Wednesday, April 16, 2008 Talk back: Not like Haiti By Victor Manalac
(The letter is addressed to Sun.Star columnist Nini Cabaero)
I agree with you. Filipinos differ from Haitians, and our food situation is not as bad, yet. Both governments, however, are addressing the crisis as intensely.
Our being at peace is not due to their efforts alone but by our nature as a people---it takes much, much more to break our
patience. And we bounce back as quickly as when we dropped.
What they should be reminded of is that good works do not give license to commit graft and corruption. Great projects should never be an excuse to insert allocations for commissions.
And while we should respect the Arroyo administration’s capacity to maintain food supply and service efficiency, we must also be vigilant in watching the various agencies where money is made in millions of pesos quietly and away from the crowd.
Ours should be a government that protects the taxes we pay and one that does its job well without earning extra by the side.
No matter how long the highways or how many computers may be laid on a student's table, or how regular the lines for rice will be, government people should earn only their wages the way most of us do, and not from some pay offs.
