"Philippine society today not only has a very high proportion of its people living below the poverty line. It is also probably the most highly unequal society in this part of the world. The poor in our country barely have anything to eat; they scour garbage dumps looking for usable trash, live in makeshift shanties along dangerous waterways, beg in the streets—in the shadow of the most expensive condominium buildings and exclusive housing communities. A social order that imagines this to be normal, and coasts along as if government belonged to its elected officials, is ripe for revolution." "It does not take much intelligence nowadays to become an elected public official in our country. But one certainly needs a lot of money not only to get elected but also to hold on to an office, especially if one has nothing else to offer. That is why access to public funds is crucial to the Filipino politician. The wide latitude of discretion that is built into the pork barrel system is a tacit acknowledgment of this reality." "From being a mere instrument of patronage, the pork barrel and its associated perks soon become the primary reason for seeking public office, transforming politics into a lucrative enterprise. This attracts the wrong kind of persons into public service, and makes elections the costly affairs they are today." "I believe we have reached that stage when our society must free itself from this obsolete system if it is to survive. People are angry and are communicating with one another in ways never thought possible. Stealing from the public coffers has become too brazen for the ordinary citizen to ignore. Who can feel good paying taxes to a government that blindly dispenses hard-earned money to cynical, incompetent, and corrupt officials?" AND TO TOP IT ALL, THE HOST PROVINCE OF ALL THE MALAMPAYA WEALTH HAS BEEN DENIED A SHARE... INSTEAD, THIS WEALTH HAS BEEN USED AS PORK TO GREASE THE WHEELS OF GOVERNMENT AS A LUCRATIVE POLITICAL ENTERPRISE...
Posted on: Sun, 18 Aug 2013 09:48:12 +0000
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