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Tuesday, June 07, 2005
Editorial: Hope amid dejection
EXPECT surveys from now on to generally be adverse to the Arroyo administration. The latest survey taken by the Social Weather Station (SWS) published in various papers that had shown their respondents dissatisfied with government's anti-graft campaign is one such indicator.
There is little surprise as to how why people are downbeat about the anti-corruption campaign undertaken by government--just see the ongoing Senate investigation into the jueteng scandal which drew in some of the biggest names including the son of the President.
What was surprising was President Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo's statement that she "feels the pain" of suffering Filipinos given that she got everything she wanted: a full term, her pet E-Vat bills and support from the military et al.
However feeling the pain and doing something about it are two different things. And so far she only did squat towards the problem of graft in her government.
But supporters of Arroyo would point to the arrest and detention of Major General Carlos Garcia as proof that something is being done on the grafters in both government and the military.
However people would conveniently forget that were it not for the US immigration authorities Garcia's other life as "eat-all-you can" (to borrow a phrase from columnist Butch Bagabuyo) grafter would never have been found out.
The reduction of graft--never mind its eradication for under this current administration graft is about as impossible to eliminate as cutting one's own heart out. Drastic surgery is required and we seriously doubt the administration has the will to perform this procedure.
Anyways one encouraging sign in this SWS survey is that modern enterprises are interested in funding and/or participating in the campaign against corruption in government or any other sector of society.
This means that the country's traders--not just those multinationals who hardly feel the country's economic pinch but the domestic businesses and especially the small to medium enterprises (SMEs) that are providing employment to the Filipino masses.
The people behind these businesses have not lost any hope at all in the campaign against corruption and are willing to join it.
What role it would assume is anyone's question at this point but their participation should be seriously considered. Also to be considered are the active roles of civil society and other sectors in monitoring the incidence of graft in society.
Just the mere fact though that they are concerned about this problem and are willing to do something about it gives us much reason to hope for the future.
(June 7, 2005 issue)
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