Thursday, November 27, 2008 Seares: Sin that cries to heaven By Pachico A. Seares News Sense
While some writers say graft is committed by a single individual and corruption involves collusion of at least two persons, most people use the words interchangeably.
Sofronio B. Ursal, former commissioner of the Commission on Audit, notes the fine distinction in his 2006 book "Anti-Graft Guidebook." And he cites the penchant of media to use colorful words like "scam," "scandal," "racket," and "anomaly."
Ursal leaves out "mess," brief yet descriptive and suspends judgment. "Mess" just refers to the "state of trouble, embarrassment, and confusion," the muddling, bungling, or botching up.
Which is what looting of the public treasury leaves, once the graft is exposed.
Whatever the name, elements of the crime are similar: (1) misuse of office or position of authority (2) for private gain. And the problem is still tough to lick.
Cry for vengeance
Catholic bishops stress the immorality: stealing money that would have paid for food to the starving poor, a sin that Ursal says cries to heaven for vengeance.
Media condemn it, often publicly shaming suspected thieves. Bishops threaten with God's wrath, hurling homilies and pastoral letters. The public expresses anger in opinion polls whose results humiliate public offices infested with corruption.
Waged intensely and incessantly, assault from newspapers and broadcast stations, pulpits, and the SWS surveys should have long beaten graft to a pulp with the looters locked up in jail.
It has not and they are not.
Last Monday, SWS reported that levels of corruption in government are still high but Metro Cebu's is lower than Metro Manila's. Small comfort.
