A  prescription for crooks in gov’t

Anyone who has ever dealt with civil servants would no doubt be amused by the House bill that proposes installing global positioning system (GPS) trackers on all government vehicles. The rationale: to discourage unauthorized side trips, like going to a strip club or a massage parlor in broad daylight.

As ridiculous as it sounds, the pet bill of Nueva Vizcaya Rep. Luisa Lloren Cuaresma makes an ingenious, albeit twisted, kind of sense, because it eliminates the presumption of trust in an official’s judgment of the proper use of government property.

As Cuaresma explained in her proposed measure: “The knowledge that they can be tracked by GPS discourages drivers or public officers from making inappropriate use of the government-owned vehicles.”

House Bill No. 10900 was the congresswoman’s third attempt to pitch the idea to Congress, but it’s clear why her fellow lawmakers have been indifferent to her proposal. It wouldn’t be surprising if it’s for the same reason President Marcos made a call last Wednesday to state workers to lead the way in reshaping their image as champions of transparency and accountability: The simple truth is, we don’t trust government officials.

Prevailing impression

During the awarding of the annual “Search for Outstanding Government Workers” by the Civil Service Commission, Mr. Marcos said: “Let us continue to live by our constitutional mandate that public office is a public trust. We should remain transparent and accountable to all our people, and to serve them with integrity, loyalty, and efficiency.”

The President also praised government workers for their equanimity in the face of difficulties in “government service,” often pictured as “long lines, rows of desks, piles of papers, and faces weary from the daily grind.”

What Mr. Marcos failed to mention, however, was that, besides the drudgery of the state bureaucracy, the prevailing impression most public servants leave on the public isn’t that they’re bored but that they’re crooked and dishonest — precisely the same perception that must have motivated Cuaresma to file her bill.

It was the same perception that likely led the President’s cousin, Speaker Martin Romualdez, to tell his peers at the opening of plenary discussions on the proposed 2025 budget to spurn those “hypocrites” in office who spoke of accountability while misusing public funds.

Stewards of public trust

“As legislators, we are not only guardians of the national purse but also stewards of the people’s trust. Every peso we allocate in this budget carries with it the sweat and sacrifice of millions of Filipinos and it is our duty to ensure that these resources are spent wisely, effectively, and with absolute accountability,” the House leader said.

He was, of course, alluding to Vice President Sara Duterte, now under fire over multiple funding scandals involving not only the Office of the Vice President but the Department of Education, which she had concurrently helmed until quitting in July.

But the larger issue of public perception – and presumption – of government corruption transcends the political problem that is Duterte, whose falling-out with the Marcoses has resuscitated interest in all the alleged wrongdoings of her father, former president Rodrigo Duterte.

The idea of strengthening public trust in our government officials had long been a Marcos project, even before the breakup of the President’s doomed alliance with the Duterte clan. As far back as July 2023, Mr. Marcos had unveiled his administration’s governance theme, “Bagong Pilipinas (new Philippines),” borrowed from his 2022 campaign ditty.

Call for transformation

As a “branding and communication strategy,” Bagong Pilipinas was to be “characterized by principled, accountable and dependable government,” according to Memorandum Circular No. 24. In January, Mr. Marcos took pains to clarify that his new movement “serves no narrow political interest” as a genuine “call for transformation … of our idea of being a Filipino, and the transformation of our economy, of governance, of society.”

But such transformation has yet to materialize more than a year after launch.

Today, the people are bombarded with news that only amplifies their prejudice against civil and public servants, such as of officials conspiring with fugitives and criminals, defying congressional oversight over the use or abuse of public funds, or throwing lavish parties at the taxpayers’ expense.

The pressing question is this: How long can the government carry on branding itself as the harbinger of change when its actions violate its own rhetoric?

Perhaps Cuaresma’s proposal is the correct prescription for crooks in the government. If our officials are serious about transformational governance, they must switch from PR tactics to concrete acts – like putting GPS trackers on government equipment – that can prevent dishonesty and help restore public trust. Only then can the government rebuild the nation’s shattered confidence after decades of corruption and neglect.