It’s interesting how the architect of daang matuwid is coming to be recognized as the purveyor of some pretty creative forms of corruption. To this President, corruption is simply a synonym for his predecessor. Jail her and as many of her allies as you can, that’s how you stop corruption. For someone who as congressman and senator was the principal author of exactly zero pieces of new legislation, this is a concept that his intellect can wrap itself around. 2013_sept10_opinion1Unfortunately, the world just isn’t that simple. People are now realizing that the fertile soil for corruption can be found in the pervasive poverty of our country, the product of what would be labelled our semi-colonial and semi-feudal economy by my friends from the Left, or conversely, what would be decried as the absence of genuine market reforms by my friends on the Right. As both sides might agree, “Kung walang mahihirap, walang korap”. The spectacular shenanigans of Napoles and her friends have their humble roots in the familiar spectacle of people lining up for favors outside the barangay captain’s house every morning. The poor may publicly mimic the outrage of the middle class over the pork barrel, but deep in their hearts they know that barrel is what allows their elected leaders to shower them with charitable hand-outs, medical care assistance, and of course the triennial largesse from selling their votes every election. On a recent TV talk show, I watched one of the country’s best-known social commentators have a “Eureka!” moment when he exclaimed that the only way to get rid of institutions like the pork barrel was through genuine economic development. Well, d-u-u-uh. The talk show host could only roll his eyes. * * * 2013_sept10_opinion2The public already knows how the President is letting them down when it comes to pushing economic development. So far he can boast only about his conditional cash transfers—now we’re actually borrowing money just to give it away as handouts—and his credit rating upgrades—which so far have translated into exactly three PPP projects past the halfway point of his presidency, and no major infrastructure even started, let alone completed. Talk to any of the foreign business chambers and you’ll hear how frustrated they all are by now. Today, the public is also finding out that the same President is also letting them down when it comes to fighting corruption. I will refer to Webster’s second definition of corruption (“evil or wicked behavior; depravity”) and describe at least three forms of corruption that have proliferated under his leadership: Financial corruption—money being pocketed for personal gain. The opportunities are many, from pork scams to smuggling to jueteng to alleged extortion by the President’s relatives. None of these have been conclusively inquired into, unless you were an Arroyo ally. But KKK amigos get off scot-free, and in the current pork barrel mess, the Palace itself was quick to clear of any wrong-doing such yellows in good standing as Secretary Abad, Secretary Roxas, and of course Aquino himself. Will we ever get a look at PNoy’s pork barrel disbursements as congressman and senator? As with his personal bank accounts, don’t hold your breath. Political corruption—money being misused to suborn and destroy the independence of co-equal branches of government. When you increase the congressmen’s pork barrel all the way from P10 billion in 2010 to P25 billion in just the following year, you’re certainly cooking up a very big carrot stew to go with the stick of your presidential powers. Electoral corruption—money that was used to fix the 2010 and 2013 elections. This is arguably the worst kind of misfeance by political leaders, because it strikes at the very heart and soul of elective democracy. While few may doubt Aquino’s victory in 2010, he still has 8 million unaccounted votes to explain. As for 2013, the “60/30/10” phenomenon has turned out to be a real smoking gun. Ateneo Professor Lex Muga enlisted his students who painstakingly assembled the evidence that the 60/30/10 split among PNoy, UNA, and third-party forces was a manufactured outcome. Observe the two graphs in the previous page. One graph shows the spread of corruption across time, with each and every one of the 16 consecutive electoral canvasses showing the same invariant proportions. The other graph shows corruption spread across space, with each and every one of 105 provinces and highly urbanized cities again showing the same invariant proportions. It defies political and statistical logic, like any good electoral fraud would. And it’s also a staggering logistical achievement, the latest in the series of breath-taking vistas by which we are being entertained along Aquino’s roller-coaster daang matuwid.
Posted on: Tue, 10 Sep 2013 03:34:09 +0000