Viewpoints
It’s Funny No More
By +Oscar V. Cruz, JCD
MANY thoughts are now being entertained and some affiliate actualities are being expressed in conjunction with then fascinating but now amusing axiom “Matuwid na daan.” It was great to hear it for the first time and to believe in it for some time. But now, it has become a joke of one kind or another – to the entertainment and laughter of people but to the irritation and exasperation of Malacañang.
No, this is not about the “Matuwid na daan” going nowhere, leading to neither here nor there. Much less is this about the “Matuwid na daan” towards trouble and confusion, going to disaster and exasperation. And no, this is not about the “Matuwid na daan” to poverty and misery – all magical surveys, all glorious commercial number to the contrary. This is all about the truly big and pervasive graft and corrupt practices that are now merrily taking place in the country – making fun of the “Matuwid na daan.” For example:
There is the long known and tolerated “Plundering Bureaucracy” (PB or “Pork Barrel”). It is anything but a secret whereas it is well-accepted that by whatever decorated name or initials the system is given, it ultimately means people’s hard earned money paid to the government in form of direct and indirect taxes largely end up in the bank accounts of greedy public officials and their favoured accomplices.
There is the now outrageous and infamous “Bureau of Corruption” (BOC or “Bureau of Customs”). With all pomp and pageantry, the individuals lording over it were publicly and clearly described as thick skinned. But this is not all, there are also big names, well-known elected public officials expressly named as deeply involved in the well-known ring of corruption taking place in the infamous agency.
And recently, there is someone ingenious in using his pen. According to him, there is more than enough reasons to change the name of the Philippines to “Scamdinavia”, i.e., land of scams. Needless to say, this is shameful and painful but real and true. The previous government is practically identified with scams. The present government is however not really free of having its own share of big scams. Less than three years from now, there is going to be a new government. What happens then? Will it be better or worse even?
One thing is certain and clear: The Philippines has been long since waiting for an honest and capable, decided and firm leader exercising a no nonsense governance. The present leadership is funny no more!
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