Two ways to promote good governance

There are at least two things the government should do for good governance and its component standards, including transparency, accountability and the rule of law, to be genuinely operative principles in our government.

One is punishing offenders. Justice Secretary Leila de Lima has taken the lead in prosecuting former officials who may have been guilty of graft and corruption. And from what I have been hearing and reading, the Bureau of Internal Revenue (BIR) has become once again an office that strikes fear in the hearts of tax cheats. Many of them have cowered before the BIR and have been willing to settle their unpaid taxes.

The other side is promoting, if not rewarding, honesty and civic spirit of citizens, which should be done at the lowest levels.

Sometime in September, a traffic enforcer flagged me down in Quezon City for beating the red light. After I pulled over to the side of the road, he politely told me about the traffic rule I violated and asked for my driver’s license. I begged for consideration and understanding and explained my side: there was no point denying the violation or arguing with a very polite, even meek-looking traffic enforcer who did not even hint that he would consider a bribe. I also thought that it was beneath me, a civil servant, to succumb to the temptation of offering him a bribe. The man listened, but renewed his plea for me to surrender my license, which I did. He walked away and then came back with a ticket, advising me how I could get back my license after paying the requisite penalty.

Days later, I decided to pay the fine and retrieve my license. To do that, I had to secure the approval of the head of our office by applying for an emergency leave. When I got to Quezon City Hall, I saw about 40 people—my fellow traffic violators—crammed in a humid, open room waiting for their turn to be called. The workers there couldn’t tell me when my turn would be. I thought about the hours I would lose if I spent all day waiting. Fortunately, just before lunch time and before I lost my patience, I had my turn and finally got back my driver’s license.

We must, at all times, obey traffic rules. If we violate these, we must face the consequences such as queuing up for a long time to pay the fine. But motorists should not, after having gone through this patience-draining experience, be tempted to bribe traffic enforcers to save themselves the inconvenience.

One convenient and upright alternative to this would be for motorists to pay the fine in accessible places (such as banks) without having to surrender their licenses or to queue up.

Otherwise, a citizen, no matter how honest, might find it ever harder to remain so.

—ROMEO C. SANTOS,

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