Tuesday, December 18, 2007 Speak Out: GMA as most corrupt By John Pala
THE survey results that showed President Arroyo as the most corrupt president reflects the perception of the citizenry.
Pulse Asia followed its own scientific processes to come up with a reading of how people generally feel or think about an issue. Sometimes the findings are positive and other times, negative. No one should, therefore, complain about its recent findings, which show Arroyo as numero uno in corruption, for being “unfair” or “unchristian.”
These two labels are totally not the issue here. Malacañang should take note of the message behind the findings, rather than trying to shoot down the report as lacking in proof or credibility. After all, the more recent scandals starring the First Gentleman, the ZTE deal, missing journalists, bribery, kickbacks, brokering deals and cash doleouts in Malacañang premises, among others, did and do continue to scrape away the glitter off the President’s armor.
Friends of mine are reminded of Erap every time they hear Arroyo speak about running after crooks. We know that like Erap, Arroyo does the opposite of what she says. We hope that her underlings would stop treating her in ways like in that story, “King Without Clothes.” She must be allowed to view herself, her cabinet, her congressmen, and all her officials in the mirror.
I voted for Arroyo and I was pleased with her winning. But I voted for fear that one of the others would become the president. As an ordinary citizen, I based my knowledge of the candidates on media reports, regional affiliation, family leanings, and whatever info I could gather – all without proof. Thus, my basis was my perception.
Then came the “Hello Garci” controversy, followed by a series of scandalous transactions. What I thought to be the truth about her have been proven wrong. Truth is, many have told me that “this is, so far, the worst and shameless” administration because of Arroyo’s or her people’s blatant disregard of morality. It is this kind of perception that probably drove her ranking to the top as most corrupt, even worse than the Marcos dictatorship.
But we shouldn’t really be concerned about who is number one or two. What we should all keep in mind is that a corrupt president is no better than the “least corrupt.” What should matter most is that a president – or all government people should never be corrupt.
Corruption must never be tolerated since it worsens the plight of the poor.
