We celebrated once again the feast of Our Lady of Peñafrancia: INA. Our Archdiocese of Caceres focused our 9-day activities to “Growing in Catholic Faith in Jesus Christ with Mary at the Service of Social Transformation.”
Providentially, we are witness now to People Power against deeply-rooted corruption in our government, especially in the pork barrel system. Indeed, stamping out graft and corruption is the most daunting challenge in reforming our society. For corruption is well-entrenched and pervades every level and every branch of government.
We cannot overemphasize that the billions of pesos pocketed by officials and their co-conspirators are money stolen from our poor and needy communities, and our very own struggles for a better life and for all our people.Worse, this hemorrhage results in more taxes from us and an oppressive BIR—for example, requiring printing of new receipts despite having unused receipts.
But, at the core of corruption is our culture of patronage. This is nothing more than our usual penchant for skipping the line or cutting corners to get what we need.
“Sinong kakilala natin?” (Who do we know?) This has been our standard question whenever we transact with government instead of what our laws require. It is our “ninong/ninang(god-father/god-mother)reliance to secure certain things we desire instead of what our laws command for what rightly belongs to us or should be accorded us as sovereign citizens—Boss.
We recall then the essence of democracy: a Government OF the People, BY the People, and FOR the People.
No doubt under President Aquino, our executive is FOR our people. But good intentions are not enough for they can pave the road to hell. Example: DBM’s see-no-evil in releasing PDAF funds.
Thus, our government must equally be BY the People. We ourselves should be more discerning,especially in the election of all our officials such as in 2016. This early, we watch over the incumbents and look at the character and qualifications of possible replacements if needed.We must also continue working to end political dynasties.
So, too, our government must be OF the people. Public accountability must be at all times.Public office is a public trust as our Constitution provides. In other words, we remain vigilant over our officials and the fruits of governance. This further takes us to transparency.
Access to information affecting the public interest is a fundamental right enshrined no less in our very Constitution. On this point, the Freedom of Information Bill languishing in our Congress should be passed without delay.
Indeed, the alleged Napoles pork barrel scams would not have taken over a decade long before being exposed if there was adequate disclosure and if our people had readily accessed information from our government.Wherever and whenever a single peso is spent, full transparency must be the norm.
We can only transform society with open eyes, that is, with informed judgment and informed determination.
Viva la Virgen!