Malgovernance and Unbridled Corruption
As the pandemic rages on, the failure of a system that upholds profit over people is fully unmasked. Much needed support for frontline healthworkers , mass testing and contact tracing, construction of health facilities, vaccine purchase, and others are wanting. The 15 B Philhealth scandal flies in the face of government’s corruption and criminal neglect: a P389 M Manila Bay dolomite beach sand beautification project and a P 19 B NTF-ELCAC budget spewing disinformation and targeting activists and critics for attacks, instead of much needed economic aid to the jobless and hungry.
Globally, the Philippines has a score of 34 in the corruption perception index (CPI), according to Transparency International’s 2020 report. This places the country at 115th out of 180 countries and territories ( lower than its 113th rank in 2019) and is now the country’s lowest rank recorded since 2012. The CPI uses a scale where the higher the score, the least corrupt a country is: 100 is very clean, while zero is highly corrupt.(iv)
While this poor ranking has been based on 2020’s bungled pandemic response, corruption scandals have wracked the administration earlier on. In 2017, the President’s son Paolo Duterte and son-in-law Mans Carpio have been linked to the PhP 6.4 B worth of shabu equipment from China and bribery of Customs officials. (v) In 2018, supposed anti-drugs policemen have become drug dealers themselves, earning billions of pesos of worth of drugs packed in industrial equipment (magnetic lifters) with the connivance of other police and customs officials. In 2020, another scandal, dubbed “Pastillas Scheme”, was uncovered. This involved cash pay offs (rolled in white sheets of paper like the sweet confectionery) amounting to US $20 M for immigration officials in exchange for the entry of Chinese nationals in the country since 2017. All have been the subject of Senate investigations.
These demonstrate that the 2016 presidential campaign promise of stamping out corruption is one big lie.
Sovereignty down the Drain
Adherence to interests of foreign powers, chiefly US and China, characterize the country’s foreign policy and impacts greatly on us. Of late, adherence to China has become blatant with incursions into the West Philippine Sea. This, despite a 2016 ruling in the Permanent Court of Arbitration in the Hague, Netherlands that all features located with the exclusive economic zone (EEZ) of the Philippines belong to us. The Hague ruling was set aside by the government in exchange for Chinese loans and investments. With barely two years left in office, less than 5% of the latter actually came in. Of late, the handing out of Chinese vaccines Sinovac has been an excuse to practically sell out the country’s sovereignty, never mind that most of these vaccines were bought at a high price.
The brazen Chinese incursions into our EEZ have resulted in further marginalization and deprivation of fish and marine resources of our small fisherfolk, and the country in general. Despite the Philippines being an archipelagic country, we are now importing galunggong (blue mackerel scad) and pushing our fisherfolk into greater poverty. Pres. Duterte has shrugged off as a joke his election promise of jetskiing into WPS and hoisting our flag.
On the other hand, we are also wary of efforts of other countries like the US to use the WPS issue as a proxy war against its rival China. We thus seek the cooperation of all six countries involved in the maritime territorial dispute in order to stand up against Chinese bullying.
Calls are thus mounting for Pres. Duterte resignation as a testament of people’s disgust over these plethora of state-sponsored tragedies. While it is highly unlikely that he will step down, these calls underscore people’s rejection. These efforts complement the run-up to the 2022 elections towards a united opposition rejecting Duterte and his anointed candidates.
1 Sambayan is one such formation that seeks this change.1Sambayan is a broad coalition of democratic forces representing the broad spectrum of legitimate political persuasions in the Philippines. It aims to usher in a competent, trustworthy administration in the May 2022 national elections by fielding a single slate of national candidates: president, vice president, and 12 senators. (vi)
Clearly, a lot are at stake in the coming elections and our voices need to be heard now.
The Church and What Can Be Done
The May elections provide an opportunity for the electorate to hold their leaders accountable and demand that human rights be front and center of any development discourse. A life of dignity, free from strife and oppression should not be a vision but a matter for active, collective action here and now.
Church people’s involvement in the politics of the country is a duty. Numerous teachings, including the Vatican II way back 70 years ago and the 1991 Second Plenary Council of the Philippines, stress the importance of attending to the renewal of the temporal order as a special obligation. This means that the active pursuit of meaningful social changes is part of our prophetic and pastoral ministries
A Politics of Change is thus integral in this pursuit. This politics rests on the fundamental tenet of service to the people. It goes against patronage politics of trapos (traditional politicians) winning over guns, goons and gold. It means shaping of pro-people policies and meaningful participation in various levels of power; bias for the poor, oppressed, marginalized; and most importantly, fighting for these rights no matter the odds. It means electing servant leaders whose life is a testament of their selflessness.
The people’s agenda is centered on the full development of human beings, by ensuring food on the table; secure jobs; land to the tillers; exercise of free speech, assembly and seeking redress from grievances free from state reprisals; protection from foreign encroachment, and others.
