Credits

Tuesday, November 20, 2007

Corruption And The Corrupt

As the World Bank hands Gloria Arroyo a bag of shit, it highlights the how corruption has evolved. From a clandestine act to hide its illegality, it has become brazen and blatant. No more does corruption lurk in the shadows, it has come out in the open for everyone to see. It has become proud and has become the rule than the exception.

In a developing country such us ours, the only ones who "develop" are those in power while the rest are left with nothing. Corruption is nothing new to us except that it is now a sanctioned act then a crime. How many times have our leaders escaped with their loot? The likes of Joc-Joc Bolante remain free and only the small fry get convicted. We have yet to see a cabinet secretary get the ax or even charged.

The Marcos's are slowing recovering their ill-gotten work. Ramos had his IPPs, PEA-AMARI and Expo scams. He was never held liable for them. Erap was set free despite a conviction and never served a minute in prison. Now its Gloria's turn to rub salt on our open wound. She is a different animal. She has this arrogant not confident air. She bulldozed her way to infamy. She wreaked havoc on the country and left our institutions in shambles.

Despite creating so many agencies to combat corruption, it persists and has even grown. Why, because corruption emanates from the highest office of the land. GMA has tolerated, abetted and even benefited from corruption. Not only were her official family implicated in so many corruption scandals, even her own family, her son and husband has been implicated as well. With their actuations, even the ordinary Filipino has been perceived corrupt.

Because our leaders represent us, everybody now sees us in the same light. The gift-giving in halls of Malacanang is the lastest and most blatant act of corruption yet. It was done with arrogance and disregard for the laws of the land. GMA and her gang can do anything with abandon. While the Filipino wallows in the quagmire of despair, Gloria and her gang loots the country dry.

I am somehow glad that the World Bank has decided to stop its aid. It is a slap on Gloria's face. If she can do everything shamelessly, its high time someone finally puts her in her proper place. For the second time in Philippine-WB relations, we have been dealt with an action like this. The first was during Cory's term. The difference is that back then, heads did roll and charges filed. Now, despite allegations and even evidence-supported allegations, nobody ever gets fired.

I am sure that GMA will once again bank on the strong peso, her "legacy projects", her taskforce and the GDP growth. I am sure she will say that she will remain focused on her programs. Yeah sure, focused on how much she will earn from these projects. She will again blame the political noise and the media for the negative perception. She will blame the poor for their woes and she will blame every Tom, Dick and Harry, but she will never blame herself.

So life goes on in our corruption-riddled country where the corrupt continue to reap the fruits of their immoral acts. The only change we see is how institutionalized corruption has become. Another round of investigations will not amount to anything. Even if evidences are revealed, as long as you have a mafia ring in the executive and the lower house, it will be just another day in the life of the Philippines. I do not know how much of this the lowly Filipino can take? Its time to wake up and kick someone's ass. I don't want to called corrupt, would you?

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