And so it is that at this moment our country is perceived to be the most corrupt economy in Asia, a high risk area when it comes to investment.
Shameful
Well, this is not only shameful but also gravely nauseating if we consider corruption as a serious reality against the backdrop of the Philippines being the only deeply Catholic nation in Asia.
It is rather difficult to countenance that, once upon a time, our archipelago was a symbol not only of faith and deep commitment to Christian morality and integrity but also in the Lord’s abiding belief in human honesty and fairness.
Thus, this perception is something that Filipinos should not take without puckering their faces or shouting in pain.
Poverty
Of course, we can dismiss this as something that emerged out of a feeling of envy.
But the truth is, we don’t have anything that other Asian nations would consider as profitable enough for them to envy us as a country and as a people.
The Asian region is populated with a people majority of which are barely surviving from poverty.
Truth to tell, that is perhaps the reason why corruption thrives here.
If this is so, then corruption can be considered as just one of those things, a product of need, of a nagging deprivation, or of being enmeshed in a political circumstance that generated material want.
Common issue
But then, we realize that our country is Catholic, and our people are bred in Christianity.
And hence, we could not help it but be engulfed in shame.
That we are considered as the most corrupt economy in our part of the globe is something that we should not take with smugness and indifference but as a serious slur against our honor and respectability as a people.
Our politicians, they who are in a position to correct this debasing perception should truly do something to set things aright.
The election campaign should take this judgmental reality as a common issue that should be jointly allayed by all political groups, if only to show that the findings of the Hongkong-based survey firm is not being taken lightly by the Filipinos.
