Editorial
No accountability breeds corruption
Last week, the global anti-corruption watchdog Transparency International reported that the perceived levels of corruption in the Philippines in 2005 has worsened, from its 117 ranking the previous year to a low 121, just as bad as Gambia, Guyana, Swaliland, Rwanda, etc. (who, by the way, are all operating under a parliamentary system).
But it didn’t take long for the allies of the Arroyo government in the private sector to protest the ratings as if their ranting could hide the truth about what most Filipinos already know. The corruption in the country has not ebbed despite pronouncements to the contrary.
The recent decision of the Ombudsman (an Arroyo appointee) to absolve all commissioners of the Commission on Election of any wrongdoing or possible involvement in a conspiracy to defraud the government in the unprecedented computer scam takes the cake. The Ombudsman not only refuses to make officials in the Department of Agriculture accountable for the fertilizer scam but refuses to pursue the investigation of the multi-billion pesos bridge scam (remember the “bridges to nowhere” exposed by Senator Panfilo Lacson?). Worse, the Ombudsman is not keen on making GMA’s cabinet members account for their millions of unliquidated advances.
These are just the tip of the iceberg but despite these, the pro-GMA business leaders have the temerity to claim that the fight against corruption has improved!
And if GMA’s cheerleaders care to know, level of corruption in the local government levels are just as bad if not even worse, where accountability and transparency have become nothing but contentious issues discussed only in the media. And community journalists who dare expose the shenanigans in the local front are the ones who end up being made to account by hired assassins.
Closer to home, not a single city official nor a member of the city council has neither courage nor the decency to demand for an accounting of public and private funds used by the city government in past city fiestas and Bangus Festivals. And we’re not even talking about making the city mayor explain and account for the overpriced infra projects in the city.
For as long as it is the policy of the national government not to make public officials account for their acts, expect the perception level of corruption in the country to worsen each year.
Share your Comments or Reactions
Powered by Facebook Comments
