The Inquirer’s March 14 news report, “Philippine execs bullish on the economy,” where the head of the Makati Business Club said Filipino businessmen have turned more upbeat about the country’s economic prospects this year, and the Aquino administration’s drive to impeach Chief Justice Renato Corona has contributed largely to it, confirms my own belief that the anticorruption drive of President Aquino would eventually reap benefits for the economy.
The connection isn’t difficult to see. When you have a business environment where everyone plays by the rules and there’s no hanky-panky, such as bribery, then the economy would really grow as businessmen would be willing to open new enterprises or expand existing ones.
By the same token, when there’s widespread corruption in government and even the Chief Justice cannot account for multimillion-peso high-end condominium units and fat bank accounts, businessmen would naturally want to bring their money elsewhere, leading to a sluggish economic growth.
A Supreme Court without Corona at the helm is a Supreme Court that would be fair and credible. And if we have a fair and credible justice system, the economy would also benefit in more ways than one.
—ERNESTO MOLINA,
ernesto.molina17@yahoo.com