Much has been said about corruption in the Philippines. Statistics say that we are the most corrupt nation in Southeast Asia, and rank 41st most corrupt among 180 countries. UNDP estimates that our country loses around P90 billion every year to corruption. And in a recent survey of 1,476 expatriate executives in 13 countries in Asia, our beloved country scored 9.40 on a scale of 1 to 10, with 10 as the most corrupt.
But there is a little-publicized significant statistic mentioned in the latest Asian Intelligence Report of the Political & Economic Risk Consultancy (PERC) that may partly explain this. And this is the fact that we Filipinos are very tolerant of corruption, with a score of 9.21, with 10 as the most tolerant. In other words, corruption thrives in our country, partly because we as a people abet and tolerate it, accept it as a way of life, and attribute it as an inevitable part and parcel of our culture. As Jose Rizal puts it, there will be no tyrants, if there are no slaves. In equivalent words, there will be no corruption, if the people do not tolerate and allow it. Walang mahirap, kung walang kurap, as President Aquino paraphrased it.
But that is easier said than done. Corruption money greases the wheels of bureaucratic government in our country. Permits and projects will not be approved unless around 10 percent to 25 percent of project costs are forked over to the powers that be. Businessmen have learned to factor in the cost of corruption in their business plans. Indeed, the level of corruption is such that officials have to be exhorted to “moderate their greed”! Those who denounce corruption find out sooner than later that whistle-blowing is dangerous to life and limb. Rodolfo “Jun” Lozada was charged with graft, perjury and other criminal cases for his celebrated revelations on the NBN-ZTE deal. Clarissa Ocampo lives in the United States with security escorts for her stellar role in the Estrada impeachment case. And Jibin Arula rues the fact that his revelations on the Jabidah Massacre, which triggered a full-blown Senate inquiry, has ruined his future and that of his children.
Comes now Architect Felino Palafox Jr., ranked among the top 100 architects/urban planners in the world, dedicated environmentalist, and Gusi Peace Awardee for 2011. He has taken whistle-blowing to a higher level by filing a case before the Ombudsman against the Angara clan, one of the most powerful political dynasties in the Philippines today, for their dubious role in the P3 billion Apeco (Aurora Pacific Economic Zone and Freeport Authority) project, charging graft and corruption and conflict of interest. Palafox describes the Apeco deal as “a wrong project at the wrong place and at the wrong time,” because portions of it are prone to liquefaction, and would be a ticking time bomb of disaster for its occupants. The Angaras replied by filing a P61-million libel suit against Palafox, including charges against him before the Professional Regulation Commission and the Environmental Planning Board for supposedly violating the code of ethics—with more to come. Indeed, whistle-blowing can be a dangerous business!
And as usual, we as a people will just sit back and enjoy the “fight,” much in the same way that we enjoy a Pacquiao fight. And so, corruption continues unabated. As they say, a people will get the government that it deserves, and we are certainly getting that full in the face. Change, like spiritual conversion, begins with oneself, and if only each and every one of us will not tolerate corruption as we encounter it in our daily lives, it will soon disappear from the Philippine landscape. Overseas Filipino workers are called the Philippines’ modern heroes, because they sacrifice themselves to bring home the bacon as it were, contributing close to P20 billion a year to the Philippine economy. Perhaps if we Filipinos will become whistle-blowers against corruption whenever and wherever we encounter it, we can save our country as much as P90 billion a year, and will justly earn the right to be ranked among the Philippines’ modern heroes as well. Fr. Jerry Orbos, SVD, has a more appropriate term for it—“truth-sayers.” Thus, this is an invitation to greatness for all Filipinos, to sacrifice themselves and become truthsayers for our beloved country and God… Pro Deo et Patria!
Samuel J. Yap is a management consultant and vice chairof Veritas Social Empowerment Inc., an NGO working for the poor in Tondo.