September 19, 2025 l The Manila Times
Revelations of fund misuse in the country’s flood control projects have badly shaken public trust, exposing massive corruption among legislators, government agencies and contractors.
Bloated budgets and ghost projects are more than evidence of weak governance; they uncover a deeper disregard for public welfare.
When officials can turn away from families displaced by floods or from neighborhoods left unsafe by shoddy work, the offense goes beyond stolen funds — it shows an inability to picture someone else’s pain.
Research on anti-corruption points out that when people are caught in moments of self-interest, their sense of empathy narrows, making it easier to excuse wrongdoing. That gap helps explain how even decent intentions can collapse once temptation rises and checks are missing.
If we want a future where public service is driven by integrity, we have to plant the seeds much earlier than when someone runs for office.
Denmark, a country rated as one of the lowest in the Corruption Perceptions Index from Transparency International, offers a powerful example. For more than two decades, Danish schools have included empathy lessons as part of their core curriculum.
From the first years of school, Danish children join guided activities that train them to listen closely, grasp what others feel and settle disputes with respect. They learn to see situations from different points of view, to speak about their own emotions and to care about the impact of their actions.
These classes are not treated as optional or a side project. Teachers regard these lessons as central to learning — on the same level as reading or arithmetic — because they see empathy not as a gift for a few, but as a skill that grows stronger with practice.
Helping children learn empathy is not about being sentimental. It’s about building the habit of stopping to think how one’s choices touch other lives.
When that practice becomes routine, the pause turns into second nature. As they grow up, these kids are less inclined to ignore someone’s pain or to cause harm.
Denmark’s track record shows that this kind of training cuts down on bullying and strengthens social trust. It proves that a community can consciously foster a culture where caring for others is the norm rather than the exception.
Daily lessons
Picture Filipino classrooms taking on this challenge. Instead of postponing conversations about values until the upper grades, teachers can start early with simple daily lessons: offering help to a classmate in need; picturing what a character in a story might be feeling; or seeing how a few words can either comfort or hurt.
Gradually, these small and consistent efforts can shape a society that puts shared well-being ahead of self-interest. Corruption will not disappear right away, yet as time passes, leaders raised with these habits would be less likely to take bribes or abuse their position.
Empathy doesn’t take the place of rules; it helps people follow them because they grasp why those rules matter.
I often weigh the slow, deliberate effort of teaching empathy against the swift harm caused by a single corrupt contract. One shady deal can ruin a community’s trust for years.
Yet a classroom that models understanding, every day, builds citizens who can resist that temptation. Children who learn to put themselves in another’s shoes may become adults who design policies that protect the vulnerable instead of exploiting them.
They may hesitate before taking advantage of a system because they have practiced, since childhood, seeing the faces behind the numbers.
Personal side
There is also a personal side to this. We often talk about corruption like it’s a distant problem, but empathy training reminds each of us to notice our own choices. Do we cut corners when no one is watching? Do we justify small acts of selfishness because “everyone does it”?
Learning empathy is not just for kids. When adults practice it — listening before judging, picturing the real lives behind policies — we create a culture where corrupt behavior feels out of place.
Denmark’s example shows that empathy can be taught when teachers, parents and communities commit to it. Children learn through open conversations, see compassion modelled at home and grow up in neighborhoods that reward cooperation over cutthroat competition.
The Philippines has its own tradition of bayanihan — neighbors uniting in times of need. Anchoring empathy lessons on that heritage could give the effort a distinctly Filipino character.
It would remind young people that a community’s real strength lies in knowing and caring for one another.
We need to raise children who have been trained, day after day, to care.
***The views expressed herein are his own and do not necessarily reflect the opinion of his office as well as FINEX. For comments, email rey.lugtu@hungryworkhorse.com. Photo is from Pinterest.