But like poverty, graft and corruption in the public and private sectors has strengthened instead of weakened through the years.
One can concede that graft and corruption is not just a monopoly of our country but is also bedeviling our Asian neighbors and even highly developed nations as Japan, the United States, Canada, and United Kingdom, among other European nations. Still, the situation in our country appears to be worse.
It’s as if the malaise has seeped down through every facet of our social sinews. When even market vendors “bribe” market collectors, then something is truly wrong.
The result of a survey undertaken by a national poll taker on the extent of corruption in the country pointed to at least three national government agencies as the most corrupt: the Bureau of Customs, Bureau of Internal Revenue (BIR) and the Department of Public Works and Highways (DPWH). This could only be because this perception on the three offices has long been lodged in the minds of our people.
Many years ago, when I was still regional director of the ministry of public information, I received requests from jobseekers for recommendations. The most sought after offices were the BIR, Customs, Public Works, and the Police, not necessarily in that order. And the unsaid reason for this is that it is easy to make money in these offices.
On the front page of this daily yesterday was the story that personnel from the DPWH, including one from the police, were charged before the Ombudsman in connection with the release of P15 million to a firm as payment of surveillance cameras despite a standing “freeze” order. That is not really surprising since such stories have figured in the news often. And always, people in government do not seem to learn or does not care.
This means that corruption in public office has become part of the culture of our government, and hence already difficult to destroy. But it is not merely a question of culture but also a matter of lifestyle or the state of our domestic economy.
A financially draining lifestyle can dictate the behavior and/or debase the values of a civil servant. And a civil servant with a big family and low income tends to barter his integrity for additional pesos.
