‘Stealing from the World Bank, in effect, is
stealing from practically all members of the UN.’
It is probably naïve to suppose
that Gloria Arroyo, this late in the day, will have an epiphany and start
looking with all seriousness and sincerity into the latest accusation of
thievery against her husband. Her standard reaction to charges of wrongdoing is
to brazen it out, accusing critics of muckraking purely to gain cheap political
points.
This has been so from the start (remember Mike’s undeclared
stash running to hundreds of millions in some local banks?). She’ll brazen it
out to the finish, which hopefully would be not long soon. Unless, of course,
she succeeds in mangling the Constitution.
The latest case of large-scale corruption linking her
husband, however, involves the World Bank, a multilateral institution under the
United Nations umbrella. While the United States and other developed countries
hold the largest subscriptions to the capital of the World Bank, all members of
the concert of nations are co-owners of the institution.
Stealing from the World Bank, in effect, is stealing from
practically all members of the UN. While Gloria and Mike have the hide of
elephants and could not care less about the disgrace they have brought upon
themselves, the Republic and its people continue to value their good name. The
Philippines is a proud founding member of the UN. It was active in the efforts
to set up multilateral institutions under the aegis of the UN that would help
rebuild the post-war world – the International Bank of Reconstruction and
Development as the World Bank is formally known, among them.
And the new-born Republic’s support for the World Bank has
been rewarded many times over. After Europe was back on itS feet, the World Bank
shifted its focus into helping newly independent UN members build infrastructure
necessary for their development. The Philippines from the 1950s until the 1970s
was among the largest recipients, if not the largest recipient, of World Bank
assistance in this part of the world. Think roads, bridges, airports and
seaports. The key ones were funded by the World Bank. The electrification of the
whole country was also largely bankrolled by the World Bank.
Gloria would now dismiss the corruption reported by the World
Bank and the uproar it has generated as part of politicking?
Sen. Mar Roxas has called for the appointment of an
independent special prosecutor to investigate the anomalies. While we do not
expect Gloria to do such a thing, our sentiments are with Roxas when he said:
