The Cost of Corruption

Passing by the Philippine Statistics Authority a few days ago, I cannot help but notice people lining up to secure their civil registry documents. It got me wondering how many of them were returning or would-be migrant workers, seeking better lives for their families while working abroad. Wherever one goes around the world, one would find Filipinos among the dedicated workforce of a host country. It is a sad reality that these are Filipinos who no longer feel that their own country could take care of them, and have to gamble leaving their families behind to explore new opportunities in another country.

It would do well for us to learn the lessons from the Ukraine war. The people of Ukraine, under a government willing to die and risk their lives for them, became extraordinary citizens who were also willing to die fighting for their country. Even under such extreme circumstances, Ukraine showed us how a government that takes care of its people, would find the very same people manifesting great love of their country against a superpower invader.

It is not that Filipinos love their country less, but it is because they do not feel protected and nurtured in their own country, where so-called public servants take care of their own interests more than the interests of the people that they serve. This is the great cost of corruption. It erodes nation building when the people under a democracy think that its leaders are not worthy of trust. Survival becomes the prevailing culture and undermines the sense of nationhood.

Strengthening the fight against corruption and the advocacy for good governance remains to be the most essential collective responsibility we have to face under any administration.

QUOTATION OF THE WEEK:

“INTEGRITY, TRANSPARENCY AND THE FIGHT AGAINST CORRUPTION HAVE TO BE PART OF THE CULTURE. THEY HAVE TO BE THOUGHT OF AS FUNDAMENTAL VALUES” - ANGEL GURRIA

FOR OUR WORD OF LIFE:

“WHOEVER SOWS INJUSTICE WILL REAP CALAMITY, AND THE ROD OF ITS FURY WILL FAIL” - PROVERBS 22:8