SHOOTING STRAIGHT
By Bobit S. Avila
The Philippine Star
By Bobit S. Avila
The Philippine Star
I first read this stunning story on Facebook about that United Nations Convention Against Corruption (UNCAC) and Transparency International report, which I saw on YouTube with the commentator saying “The Philippines is one of the most corrupt countries in the world and the most corrupt democratic country.” Yes, this official report can be seen on YouTube!
How could the Philippines get this embarrassing statement from the UN? Worse, the UNCAC issued a threat that the Philippines could lose its membership in the UN if we don’t fix our problems with corruption specifically on the pork barrel. Ouch!
If you read your history, the Philippines was one of the original signatories that created the UN and never was there a moment in our history that the UN warned the Philippines that we could lose our membership for any reason. But I’m glad that the UN made this threat because corruption has become a way of life for decades already, with our politicians getting rich and the majority of Filipinos falling below the poverty line!
It’s obvious to us that UN officials haven’t bought the Aquino propaganda (called Daang Matuwid) that they are in the midst of this fight against corruption, where President Benigno “P-Noy” Aquino III uses the incarceration of former President Gloria Macapagal Arroyo and the removal of former Chief Justice Renato Corona as his best examples.
Clearly UN officials got their reports from sources that four years after her incarceration, the Aquino regime has yet to come up with solid evidence that can pin down the former president. UN officials probably know that the pork barrel was used to bribe Congressmen and Senators in ousting the former Chief Justice of the Supreme Court. There’s more than enough evidence to prove that this fact really happened.
I’m also very sure that the UNCAC also knows that Vice President Jejomar Binay has been accused of corruption before the Senate Blue Ribbon Committee which hogged national headlines in this country. Yet the Vice President refuses to answer those queries directly.
Then there’s the case of Philippine National Police (PNP) Chief Alan Purisima, who is also in hot water over allegations of luxurious homes that cannot be found in the Register of Deeds of the Municipality of Rosario. Despite the overwhelming evidence against the PNP chief… he refused to resign or even take a leave of absence. P-Noy also doesn’t want to suspend his man. All this is happening in our country, but there are no official investigations despite all the evidence.
Honestly, I have lost trust and confidence in the UN…after all the UN has allowed dictators to rule nations that were once democracies. So this very recent pronouncement by the UNCAC brings some kind of hope to the seemingly hopeless case where the Aquino regime steadfastly holds on to its friends and allies, despite media reporting those alleged corruption by top government officials who were never investigated.
Then out of the blue, it seems the UNCAC report literally forced the Aquino regime to call an impromptu meeting with the other co-equal branches of government, the Legislative and Judiciary, last Tuesday. One of the speakers was Chief Justice Lourdes Sereno, who reminded the Executive of the budgetary requirements of the Judiciary. Of course P-Noy responded positively to this report, citing that leaders of the Legislative branch were also listening to her speech.
Can we see this as a thawing of strained relations between the Executive and the Judiciary? I certainly hope so! Just a few months back, P-Noy wanted to change the Constitution to extend his term and to clip the powers of the Supreme Court. But as of press time, we haven’t yet seen a changing of the heart by the President. I just hope that P-Noy had this meeting with the Legislative and the Judiciary not just for show to the UNCAC.
Meanwhile, a still unanswered question remains on the issue raised by Sen. Miriam Defensor Santiago regarding the recently approved 2015 National Budget for containing what she called “Two dangerous minefields leading to corruption.” Of course Speaker Feliciano Belmonte insisted that there is no more pork barrel in the 2015 national budget. This is where the whole trouble lies, when both Congress and the Senate cannot even agree on the meaning of “savings.”
Can the President still transfer an appropriation from one agency to another? Sen. Santiago answered this in the affirmative. She also said there are still lump sum funds that can be spent upon the discretion of legislators. Now that’s exactly what pork barrel looks like! I believe that the time has come for the Philippine government to really get serious in the fight against corruption because they owe it to the Filipino people.
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Email: vsbobita@mozcom.com or vsbobita@gmail.com
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