HE will tenaciously fight illegal drugs, crime and corruption…at the risk of his life, reputation and the presidency, said President Rodrigo Duterte to the Filipinos in Myanmar.
For the war on corruption, bring it on! Even if skeptics and cynics say that with corruption so systemic in this country, the fight is uphill.
So echoes the United Nations Development Programme (UNDP) in a report on “Perspectives on Corruption and Human Development.” International bodies monitoring corruption in various countries have admitted that the fight is easier said than done.
Moreover, the twin challenges of defining corruption and measuring it prove that “there is no single, comprehensive, universally accepted definition of corruption.”
While it may be defined as “the misuse of public power for private profit,” it should also hold culpable the private individuals entrusted with public roles, and those who, as possessors of economic powers, have the means to corrupt public officials.
The UNDP report listed acts identified by individual researchers and members of the UN Convention against Corruption, the Anti-Corruption Action Plan for Asia and the Pacific, and the Inter-American Action Plan for Asia and the Pacific.
Highest on the list and unanimously identified is bribery, followed by embezzlement, fraud, favoritism and/or nepotism, and conflicting interests.
Least mentioned were illicitly obtained benefits for oneself or third party, abuse of functions, improper political contributions, and receiving of gift, promise, favor or advantage for oneself or another person/entity.
Accepting gifts is supposedly a no-no in Philippine government. But the Anti-Gift decree has never been implemented, especially during Christmas time.
While officials are reminded not to receive or worse, solicit gifts from suppliers or customers, the gifts are often delivered to alternate addresses, often the residence.
Sometimes, whoever returns the gift is actually ridiculed and labeled as “trying hard.” Remember Agriculture chief Emmanuel Piňol who returned a Rolex watch gift worth P 450,000?
Duterte said the watch should instead have been sold and the proceeds shared. Whether or not Duterte was again jesting, is anyone’s guess. But it did leave a bitter taste in the mouth, with people saying Duterte loves Catch 22 games.
Then there’s the required annual submission of public officials’ statement of assets and liabilities. But does anyone every study them, except after the-fact when an official is already in hot waters? Cases in point: Former Supreme Court chief justice Renato Corona and even former president Joseph Estrada alias Jose Velarde.
Besides, the corrupt will always find brilliant accountants who, with great experience in creative accounting, can always hide ill-gotten wealth.
Two weeks after Martial Law was proclaimed in 1972, almost 8,000 officials and employees were purged from their positions.
Short of declaring Martial Rule, can Duterte do this Marcosian stroke in his war against corruption?