Tuesday, March 04, 2008 Speak Out: Less honest By Gil A. Talisaysay Bo. Luz, Cebu City
IN the opinion section of Sun.Star Cebu Feb. 19, I find the article titled, “Search for Truth,” written by the USC Law Alumni Association Inc., very intriguing because there are statements and phrases about certain developments, which I, as a member of the association, cannot help but comment on.
I find the opening paragraph—“corruption is endemic in the public history of the nation but has swirled into spasmodic proportions under the current administration”—if limited to mean only our poor country, less honest, because we do not know of any government anywhere at anytime in history (whether imperial Rome or Greece, or European colonizers and their colonies) in Asia and America that has not been charged of corruption.
We all know that serious charges of corruption, nepotism, smuggling, political dynasties, and the like, are not new. The presidents of our country—Quezon, Osmeña, Roxas, Quirino, Magsaysay, Garcia, Macapagal and Marcos—were not spared from these charges. And if we recall, the term Kamag-anaks Inc. came out during Cory’s time; the Amari deal and National Centennial scam surfaced during Ramos’ administration; and the jueteng payola was exposed during Erap’s time.
Each time such accusation was made in the media, almost always the hyperbole “mother of all scams,” has been hurled. Whatever “spasmodic proportions under the current administration” means, it is an unkind phrase to describe President Arroyo, who is doing all she can to improve the quality of life of Filipinos, even though some perceive her as morally corrupt or evil.
Everybody, even the indecent, loves to know the truth. And we all have a reason to be consoled that our country indeed “is not hopeless” because there are people in government who risk their lives for the sake of truth and justice, and live morally upright lives.
What I am particularly intrigued is the making of a certain Rodolfo Noel Lozada Jr. into an overnight hero, out of the exposes he made on the ZTE-NBN “scam” in a Senate investigation.
Of all those implicated in the mess, only Lozada is glamorized as truthful and honest. As such, some sectors, led by certain senators, adulate him as a hero. I think this is grossly misplaced glorification, and I am scandalized. While I do not say he is a liar, he strikes me as good in theatrics. He sheds tears one moment, laughs at the next instance. At times, he even makes the sign of the cross.
He says he is a probinsyano of Chinese descent from Bicol, giving the impression that he is lowly rural personality. But I learned that he is a member of the exclusive Wack Wack Golf Club with a membership fee of P425,000 and a monthly due of P200,000.
He spent 200,000 for a week in Hong Kong yet returns P50,000 to his friend Mike Defensor with so much drama on national TV, before priests, nuns and the whole world. This, after asking help (from Defensor) and keeping the money for a few weeks or so.
I would not allow myself to be overwhelmed by such theatrics. Lozada should know that most people in this country have not seen or held money in such amounts.
The contract to install a national broadband network (NBN) between the Philippine Government and ZTE, a corporation allegedly owned and controlled by the Chinese Government, at the cost of $329, has been cancelled after it was found to be disadvantageous to the Philippines. So why all the fuss? Has the Philippine Government lost money out of the aborted transaction? Maybe, as Senators Arroyo and Enrile observed. But these Senate investigations are a waste of time, money and energy. They are nothing more than “in aid of grandstanding.”
Nevertheless, it’s high time to put closure to all this mess. I hope this brouhaha will bring something good to the country, like employment and food security for all.
