Showing posts with label corruption in the Philippines. Show all posts

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THE FAILURE OF DEMOCRACY IN THE PHILIPPINES

Posted on Sunday, 9 January 2022

THE FAILURE OF DEMOCRACY IN THE PHILIPPINES

by Apolinario Villalobos

The first abuse of freedom, perhaps, could be what is told in the legend about the Paradise. God supposedly put Adam there and later from his rib, Eve was created, so that he would not be lonely. They had free will, freedom to do what they wanted.
Unfortunately, Eve abused this when she gave in to the temptation of the serpent who told her about the “tree of life” in that Paradise. As the legend goes, she partook of a fruit with which she tempted Adam who readily gave in, using his free will.
Today there are free countries, ruled with democracy which is perceived to be the best because of its principles rammed down the throat of adherents. But in reality, it has many weaknesses, as its very principle made it prone to abuse of all kinds. Because of freedom supposedly as its essence, people are left to practically do whatever they want. Of course there are laws that are supposed to curtail their acts, but because of corruption, indolence and indifference, they are not implemented – a very unfortunate reality.
In this world, when it comes to governance, man is left with either, democracy with its freedom, or socialism with its dictatorship. The character of each is not free from the taint of abuse and corruption. So, what is left is a choice for the least evil between the two.
The problem with democracy is that criminals for instance, are presumed innocent unless proved guilty, even when caught in the act or despite evidences pointing to the commission of guilt! To prove such commission, a process has to be followed in which witnesses have to issue statements under oath and lawyers must be hired… woe then to the victim who cannot afford to hire a bright lawyer! The government provides free services of its lawyers for the poor, but most often, they are not as reliable as the hired ones in view of the obvious reason.
The Philippines as a young republic seems to have been forced into “maturity”. The haste did not give time for the essence of democracy to be properly inculcated in the mind and heart of the Filipinos. Enthusiastic, after having been freed from the clutches of the Spaniards who for long subjugated the islands, the early leaders went ahead in copying the “democracy” of other countries, without giving much thought on the nature and temper of the Filipinos as an Asian race.
While cuddled by America, a country with a federal system of government, the early leaders opted for the presidential form of other countries. Today, as the diverse regional differences of the country is emphasized when the people began to protest loudly due to the unfairness in the distribution of benefits and services, some sectors realized that the Philippines may have been better off with a federal system of government than the present one that is treading on uncertainties and volatile ground.
The uncontrolled surge of corrupt practices due to lack of control and defective operating system of the government, are now blamed on the location of the central government and the dissected state of the country, being an archipelago.
Corruption has been the issue ever since the country had its first president. This reality has been stressed during the time of Diosdado Macapagal and the same was used by Ferdinand Marcos to win the sympathy of the people. His intelligent perception made him use the issue as the centerpiece of his administration, giving him an alibi to declare Martial Law. Unfortunately, instead of using the new set up for the betterment of the nation, he also abused it that eventually spelled his downfall. Instead of healing the wound of the people the dictatorship became the proverbial salt that aggravated the tingling hurt.
The Marcos dictatorship was toppled by the “People Power”, a mass movement that has become a trademark of the Filipinos in the world of politics, although, for a short period of time. It has purportedly become an embarrassment later for the Filipino people as those in the know were saying that it was a sham movement for democracy – a manipulated one, by the opportunistic people who habitually change their color to blend with whatever administration holds the reins of the government. Its sparkle waned after just four commemorations as those “originally” identified with the movement, carefully kept their distance from the people behind it, ashamed and feeling guilty that they have been part of the sham.
Today, corruption has just worsened, assuming a “free for all” semblance . The series of corrupt act starts at the time politicians campaign for position during which vote buying has shamelessly became the norm. This is followed by the blatant manipulation of budget involving non-governmental organizations, up to the point of padding of budgets for major infrastructure projects – all done by those whose seat in the government has been practically paid for in cash during the election.
While there are investigations going on, the barrage of accusations and denials that fill the airwaves and pages of print media is even made more circus-like by hearings that the Filipinos in general doubt will really achieve their goal. What the people perceive is the use of this hype in the legislative halls as tools to earn media mileage in favor of ambitious political personalities who would like to sit in the Malacaῆan Palace.
To make it short, democracy as supposedly an ideal governance failed in the Philippines.
iN FAIRNESS TO THE HONEST, GOVERNMENT OFFICIALS...THIS BLOG IS NOT FOR THEM.

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The Philippines: from Commonwealth to the Present

Posted on Friday, 6 December 2019


THE PHILIPPINES: from Commonwealth
to the Present
By Apolinario Villalobos
From the Philippine Commonwealth that evolved into Republican form, despite the many years that transpired, the promises of presidential candidates did not change their course which is supposedly towards the uplift of Filipinos and the advancement of the country. The graft and corruption in the government just got worse, much more with poverty which is very evident despite the "encouraging" statistics. Prices of commodities are sky-high and jobs are on contract. Today, only Chinese businesses are flourishing in the country.
The Commonwealth government under Quezon was cut short by the WWII. But during his time, the Americans already observed the culture-based administration of the government which was hinged on “gratitude”, “brotherhood”, and “kinship”. The Post-war era of independence saw the granting of independence to the country, transforming the Commonwealth to Republican under Osmeῆa. As the country was still reeling from the effects of the WWII, it was in total disarray. This situation bred profiteering on the part of the businessmen and graft on the part of the government officials, resulting to the much dissatisfaction and dismay of the masses.
The dissatisfaction of the Filipinos was perceived as an opportunity of enterprising and ambitious politicians for grabbing the power from Osmeῆa. As a last effort, Osmeῆa reorganized the government by signing an Executive Order in March 7, 1945, restoring the Executive departments. Unfortunately, Osmeῆa was perceived as lame by the then, Governor-General, MacArthur, who coerced him to convene Congress. Many were against the convening of Congress, then, as it might fall into the hands of the “collaborators” of the WWII, one of whom was Manuel Roxas who fortunately, despite his being a former “collaborator”, was favored by the support of MacArthur.
Among those that the newly-convened Congress approved was a three-year back pay to its members, which was equivalent to the three-year Japanese occupation of the country. It was a telling premonition of more self-serving Congressional actions to happen. The employees followed suit with their own demand for similar back pay covering the same period but was not granted due to unavailability of fund. The cunning Roxas perceived the dissatisfaction of the employees as an opportunity to back up his bid for presidency. He authored the Back Pay Law which was eventually passed in 1948. It gave three years back pay to all pre-war government employees in 1958, after a ten-year period during which the government would have already saved enough funds.
The country did not gain much from Roxas when he held the reins of the government. Graft and corruption still proliferated. But his prominence became more pronounced when the provision on Parity Rights of the Americans was inserted in the Philippine Constitution. Hours before he died, he again committed the loyalty of the Filipinos to the Americans. His true color as “collaborator”, first with the Japanese during WWII, and later, with the Americans, surfaced till the time he drew his last breath.
Quirino took over the presidency when Roxas died. He promised “government reorganization to achieve efficiency at all levels of the bureaucracy, immediate increased production to give employment to thousands of idle laborers, vigorous and honest enforcement of tax laws, the preservation of the national integrity, and continued friendly relations with the countries of the world”. The Hukbalahap movement just became active because of unresolved agrarian issues during Quirino’s administration, and due to the worsening corruption. He wisely gave an all-out support to his Secretary of National Defense, Ramon Magsaysay who was perceived as honest and with unquestionable ability to lead, who somehow mellowed the administration’s strong image of ineptness . The charisma of Magsaysay brought him nearer to the masses.
When Magsaysay became president with the help of the CIA, he unfortunately, went beyond the tolerable treatment of the masses. His pampering of the masses, made them over-dependent to the government, resulting to their idleness. He went to the extent of opening the gates of Malacaῆan to them, practically resulting to the presidential official residence’s transformation into a “park”. During his term, he promised, the improvement of the land tenure system with land resettlements, easy-term credit for the peasants, intense community development founded on self-help. To support those promises, the National Resettlement and Rehabilitation Administration (NARRA) in Palawan was established in 1955, as well as, the Farmers’ Cooperative and Marketing Association (FACOMA). It was also during this time that Visayans and those from the north, rushed to Mindanao to clear cogon-covered fields. To date, among the results of the resettlement effort were General Santos and Koronadal cities. General Santos City was formerly, “Dadiangas”, while Koronadal City was formerly, “Marbel”.
Magsaysay realizing his mistakes for pampering the common “tao”, was reported to have lost his temper several times, one of which was when he “exploded”, saying: “the people want me to do everything for them!”. His ten-point program was never realized when he met an accident while on board the presidential airplane in March 17, 1957 on the way back to Manila from a speaking engagement in Cebu. The ill-fated airplane was later found on Mt. Manunggal in Cebu. Vice-President Carlos P. Garcia took over the presidency with the demise of Magsaysay. It was alleged that Magsaysay did a corrupt act by posting newspapermen in important government offices, as well as, extended to them favors that not even government officials were lucky to have a share.
The presidential election in 1957 confirmed the presidency of Garcia, although, the said process was said to be the noisiest and most expensive in the country’s history until the time. It was during this time that the Catholic Church was dragged into the chaos, which however, proved that the votes of the Catholics were not reliably solid. Diosdado Macapagal who belonged to the opposition won as Vice-President.
During his term, Garcia promised: “to complete the Philippine economic independence through the adoption of the Filipino First Policy….; to establish Filipino dignity as a free people by dealing with foreign powers on terms of sovereign equality; to achieve a balanced economy by providing equal impetus to agriculture and industry; to promote social justice and the general welfare of the masses, and; to minimize and, if possible, to eradicate graft and corruption”. Just like his predecessors however, Garcia also failed, as the poor not only multiplied but continued to suffer from poverty, while the economy was at its worse.
The people’s disillusionment of how Garcia administered the government, steered Diosdado Macapagal towards victory when he made a bid for presidency. Graft and corruption were the focus of all issues against Garcia which Macapagal used to his advantage. When he won, Macapagal promised: “the immediate restoration of economic stability, alleviate the common man’s plight, and establish a dynamic basis for future growth.” He added to strengthen the deteriorating moral fiber of the people. Unfortunately, a few months after he was sworn in, his province mates indulged in extravagant celebrations, with him and his family at the center. Such flagrant show of opulence went on which slighted the Filipinos much. Macapagal will however, be remembered with his nationalistic decision to move the Philippine Independence Day from July 4 to June 12, and the Land Reform Code which unfortunately was not implemented effectively.
The nepotism, graft and corruption issues were used by Ferdinand Marcos against Macapagal when the former ran for president. The Filipinos, for having no choice and who had been clamoring for change, voted for him.
Among the presidents, it was Marcos who openly admitted that the country was in a dire crisis situation, and to arrest the further deterioration of the country, he promised: “self-sufficiency in the production of rice and the diversification of crops, implementation of the land reform program, and intensification of the community development program. During his time, the country experienced a phenomenal infra-structure boom, to support the drummed up tourism and industrialization efforts of the government. Not satisfied with the Constitution-mandated tenure, he declared Martial Law, to supposedly prevent the Communist take-over of the country. The drastic move was accepted for several years by the Filipinos, until the issue on the murder of Benigno Aquino erupted.
The People Power Revolution in 1987 toppled the dictatorship of Marcos and installed Cory Aquino as President. Issues that her administration faced were recovery of the people’s money, replenishment of the dried up budget, and corruption that was not totally swept out of the system. Her tenure did not accomplish much for the recovery of the country until she was taken over by Fidel Ramos during whose administration there was a spree of privatization and selling of government properties. As the Filipinos got tired of the same economic and political mishaps of presidents, they gave a chance to Joseph Estrada from the movie world, and who promised “heaven”, and something “new”…indeed, corruption with a “new” face, that just got worse. The recurring despair of the people brought Gloria Arroyo to power. Despair again made the Filipinos look for another leader, and this time they bit the bait dangled by the old-time crooks who used the “martyrdom” of Ninoy Aquino to push the presidency of Pnoy Aquino…. TODAY, RODRIGO DUTERTE IS AT THE HELM OF THE COUNTRY.
The rest is history, literally, because as stated in the pages of the Philippine history, the same problems are the issues today– graft, corruption, nepotism, poverty. But many Filipinos are keeping their fingers crossed that President Duterte who was catapulted to power due to the aggravating drug problem in the country, would make true his promise of eliminating even the graft and corruption in the government.