The merry ways of the corrupt and the corrupted go on — unless we say enough

I write to lend my voice against the massive corruption in the government’s procurement of pandemic supplies involving Pharmally that has enriched a few individuals at the expense of the general public. It is a sinful, Zshameful, and inhuman act in the midst of hunger and suffering among our people in this time of pandemic. The Senate must do its job in the legitimate exercise of its constitutional oversight function over the executive, cause the arrest of those in contempt of the Senate, and bring the culprits and the masterminds to jail, torpedoes from Malacañang be dammed!

Corruption in our country has reached the highest level since Marcos’ martial law era under the regime of a man who, in order to get elected as president, promised to end it within the first six months of his term. But some months ago, he said he had given up on graft in government after failing miserably to curb corruption in the first four years that he has been in power. More recently, he promised, again, that he will end corruption in the last two years of his term.

How come we now have Pharmally? And the Malampaya anomaly?

I remember quoting in my earlier letter to the Inquirer this admonition of Ayn Rand, a Russian-American writer and philosopher, for societies that apparently resemble our particular circumstances today. It explains why we have seemingly unending, unmitigated graft in this country: “When you see that in order to produce, you need to obtain permission from men who produce nothing—when you see that money is flowing to those who deal, not in goods, but in favors—when you see that men get richer by graft and by pull than by work, and your laws don’t protect you against them, but protect them against you—when you see corruption being rewarded and honesty becoming a self-sacrifice—you may know that your society is doomed.”

The problem of corruption around us is a festering symptom of our oppressive and decaying social, economic, and political order. The regime changes we have had since World War II—including that which gave us in 2016 a less than desirable leader elected under the same corrupt electoral system we continue to embrace—have not brought any relief to our suffering nation. The 2022 elections, to be held under the same rotten system, do not hold promise at all of any meaningful improvement in our life.

The corruption that has stained and crippled governance under past and present presidents is systemic. It cannot be licked by anyone we hereafter elect as president—unless and until we drastically reform the present electoral system that allows unqualified candidates with questionable moral compasses and motivations to be elected: they who buy votes and influence with campaign funds “donated” by moneyed classes who want to be assured that their business and personal interests will be protected by candidates who win elections, and they who, once elected, will engage in graft, again and even more, to recover money they threw away to get elected and to build up campaign chests for the next election. And so the merry ways of the corrupt and the corrupted go on, and on—in vicious cycles.

We cannot, must not, accept that our society is doomed. It is not—if we all stand up to the corrupt and the corrupted, and perform our patriotic duty to engage ourselves in the pursuit of social change. That change will require, among other needed reforms, an electoral system that can enable the election of a president who has the vision and capacity to lead the country to peace and prosperity, the courage to enforce national discipline, and the will to force drastic changes into our now decadent social, economic, and political order.

I cannot be overly pessimistic that our May 2022 elections can produce that kind of a president. God bless our benighted land!

COL. LEONARDO O. ODOÑO, RET.
PMA Class of 1964
[email protected]