How to eliminate gov’t corruption in PH
How to eliminate gov’t corruption in PH
From a briefing by Atty. Rogie Wong, a practicing lawyer in Manila:
ATTY. ROGIE WONG speaking at Quiapo Quiapo banquet hall
Atty. Rogie Wong, a lawyer in Ontario who also practices law in the Philippines, recently gave a talk before some members of the Philippine Press Club – Ontario. Being first a Filpino lawyer before he and family migrated to Canada, and a keen observer of Philippine affairs, his talk proved to be an eye-opener, especially for those of us who have been out of touch for too long with Philippine affairs.
Rogie spoke with candor and wit. He talked for more than an hour and a half and more if you include the Q & A.
Following are the more important parts of his talk:
1. To the credit of President Aquino, after 15 months in office, we have yet to hear that he is involved in any corruption scandal. He appears sincere in his campaign to eliminate corruption in government. But to succeed in that effort, in the Philippines, the “pork barrel” of congressmen and senators (hundreds of millions of pesos) and the “pork barrel” of the President, including the intelligence fund, amounting to billions of pesos, have to be eliminated. These funds are practically beyond audit.
Candidates for Congressmen spend P50 million to P100 million or more and candidates for Senators spend P100 million to P200 million during election campaigns, but their salaries are about only P10 million in their entire terms. Do the math. And right now, there’s no strong mood in Congress and in Malacanang to eliminate “pork barrel”.
2. Aquino has a very high popularity rating. He has a lot of political capital, just like her mother Cory had. If he really wants to institute reforms and eliminate corruption in government and poverty in the country, he has to use that political capital. But he, just like any president in the past, has to play politics with other public officials. No president in the past has used political capital to effect meaningful changes. In the 1950s to 1970s, the Philippines was second to Japan in economic growth and development. Now we are a little ahead of Bangladesh, the poorest country in Asia.
3. Corruption has flourished in the barangay level because barangays now have the power to pass ordinances in their areas and they issue permits to local businesses; they have the power to shut down local businesses. The election campaigns in the barangay level have become more violent and some barangay candidates spend millions during elections. Before, corruption started at the municipal level upwards. Now it starts in the grassroots, at the barangay level. These barangays have become mini-republics all over the country, with their local spheres of influence and power.
4. The underground economy is flourishing. Stall owners/tinderas in the markets look like they’re poor but some of them have the money to travel all over Asia. They have the cash. Office employees, teachers, etc. bring merchandise to work and sell them on the side. Employees catering lunches at work are very common. There are even beggars who have become rich!
5. If you have a pension or income of $1,500 a month and you don’t have to pay rent or mortgage in the Philippines, you can retire “like a king or a queen.” You don’t need much. But you have to beware of buying condos or houses in a rush. Go and see the unit first and better go for reputable builders. If it is too cheap to be true, maybe it’s not good. You could be overlooking a cemetery from your window. The target market of the condo or housing industry in PH is the Balikbayans and the OFWs. And there seems to be a glut in the market right now.
6. Don’t try driving on the Greater Manila streets. You have to have a local driver. There are also lots of motorcycles now in the streets of Manila, competing for space with jeepneys and cars in the usual heavy traffic.
7. If the freedom of information act is passed, it could be a great deterrent to corruption because it would be easier to access information about public officials and public documents. But there seems to be no enthusiasm from PNoy and the legislators to pass this proposed law. Wonder why?
8. It’s improbable that Gloria Arroyo will be convicted of crimes she’s alleged to have committed. Maybe lower officials like Abalos of Comelec. Or Mike Arroyo. But it’s highly improbable GMA would go to jail like in Muntinlupa or City Jail. Erap was convicted of plunder but was quickly given pardon. And he was not in jail but under “house arrest” with all the privileges, courtesy of GMA playing politics with him.
The case of the Ampatuans may take 50 years to conclude, if ever it will be concluded, given the number of the accused (more than a hundred). Besides, there are reports that some of the victims’ families have accepted settlement money in the tens of millions of pesos.
9. The wheels of justice in the Philippines are very slow. It takes months or years for a case to move. Some judges are on the take. Some lawyers are asking their clients to plead guilty because it may take them longer in jail if they fight the case.
There are other important information, ideas and opinions of Atty. Rogie Wong but we’ll go back to them in this column in the future.
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Occupy Wall Street, the protest against the elite rich, the 1%, and the system that impoverishes the 99 % of the population, was one-month old on Oct. 17, 2011 and counting. It has spread to 1,500 cities in the world including 100 in the U.S. In Canada, the Occupy movement started on Oct. 15 in more than a dozen cities. On page 14 is our coverage of the linking up of Filipino activists with Occupy Toronto protesters.
Why has the Occupy protest movement spread like wildfire? What is its source of energy and sustaining power? Let me quote from Good online magazine:
“In the past three decades, the richest 1 percent of Americans have seen their share of the U.S. income grow by 275 percent since 1979, according to a new study from the nonpartisan Congressional Budget Office. In comparison, the poorest 20 percent had only an 18 percent increase. Never again should anyone ever ask, ‘What is Occupy Wall Street so angry about?’”
“… It (the study) says that not only have income disparities vastly increased, but that the reason they’ve increased is due in large part to a combination of uneven income stream distribution and changes in the tax laws to benefit the ultra-wealthy. … poor people are finding less access to revenue sources like capital gains than they used to, and rich people are being taxed less. The result is skyrocketing wealth for the upper crust while regular people lose their homes en masse.”
“With information like this, whether you agree with Occupy Wall Street isn’t at issue anymore. The real question is how long a nation this top-heavy can last before it topples.”
That study deals only with U.S. What about the rest of the world? In the poor countries ruled by the corrupt elite, the poverty, hunger and desperaton are much worse. We’ve seen Arab Spring toppling corrupt and repressive regimes recently. Those in Bahrain, Yemen and Saudi Arabia may be next. Will the Occupy movement follow suit with its own brand of change?
(Note: If you want a quality daily reportage on Occupy, go to www.democracynow.org)
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