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JUST recently, the newspapers announced that a billion pesos were
being allotted to fight the NPA. Jose Marie Sison, speaking from
his shelter in the Netherlands, was not impressed. He said that most
of the money would end up in the pocket of corrupt officials and
would not, therefore, have any impact on his followers.
As always and in the most things in our country,
the major problem is corruption on a massive scale. We live in a
culture of corruption. Graft and corruption have been
institutionalized and made part of everyday life. The citizens
expect it. They know that if they are stopped by a traffic cop, most
likely they will be asked for a bribe in lieu of getting a ticket.
Citizens expect to give money to
“facilitate” the movement of the papers in the government
offices. It is all part of doing business, they say, so the people
feel helpless to make a stand and refuse to pay. You will be
penalized if you take the high road and insist in doing things
honestly. The culture will punish you.
The people who want to do things right feel
overwhelmed by the culture of corruption. Our church leaders seem to
have given up the fight. They too are perhaps tired of repeating the
same old sermons that are not listened to and have no effect. They
seem unable to get together, map out and carry out an effective
strategy to stamp out corruption. This even if we are an
overwhelmingly Catholic country. Perhaps it is the measure of the
shallowness of our faith that corruption has such strong roots in
our society and our leaders can only watch as the problem grows more
serious with the passing of each year.
All the money in the world won’t solve the
problem. More money that is thrown at persons without a conscience
will only end up in the pockets of these people. What’s needed is
a moral rearmament movement that will put conscience and morality
back in public service. (The private sector is guilty too as it
plugs into and cooperates with the corrupt.) Years ago, it was
former Senator Leticia Shahani I think, who tried to spearhead a
moral rearmament movement. She failed because she could not enlist
enough people to join her.
The truth of the matter is that a country
reflects the values (or the lack thereof) of its people. If that is
so, as I am convinced it is, then what does our ranking as one of
the world’s most corrupt society say about us? And let’s not
stand there and point the finger at the President and her inner
circle. Let’s keep politics out of it for a moment and look deep
into our own selves.
Each and every one of us has a responsibility
for what we are. It is easy to blame toss, gripe and complain about
the leadership. No doubt they have their own baggage, however, we do
too. Everytime we get involved in dishonesty of any kind, we
contribute to the weakening of the moral foundations of our society.
And whenever we refuse to cheat, we are doing our part in shoring up
that very same foundation. Either way, we will have some kind of
impact, for better or for worse.
If you have problems about drugs, alcohol and
behavior/attitude call my office at 820-6107 or 825-1771 or e-mail
me at gvcbuenca@vasia.com
or write me at P.O. Box 2099 MCPO, Makati City.
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