Zoilo Dejaresco III l September 4, 2024 l Business Mirror
Corruption and political dynasties were tagged by the reformist group named ANIM (Alyansa ng Nagkakaisang Mamayan)- composed of six sectors – that was launched at the historic Club Filipino recently as two of the most pervading sources of the nation’s woes. (The third one cited was “electoral fraud”).
Despite its robust natural resources and the so-called high GDP (Gross Domestic Product) RP growth rates, it still has one of the lowest per capita incomes and the worst disparity between the “haves and the have-nots” within the ASEAN. RP’s $3,859 per capita income as of 2023, per World Bank statistics, is a poor 7th among 10 ASEAN nations.
The group proponents averred that action must be taken against these ills for the “survival of the nation.”
Former deputy Ombudsman Cyril Ramos once said that that least 20% of the national budget goes into the pockets of corrupt government officials and their private sector collaborators. Or theoretically P1.153 trillion of the 2024 budget of P5.678 trillion, a staggering amount. Baguio City Mayor Benjie Magalong, of the Mayors for Good Governance, who insisted he is not running for higher office, confirms official corruption has worsened from Cory’s time of 10% to 25-40% today going to public sector grafters. In the meantime, our national debt had grown from a pre-pandemic level of P5.7 trillion to a projected staggering P17- trillion by next year.
The mayors’ group is just a small step since only about 200 of the over 1,000 mayors in the country signed up for the reformist group- the rest perhaps forthright enough to implicitly say they cannot preach against what they are doing.
Magalong computed why sometimes, the total project value left after all the crooked deals and administrative slippages, is only 15-30% of the total project cost, can you imagine that? He itemizes (30%) politician’s (7%) VAT, (1%) inspection fees, (12%) agency share, BA Collection (2%), and contingency (3%) as leaks- leaving 55%. After deducting the 45% contractor margins, only 15-30% is left.
Greedy politicians, he says, also pose as suppliers or contractors themselves (under the guise of friends and kin) and, therefore, corner 60% of the project. Would you still wonder why our infrastructure is one of the worst, our education system in the pits, and 16% of Filipinos still live below the poverty line?
The former major general of the PNP also lamented the fact that corruption leakages in the budget contribute to the rise in the national budget from P15.9 trillion before the pandemic to about an estimated P17 trillion next year- a burden to be paid by the present and future generations.
Caritas (the social arm of the CBCP) president Bishop Colin Bagaforo, at the same launch, slammed that people who “make use of their power for personal gain are robbing the people not just of resources, but also of their dignity and future.”
In the 1987 Constitution (or 37 years ago), the Constitution mandated the prohibition of political dynasties to be enabled by a law. To this date, no such anti-dynasty bill has been filed. And why? Atty. Alexander Lacson, book author, and civil society leader said that based on the Ateneo de Manila Study, 73.1 percent of the country’s congressmen belong to political dynasties- one cannot expect them to legislate against their own interests. The Senate has not been an exception.
The Ateneo Study also bared that 78% of provincial officials and 56.2% of cities and town mayors emanated from political dynastic classes. (Good dynasties should not feel alluded to here).
But the bad dynasties (in the majority) are the “biggest obstacles to progress”, per Lacson. He said they are responsible for poor infrastructure, corrupting Comelec officials, LGUs, judges, and voters, and even sometimes trying to maliciously influence the clergy (those vulnerable) with their tainted donations.
In his opinion, Bishop Bagaforo believes that once an anti-dynasty bill is passed, “this will stop 50% of the corruption that we face today”.
A group of UP lawyers recently petitioned the Supreme Court to press Congress to pass a bill mandated in the 1987 constitution against dynasties- but have been simultaneously opposed by some congressmen. In an act of redemption that might erase all his comical failings, Senator Robinhood Padilla has filed a senate bill for this purpose. Whether this will gain traction is another matter.
Lacson said it was time to use the People’s Initiative to go for the anti-dynasty law- requiring only 3% of the voters per district and 10% nationwide to pass the law. He believes this can be done with the backing of all the churches, lawyers, conscientized citizenry and even losing candidates who lost due to the presence of political dynasties. It’s people power at its best, Lacson said.
The Cry of ANIM in Club Filipino will have a herculean job ahead in finding out if their dissection of the core problems of the nation resonates with the feelings of the common man. Only then can it have the critical force and moral ascendancy to marshal a united front for genuine, long-lasting reforms here.
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Bingo Dejaresco, a former banker, is a financial consultant, media practitioner, and author. He is a Life and Media Affairs Committee member of FINEX. His views here, however, are personal and do not necessarily reflect those of FINEX. You may email him at dejarescobingo@yahoo.com. Photo from Pinterest.