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Query: Corruption appears to be the virus of all evil which
cause the sufferings of human beings. My worry is that it has spread
to all sectors, giving rise to all kinds of miseries. Is there a way
to stop corruption?
—Elvis P.
Reply: To entice public participation
in the elimination of corruption, we are portraying some corrupt
practices of public officers:
• Persuading, inducing or influencing another
public officer to perform an act constituting a violation of laws,
rules and regulations promulgated by competent authority or an
offense in connection with the official duties of the latter, of
allowing himself to be persuaded, induced or influenced to commit
such offense;
• Directly or indirectly requesting or
receiving a gift, present share, percentage, or benefit, for himself
or for any other person, in connection with any contract or
transaction between the government and any other party, where the
public officer in his official capacity has to intervene under the
law;
• Directly or indirectly requesting or
receiving any gift, present or other pecuniary or material benefit,
for himself or for another, from any person for whom the public
officer in any manner or capacity, has secured or obtained, or will
secure or obtain ay government permit or license, in consideration
for the help given or to be given;
• Accepting or having a member of his family
accept employment in a private enter-prise which has pending
official business with him during the pendency thereof or within one
year after its termination;
• Causing any undue injury to any party,
including the government or giving any private party any
unwarranted benefits, advantage or preference in the discharge
of his official, administrative or judicial functions through
manifest partiality, evident bad faith or gross inexcusable
negligence;
• Neglecting or refusing, after due demand or
request, without sufficient justification, to act within a
reasonable time on any matter pending before him for the purpose of
obtaining directly or indirectly, from any person interested in the
matter some pecuniary or material benefit or advantage in favor of
or discriminating against any other interested party;
• Entering, on behalf of the government, into
any contract or transaction manifestly and grossly disadvantageous
to the same, whether or not the public officer profited or will
profit from it;
• Directly or indirectly having financial or
pecuniary interest in any business, contract or tran-saction in
connection with which he intervenes or take part in his official
capacity, or in which he is prohibited by the Constitution or by
any law from having any interest;
• Directly or indirectly becoming interested,
for personal gain, or having material interest in any transaction or
act requiring the approval of a board, panel or group of which he is
a member, even if he votes against the same or does not participate
in the action of the board, committee, panel or group;
• Knowingly approving or granting any license,
permit, privilege or benefit in favor of any person not qualified
for or not legally entitled to such license, permit, privilege or
advantage, or of a mere representative or dummy of one who is not so
qualified or entitled; and
• Divulging valuable information of a
confidential character, acquired by his office, or by him on account
of his official position. (Republic Act 3019).
___
We greet our son, Victor Thomas Noel, and our
granddaughter Princess Carla Valerie, who celebrated their birthdays
yesterday.
Noel, who is a law and electrical engineering
graduate, is an immigration officer at the Bureau of Immigration.
Princess is in the fourth grade and wishes to become a nurse.
___
Above all things, let’s listen to what our
Lord and Master Jesus Christ tells us: “No one lights a lamp and
then hides it or puts it under a bowl; instead, it is put on the
lampstand, so that people may see the light as they come in. Your
eyes are like a lamp for the body. When your eyes are sound, your
whole body, is full of light; but when your eyes are no good, your
whole body will be in darkness. Make certain, then, that the light
in you is not darkness. If your whole body is full of light, with no
part of it in darkness, it will be bright all over, as when a lamp
shines on you with its brightness.” (Luke, 11:33-36).
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