Feature: THE REIGN OF GREED By Rene Antiga “Greed is a bottomless pit which exhausts the person in an endless effort to satisfy the need without even reaching satisfaction.” Erich Fromm Graft and corrupt practices are still rampant in lower levels of the bureaucracy despite the relentless effort of the Aquino administration to curb, if not, to eliminate them completely. The President, in his state of the nation address, admitted that “There are still in government who seemingly refuse to change. It is disheartening to discover the depth and breadth to which they have branched out in the bureaucracy, the moment we look away, someone is sure to be taken advantaged of and victimized.” Among the government agencies the President made special mention and chided for its inefficiency and gross negligence were the Bureau of Immigration (BI), National Irrigation Administration (NIA) and the Bureau of Customs (BoC). The BI was castigated for its failure to hold the departure of the fugitive politician brothers in Palawan who were implicated in the murder of mediaman and environment activist, Joel Ortega and the fugitive Korean national who was wanted in his country. NIA was chided for its gross inefficiency when it failed to deliver its target despite the release of its funds. In Cebu City, the BOC was in hot water regarding the loss to theft of more than a hundred sacks of smuggled rice from Vietnam. The Constitution explicitly states that “Public service is a public trust. Public officers and employees must at all times be accountable to the people, serve them with utmost responsibility, integrity, loyalty and efficiency, act with patriotism and justice and lead modest lives.” Based on this premise, therefore, betrayal of public trust is a crime against the people, an affront against humanity. Public officials and employees who commit the crime of graft and corruption do not only betray the sacred oath they were sworn to uphold before they join the government service, they also betray the people who paid for their salaries through the taxes paid by them to the government. There are constitutional anti-graft agencies tasked to investigate and prosecute cases of graft and corruption. These are the Office of the Ombudsman, Sandiganbayan, Civil Service Commission, Commission on Audit, Presidential Anti-Graft Commission and the Presidential Commission for Good Government. From the civil society, there are anti-graft watchdogs that advocate specific cause or issue. But these watchdogs are just that – dogs that watch and bark but don’t bite. Actually we do not run out of enabling laws to deter the crime of graft and corruption. To cite a few, there are the Code of Conduct and Ethics for Public Officers and Employees, the Anti-Graft and Corrupt Practices Act, Anti-Red Tape Act, the Government Procurement Reform Act, and Act Penalizing the Crime of Plunder, Anti-Money Laundering Law and the penalties for public officials and employees as provided for in the Revised Penal Code. But it is only in the Philippines where there are too many laws but only few are convicted. It is only in this country where the wheel of justice is very slow to grind, if it grinds at all, especially when those who are involved are rich and powerful, thus emboldening the shenanigans in the government service to continue their business as usual. After all, no one has ever meted out the death penalty for committing graft and corruption. There was one “big fish” who was convicted for plunder but he was quickly pardoned by an equally corrupt leader. Only in the Philippines indeed. Why do some people in government steal? According to the psychologists, corruption is a learned social phenomenon that takes its roots in several psychological concepts. People will learn from the action of others. It is human nature that man, upon achieving his goal of making his first million pesos becomes insatiable, selfish and greedy. He begins to crave more and more millions until he resorts to stealing or other illegal means to get what he wants. There is a reign of greed in the government service. Government workers are most vulnerable to resort to graft and corrupt practices for the simple reason that the opportunities are there for the taking and there is a scant possibility of getting caught, and if caught, there is nil of a chance for prosecution and conviction. Then, there is the element of leadership by bad example. A rank-and-file employee who takes home a small box of paper clip from the office does it without any twinge of guilt knowing that his/her immediate superiors are doing worse by using government vehicles with red plates in bringing their children to and from the school. Although this practice is common in government service, it has become an accepted norm that this occurs as a natural consequence of an imperfect system. There is also a culture of apathy and submission among the people in regard to the public servant’s malfeasance in the service. If all else fail, the government should emulate the brand of discipline imposed by the underground revolutionary movement. There is no such thing as graft and corruption in the movement. Finance opportunism is a grievous crime and it is heavily dealt with. The culprit, after being proven guilty by a people’s court, is meted out the just dessert of death penalty to serve as deterrent. Here, we have corrupt officials who are even proven guilty beyond reasonable doubt and yet still roam free as a bird. Not unless the government shows it fangs and bites, corrupt officials will only taunt the law and laugh their way to the bank. The reign of greed will continue to rule. ### 07 August 2013
Posted on: Sat, 24 Aug 2013 06:19:52 +0000
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