Acts, Deeds...Not Theories

The State of Things in the Philippines at Present

On Corruption. Based on an article published in the International Herald Tribune dated March 13, 2007, nearly $2 billion dollars, or roughly 13 percent of the Philippines' annual budget, is lost to corruption in the country each year (United Nations Development Program). In the same article, it was said that “local corruption monitors confirm that graft and bribery in the Philippines remain rampant. Corruption has penetrated every level of government, from the Bureau of Customs down to the traffic police officers who pull over motorists to demand bribes”.

Meanwhile, the Philippine Daily Inquirer in its July 05, 2008 online edition reported that “[in the] 2008 WB [World Bank] study shows…our country’s corruption control ranking worsened from 45 percent in 1996 during the term of President Fidel V. Ramos to only 22 percent in 2007 during the incumbency of President Arroyo, edging out bottom-dweller Indonesia”. Also in that news report, the newspaper stated that “the Philippines is perceived as the most graft ridden in East Asia and among the worst in the world, and our people regard the Arroyo administration as the most corrupt in history”.

On Poverty. Local TV station giant, GMA 7 claimed in its news report that survey from SWS (Social Weather Stations) showed that “the incidence of hunger in the Philippines has reached a new high”. It added that “in the fourth quarter of 2006, at least 19 percent of families in the country, roughly 3.3 million households, experienced involuntary hunger at least once in the last three months”. In the SWS survey, 52 percent of respondents said that they considered themselves as poor. The TV station also said that “World Bank data support the survey results. As of 2005, the lender's data show that 10.8 percent of the country's population survives on just $1 a day and another 41.2 percent make do with less than $2 daily”.

The “Presidential Promise”
Amidst the so-called damning US-dominated World Bank study, President Macapagal-Arroyo promised that “we will work to fix the corruption that has, unfortunately, long plagued our nation. We have been working to take control of the situation. Our efforts will include passing a comprehensive anti-corruption reform act in 2008” (Philippine Daily Inquirer, July 05, 2008). But like any other promises, some people think that this is again another “presidential promise” that is meant to be broken. Indeed, only time can tell if this will materialize or not.

A Perceived Solution
Much has been said about corruption, moral degradation, political instability and solutions thereto that are perceived to lessen, if not ultimately stop these sufferings. The former Senator Leticia Ramos-Shahani was one of the Filipino leaders who believe that there is still hope and thus proposed one solution. Briefly, she stated that:

“At the bottom of our economic problems and political instability is the weakness and corruption of moral foundation of our society. We do need an economic recovery program. We also urgently need a moral, intellectual and spiritual recovery program.”

The solution—an economic, moral, intellectual and spiritual recovery program—is not really a novel one as this solution is something more of common sense than sheer ingenuity. While this author believes that this is indeed a plausible solution, he hesitates to believe that this can be achieved in the absence of one important ingredient—political will. Any solution will surely fail if implementers have no political will. Honestly, the people are already fed up by so many promises and plans. In the author’s opinion, Shahani’s statement is mere book decoration and but a mere piece of oratory without solid actions. The people need more than mere discussions and inquiries from our leaders. We need actions not words.