While corruption remains a serious problem, there have been some notable developments indeed in the past year. Retired two-star Army general Carlos Garcia, a former comptroller of the Armed Forces of the Philippines, was convicted by a military court for violations of the Articles of War. The conviction bodes ill for him in the plunder case he is facing before the Sandiganbayan. Ranking public officials including those from graft-prone revenue-generating agencies were suspended or meted other forms of punishment depending on the degree of corruption – the highest number in the 16-year history of the Office of the Ombudsman. And the office got its request for a bigger budget, from P480 million to P930 million. The bulk of the amount is needed to hire more lawyers who will investigate public officials suspected of graft. Kwok also cited the increase in the rate of conviction of corrupt officials from 13 percent in 2002 to 30 percent in 2005.
Kwok lamented that the positive stories are not getting out. He is bound to be lambasted anew for saying that the government has the political will to fight corruption. The skepticism over his positive assessment is due to the political scandals last year that remain unresolved. The scandals, which include allegations of payoffs by gambling lords to presidential relatives and diversion of fertilizer funds for campaign purposes, have overshadowed whatever victories have been achieved in the battle against graft.
The gains, however, must not be overlooked even as the nation continues its search for the truth behind the scandals. Every victory in the fight against graft must be held out as a warning to the corrupt and the battle must be sustained.