Simeon Marcelo to lead a group tasked to conduct fraud investigation involving the Armed Forces of the Philippines fund mess, particularly in the office of then AFP Comptroller, General Carlos Garcia. Despite the physical and emotional strain not to a small measure caused by uncooperative and, at times, hostile government officials, she continued with the investigation. Along the way, her team unearthed suspicious bank transactions and documents that could only mean anomalous transfers of AFP funds. Among others, Heidi had proof of anomalies related to managing funds from the United Nations intended to support our soldiers in peace-keeping missions abroad. When asked in an interview by ABS-CBN’s Ces Oreña-Drilon whether she has the smoking gun against Garcia, she quipped that while she is not a lawyer, her solid 20 years experience from the COA, including her trainings in financial and fraud investigation, gives her the confidence in the evidence they have gathered.
Heidi detailed these anomalous transactions in her testimony as the main state witness for the plunder case against General Garcia in the Sandiganbayan where she testified from 2007 to 2009. She also provided the documentation to support her testimony. For two long years, Heidi silently and without fanfare attended and testified in the hearings (16 of them). Most of the time, only her husband was there to give her moral support. By that time, the public and most of media had lost interest in the case. Unlike in the case of other whistleblowers who exposed anomalies committed by high profile personalities, there were no civil society to drum up interest, no media to record, and no security except for some representatives from the church when ironically, a case of this magnitude would have triggered a media-frenzy and stirred the interest of even the most apathetic. After all, rumors of massive corruption in the AFP have long been the fodder of news reports and subject of investigations for as long as I can remember. And more so because, we are all witness to the hapless conditions of our soldiers who go to battle without decent equipment.
Heidi is one who would rather shy away from the limelight, narrate her piece of the story before the Sandiganbayan and be done over with it. She wanted to return to her disrupted normal life as soon as possible. But it was not to be. When the government prosecutors defended a plea bargain that allowed a former military comptroller accused of plunder to go free on bail, saying the case against retired Maj. Gen. Carlos Garcia was “deficient” from the start, she decided last week to break her silence and come out in the open if only to dispel the misperception that all government workers are corrupt. To be able to do this, she decided to resign from a well-paying and professionally respected position in the Asian Development Bank where she had gone to work after resigning from the Commission on Audit. Ironically, her work in the ADB was to promote and work for good governance in the Philippines. When I asked her why she was resigning from her ADB post, Heidi responded with a rhetorical question—“How could I work on good governance anywhere and keep silent about the Garcia case?”
Heidi Mendoza is a woman on a mission. But behind the courage and the commitment, the strains to herself and her family (who are all very proud of her) are taking a toll. Like most witnesses in similar cases, there is always fear, apart from the very real and distinct physical risk they face every day that they would succumb to pressure and their efforts be rendered futile without significant support, whether moral, spiritual or financial. In many instances, whistleblowers, who may be key to solving a case, buckle under the weight of and succumb to intense pressure that goes with the expose or in this case, testifying against powerful individuals. But it is when an individual would unflinchingly risk everything for a noble cause despite tremendous adversities that he or she may be regarded as a hero or heroine. And to me, Heidi is one such person. As she said in the ABS-CBN interview, “I risked my life, my entire family and my career simply because, I would like to tell my fellow Filipino and to all others here and abroad, hindi lahat ng tao sa gobyerno magnanakaw, hindi lahat ng Pilipino ay natatakot manindigan laban sa korupsyon (Translated loosely: Not all government employees are thieves, not all Filipinos are afraid to speak out against corruption).
Indeed, corruption is the blight of our country. It erodes the moral fabric of the society and aggravates the poverty of our people. How ironic and tragic it is that, when we finally have a President committed to the straight and narrow path of good governance, we end up seemingly hopeless against something like the Garcia case. I cannot believe that President Benigno Aquino III cannot do something about this, including finding ways to supporting our unlikely hero to make sure that she is not left alone to the mercies of those who are angered by her testimony. I cannot also believe that we, ordinary citizens, are all that powerless as well before evil and injustice. After all, Heidi Mendoza has shown the difference courage and commitment make and it is a lot.
Manila Standard Today, 25 Jan 2011
Editorial Column Eagle Eyes: Dean Tony La Vina
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