The Left has long considered this as one of the country’s three basic problems and used a term that Chinese communists used before they took over the country: bureaucrat capitalism. In sum, it simply means using one’s position in the government bureaucracy to amass wealth.
In the early years of the republic, the money involved here was only in the thousands. Now it has reached millions, billions, and, in the flood control allocations, trillions of pesos over the decades. This means the problem has gotten worse.
Interestingly, it is the administration of President Bongbong Marcos that has raised red flags on the government’s flood control program through the years. Which is ironic because Bongbong’s father was accused of amassing wealth himself when he was dictator of the country for two decades.
Because a big bulk of the money spent for flood control projects went to private pockets, the problem that these were intended to solve has also gotten worse. Recent reports on the rains brought about by storms that hit the country focused on flooding, especially in Metro Manila and Luzon. But Cebu also experiences that, especially when the rains fall hard.
Now it seems like we have hit the crossroads. Should the government stop funding projects for flood control for worries the money would only go to the corrupt or continue funding flood control projects and hope this could ease the flooding problem somewhat? A classic damned if you do and damned if you don’t dilemma.
But my concern is not only about that. My concern is on how we could protect public funds, which are essentially taxes. This seems to have become a cycle of discovery, silence and discovery again. It has only been a few years since the Janet Napoles et al case was prosecuted. Now we have the flood control program anomaly that will surely be prosecuted soon. Expect silence to follow, after which the discovery of another anomalous government scheme will break.
The Chinese communists did win in China in 1949. But have they totally eradicated corruption in the bureaucracy? Of course, corruption in the bureaucracy in that country still surfaces from time to time, but the price for doing it has gotten heavy. How many times have we heard of government bureaucrats having been executed in China for corruption?
Reminds me of the joke about an alcohol-loving man who promised he would no longer drink – if the money used to buy the drink would be his own. Perhaps this is the reason why government bureaucrats and their contractor friends can splurge: because the money is not their own. But how can bureaucrat capitalism be ended? I won’t pretend to know how to do it because I don’t.
I was an idealist, but after a short stint supporting, during elections, politicians whom I thought were incorruptible but whose rule was dirtied by corruption allegations of the people around them, I have become pragmatic. Meaning that, I have learned to consider corruption as a way of life in the bureaucracy. I have learned to close my eyes and still hope for the best in spite of it.