Top-to-bottom corruption

Contractors, investors and even those of the carpet-bagging variety complain that in this country, palms outstretched for their share of the grease, never end. They admit that there is corruption in other countries in Southeast Asia, perhaps with the singular exception of Singapore. But in these countries, they claim, once you’ve paid the cabinet minister or the agency head, the general or the governor, you proceed with your project unmolested.

Here in these islands of woe, you have to talk to everybody, and you have to grease everybody’s palms. There’s the agency you deal with, and don’t forget the COA, and even DBM to facilitate the release of funds, and the DENR for the coveted ECC. Then there’s the governor, and the mayor, and oh, God, small tokens for each councilor. All these done, you proceed, until one day you wake up to the fact that a case has been filed in court by the losing bidder or some other claimant dispossessed of his greed by your contract. So you have to pay the judge, and perhaps a justice or two. See, it never ends!

Mayor Paulino Emano of Tagoloan told GMA in front of witnesses, he says, that Hanjin officials tried to bribe him with a 400 million peso contract, just so he would sign their mayor’s permit. He refused, he claims, because the Korean company still had to secure the mandatory environmental clearances to proceed with their ship repair and dry-docking facility.

What did GMA do? Why, the same way she reacted to Romulo Neri’s confession about 200 million pesos from Benjamin Abalos last year. "A, basta! I want the project to proceed", or words to that effect, whether in Cebuano or Tagalog or English. Certainly not Spanish, because the Emanos are of Chinese origin, and GMA speaks no Fukien. Perhaps all she knows is "zhe-zhe" when in front of the ZTE officials.

My spies in the twin towns of Tagoloan and Villanueva and nearby Cagayan de Oro tell me this story: The Emanos and the Uys used to partner in various firms, which include construction and allied services. Just like almost every mayor or governor or congressman in this benighted land. Since local government officials have the power over their IRA, they make certain that the supply and construction contracts are "bidded out" to their own controlled companies. Neat, eh?

Now you hit the jackpot when a big investor takes fancy on your town or city or province. Whether it’s a mining firm out to extract gold or nickel or chromium or whatever, they have to reckon with your permit. Some make it an "across the table" transaction – how much in pesos, straight out. Some do it "around the table". They get sub-contracts, for the supply of gravel and sand, or petroleum (yes, mayors own gas stations too), even canteen services, would you believe. Honest work nga naman, giving "value for money".

That seems to be the crux of Hanjin’s problems. They brought the same contractors they used in Subic, "mga langyaw" (foreigners), dili inato, when the powers-that-be have their own contractors and supply firms. So when the going got rough for Hanjin, they offered a token, but the token wasn’t enough. Besides the Emanos and the Uys have broken up with each other due to politics, so how does Hanjin divide the pie?

But when Mayor Emano confessed to his president, what did she say? Wala akong pakialam, basta pirmahan mo ang permit, or words to that effect.

This is the president whose morals pass the scrutiny of Cardinals Rosales and Vidal, and the lord bishops of this benighted land. After all, sinners confess to them, and they cannot break the seal of confession, ne c’est pas?

In any case, the PNP director, one Jefferson Soriano, has pronounced everybody innocent. Much ado over nothing – corruption lang naman ‘yun e. He was ordered by Ronnie the Tree to quickly investigate, and quickly make sure no beans spill out.

Now wonder no more why corruption is endemic. Wonder no longer why Transparency International and PERC and even those "friendly" Americans are saying ours is among the world’s most corrupt, and in Asia, the most.

Wonder neither why more and more sectors have lost faith in our democratic institutions. We keep electing the same set of corrupt people anyway, from president to senator to congressman to governor to mayor, and they appoint corrupt justices and judges, cabinet secretaries and agency heads, military generals and police generals, city administrators and whatever else. And their potential substitutes, from vice-president to vice-mayor, are all just waiting for their turn at the well of corruption.

The congressman gets as high as 40 percent of his pork barrel allocation, so the road projects built in his district need no Cyclone Nargis, just a small flood, to wash off. The mayor and the governor use their IRA for the least of priorities, and when they build, say a hospital, expect the equipment to be overpriced at least double their actual cost. The appointed head of an agency, even a regional director of a "juicy" department, dreams of being a congressman or city mayor when he retires. So he makes hay so he can buy votes to ensure fulfillment of his dream, just like the mayor and the governor and the congressman. The cabinet member needs hundreds of millions to buy television time for the commercials he will need to become senator, como Mar Roxas, or Manny Villar or well, pobrecitos Mike Defensor y Butch Pichay (The latest buzz from Malacañang is that a group of cronies and senior cabinet members got so shocked at the news that the latter would soon be customs commissioner, and dissuaded la presidenta otherwise. That ought to be good news, until you learn what he wants in its stead.) And the president and her family want to rule forever and ever, and if that could not be done, then at least retire in grand style, up to the grandchildren of Mikaela. Top to bottom corruption.

So more and more are saying it’s time for a moral cleansing. There is no hope in this kind of benighted democracy, where elections are bought and politics is all a matter of transaction – everything at the right price.

Jail the biggest crooks first. And no pardon or clemency when judgment is made. Let the laws take its course, with absolutely no exceptions. Abolish the hopelessly corrupt electoral system and create a new electoral system and body. Cleanse the judiciary of all its corrupt incompetents. Revise a Constitution that is both ambiguous and over-arching. Strike fear into the hearts of every government official or functionary, from top to bottom, so that corruption stops becoming a way of life.

They reason that whoever wins in 2010, granting that he or she is honest and sincere, will have to compromise with a system that is totally rotten to the core, from top to bottom and all around.

And with a proven failure, a proven liar, a proven cheat and a proven thief at the helm of today’s leadership, they warn, with several failed attempts to impeach her or remove her just making her stronger and more cocksure, who’s to ensure she and her cohorts would fade quietly into the night after the constitutional term is over?

Already whispers about town point to a family being the true beneficial owners of the Transco that was recently privatized with much controversy. That’s the transmission grid for all our electric power. Now the same whispers say it’s not government that’s after Meralco, but the same family, whose nominees in the electric distribution giant’s board include two ex-bankers close to a lady who is extremely close to the family, this lady who wanted military troopers to shoot Trillanes and Lim as they marched months back towards the Peninsula. (One of these ex-bankers was given a right fist smack into his face by another retired banker at a posh seaside villa in Batangas years back.)

So, out of political power and into electric power? What power they will hold over our wretched lives even when they are out of power!