Corruption Should End – Now!

(Note: Originally published in Dateline Ibalon, this article is being republished by Bicol Mail considering its enduring relevance).

I am enraged, but I am not surprised. The degree of corruption in flood control projects that President Bongbong Marcos Jr. exposed in his fourth State of the Nation Address last July is not new. What is new is the decisive admission of the president of corruption in government, especially in the Department of Public Works and Highways (DPWH).

Corruption in the Philippines is deeply intertwined with our history. Jose Rizal penned in his novels Noli Me Tangere and El Filibusterismo how the patronage system often led to corruption.

While doing research on the life of Carlos Bulosan, the prolific anti-racist Filipino writer, at the University of Washington library for my doctoral studies, I came across his story about corruption among some Filipino migrant workers in the US during the1930s.

In the story, The Betrayal of Uncle Soyoc, Bulosan used the character of Uncle Soyoc to illustrate how the latter was willing to do the dirty job in a gambling scheme to get more gambling proceeds. As Uncle Soyoc basked in his crooked ways, Bulosan pointed out how, because of corruption, cheating has become a virtue.

Wrote Bulosan: “It was very educational as well as inspiring to watch two men of the world outwit each other, and trying, of course, to take advantage of each other. In that bizarre world where I grew up, where cheating was a virtue, where lying was another virtue, and the play and interplay of chicaneries made me doubt the value of the other virtues, those that were preached in the schools and churches.”

During the martial law years from 1972 to 1986, the rise of crony capitalism led to widespread corruption as Ferdinand E. Marcos Sr. granted financial favors and government contracts to his cronies. The dictator himself was accused by the Presidential Commission on Good Government (PCGG) of stealing between US$5 billion to $10 billion from the Central Bank of the Philippines.

After the ouster of Ferdinand Marcos Sr. through People’s Power in 1986, things have not changed for the better. Despite promises of reforms, corruption remains unabated as subsequent presidents were implicated in corruption practices and scandals: Fidel Ramos, for his involvement in the sale of reclaimed land under questionable terms; Joseph Estrada, for receiving bribes from illegal gambling operators; Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo, for alleged misuse of funds and corruption in the NBN-ZTE Broadband Deal; Rodrigo Duterte, rocked for his involvement in the Pharmally scandal involving P11 billion.

The only exceptions, in my opinion, were Presidents Cory Aquino and Noynoy Aquino who may have faced allegations of incompetence, but they were never personally charged with corruption.

According to the 2019 Corruption Perceptions Index (CPI) reported by Transparency International, the Philippines had fallen 14 notches below the 2018 corruption index on President Rodrigo Duterte’s watch. During that year, we ranked 113th on par with Kazakhstan and Zambia.

In the recent 2024 Transparency International Corruption Perception Index (CPI), the Philippines scored 33 out of 100, ranking 114th out of 180 countries, indicating little change over the past years.

The revelation by Bongbong Marcos about corruption in the Department of Public Works and Highways (DPWH) points to how dishonest people in government could become like predatory vultures, exploiting the government and abandoning their principles, when they are entrusted with position of power and authority. Driven by unchecked greed, they engage in bribery, graft and backdoor deals diverting public funds for personal gain.

It is sad but true that the kind of corruption pervasive in the Philippines today is political corruption. When the leading politicians in government are corrupt, corruption spreads at all levels, from the Senate President and the Speaker of the House, from the director of a department or an agency down to the staff processing application permits. This is the reason why bribery is an accepted practice in almost all quarters of government because “everyone is doing it.” No one trusts the rule of law anymore and the “mga walang hiya” that President Bongbong Marcos alluded to in his State of the Nation address continue to steal with impunity.

But there is a limit to everything in life. When the people rise in anger, corruption will end. The weeklong demonstrations that are going on nationwide that will culminate with the Trillion Peso March on September 21 is the collective manifestation of the people’s anger that demands for accountability and radical change.

The people’s slogans say it all - unfiltered: Isang Bayan Laban sa Katiwalian; Ikulong ang mga Magnanakaw; Ibalik ang mga Ninakaw; Huwag Magnakaw; Tama na, Sobra na, Ikulong na.

If the government continues to ignore the people’s demands, it risks provoking a level of public anger that could spiral out of control. And no one wants this to happen.

Let me conclude with a quote originally spoken by a Chinese to an American – yet its message should resonate just as powerfully with Filipinos.

A Chinese Marxist economist, talking to an American, said, “In your past, most Americans attended a church or synagogue every week. These are institutions that people respected. When you were there, from your youngest years, you were taught that you should voluntarily obey the law; that you should respect other people’s property and not steal it. You were taught never to lie. Americans followed these rules because they had come to believe that even if the police didn’t catch them when they broke a law, God would catch them.”