TAKE THE FIGHT AGAINST CORRUPTION A STEP FURTHER On August 24, 2013, President Benigno S. Aquino III announced that the time has come to abolish the Priority Development Assistance Fund (PDAF). In its place, “a new mechanism (will be created) to address the needs of constituents and sectors (of legislators), in a manner that is transparent, methodical and rational, and not susceptible to abuse or corruption.” The President also tasked the Department of Justice (DOJ), together with other investigative and prosecutory agencies “to accelerate the process, from investigation, to prosecution, to putting people behind bars, and even to asset recovery … so that the truth may be uncovered, and so that the guilty may be held accountable.” While both declarations are steps in a good direction, this particular drive against corruption ought to be taken a step further. Jesus declared that there will always be poor people. Thus, there will always be opportunities to be of help and service to our fellow men. Senators, congressmen, mayors and other local officials are elected to help and serve their constituents. However, the plight of the poor should not be used as a platform for wrongful self-enrichment. The government was “ordained of God” to minister good to God’s people. This makes public service more than a public trust – it is a sacred trust. As a sacred trust, it is incumbent for public officials to be paragons of propriety and role models of righteousness. The necessity of the PDAF, which was created to finance local and community level projects which local governments otherwise cannot afford, is acknowledged. The findings of the Commission on Audit on the matter show that the PDAF is prone to abuse. The persistence of these abuses indicates that the problems that allow these abuses are deep-rooted and systemic. In this regard, government officials from the legislative branch of government would do well to refrain from the PDAF, cognizant of the Bible’s warnings: For the love of money is the root of all evil: 1 Timothy 6:10a (KJV) Thou shalt not wrest judgment; thou shalt not respect persons, neither take a gift: for a gift doth blind the eyes of the wise, and pervert the words of the righteous. Deuteronomy 16:19 Woe unto them that decree unrighteous decrees, and that write grievousness which they have prescribed; To turn aside the needy from judgment, and to take away the right from the poor of my people, that widows may be their prey, and that they may rob the fatherless! Isaiah 10:1 -2 (KJV) For all that do such things, and all that do unrighteously, are an abomination unto the LORD thy God. Deuteronomy 25:16 (KJV) Any system that would replace the PDAF should be transparent, and above suspicion and reproach. We pray that the Committees in both houses of Congress investigate the PDAF matter truly in aid of legislation and craft guidelines and policies that shall effectively address and correct the systemic weaknesses of the PDAF system, and prevent selfish abuses in the future. We pray that the President and Congress work together to enact into law Freedom of Information. We pray that the government agencies tasked with bringing erring officials and personalities aggressively pursue their mandates and hold them to account at the soonest possible time, and thereby, enable government to fulfill its divinely-ordained function to be “a revenger to execute wrath upon them that do evil.” We praise God for the outpouring of righteous indignation among His Filipino people. We are one with the movement. Let us draw strength from God’s Word: Blessed are they which do hunger and thirst after righteousness: for they shall be filled. Matthew 5:6 (KJV) For thou, LORD, wilt bless the righteous; with favour wilt thou compass him as with a shield. Psalms 5:12 (KJV) The eyes of the LORD are upon the righteous, and his ears are open unto their cry… The righteous cry, and the LORD heareth, and delivereth them out of all their troubles. Psalms 34:15 , 17 (KJV) But the salvation of the righteous is of the LORD: He is their strength in the time of trouble. Psalms 37:39 (KJV) Let August 26, 2013 be a day of renewal, a day when the Filipino people stood as one for righteousness. Righteousness exalteth a nation: but sin is a reproach to any people. Prov 14:34
Posted on: Mon, 26 Aug 2013 00:25:48 +0000
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