Too many things have been happening recently that triggers the alarm bells of corruption.
BY BENJIE OLIVEROS
ANALYSIS
Vol. VIII, No. 24, July 20-26, 2008
Too many things have been happening recently that triggers the alarm bells of corruption. Former Commission on Higher Education Chair Romulo Neri was transferred to head the Social Security System (SSS) for no apparent reason. The SSS had a chairperson, Corazon de la Paz, whose integrity and competence has never been questioned. Why is she then being replaced?
To make matters more suspect, it is Neri who is being tapped to replace her. While nobody has raised questions regarding Neri’s competence, the same cannot be said for his integrity. In fact, Neri’s technocratic image was tainted by his blind loyalty to Pres. Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo. He was quoted calling Arroyo as “evil” and yet he refused to divulge his conversations with her right after he reported the bribery attempt by former Commission on Elections Chairperson Benjamin Abalos Jr.in the failed National Broadband Network Deal (NBN) with ZTE of China. If Neri and President Arroyo have nothing to hide, why do they have to invoke executive privilege? When interviewed regarding his new assignment, Neri said that he is fully capable of heading SSS and that he would keep with him whatever he knows about the Arroyo government’s transactions – rather ominous when one is to assume a post of a fund-rich agency under an administration that is deeply enmeshed in numerous corruption scandals.
Now, Arroyo has both the funds of SSS and the Government Service Insurance System (GSIS) at her disposal. It would be remembered that the GSIS is also being chaired by an Arroyo loyalist, Winston Garcia who is again being accused by the Confederation for Unity, Recognition and Advancement of Government Employees (COURAGE) of corruption. Earlier during his term, Garcia was accused by GSIS employees of mis-investing the funds of the agency in paintings. Recently, he is being accused of channeling funds to Malacañang.
Another alarming development is the upholding of the Supreme Court again of the right of the Arroyo government to invoke executive privilege, this time with regards the Japan-Philippines Economic Partnership Agreement (JPEPA). The first time the High Court upheld the right of the Arroyo government to invoke executive privilege was on the case filed by Neri to keep the Senate from forcing him to reveal the details of his conversation with the president regarding the NBN-ZTE deal and the bribery attempt of Abalos.
Governments enter into bilateral trade agreements supposedly for the mutual benefit of both countries. If the JPEPA would redound to the benefit of the Filipino people, why is there a need to keep its provisions away from public scrutiny? The absurdity of the SC decision on the JPEPA was illustrated by the fact that it was only 50 pages long while the dissenting opinion written by Chief Justice Reynato Puno consisted of 120 pages. It shows which opinion was well thought out and which was seemingly done for political expediency.
In her upcoming state of the nation address, President Arroyo would be unveiling a social welfare program, supposedly to mitigate the effects of the rice and oil price crisis on the Filipino people and to justify its adamance in maintaining the VAT on petroleum products, despite its upward push on pump prices. The content of the welfare program would not come as a surprise as recent responses being done by the Arroyo government clearly show the direction it is heading. It would only contain dole outs.
Not only are these dole outs token, unsubstantial measures and politically-motivated (meant to repair the bad image and unpopularity of the Arroyo government), these are prone to corruption. Funds for dole-outs can easily be pocketed and re-channeled as there is no way of monitoring the beneficiaries, not like long-term projects and programs where results are palpable. And the timing is suspect as the country is nearing the period of national elections. While Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo cannot run for reelection, she has all the motivation to ensure that the next government would not run after her and her family for the numerous scandals they are involved in.
Too many things have been happening that triggers the alarm bells of corruption. Not surprisingly, since the country has been adjudged as the most corrupt in Southeast Asia. With the widespread poverty and the increasingly difficult times ahead, would we allow it to continue with its scandalous acts? (Bulatlat.com)
