Editorial - Wolves in sheep's clothing

An American lawyer for an independent, non-profit organization in the United States that exposes and investigates government corruption in that country has urged Filipinos to “promote the culture of whistleblowing” in the Philippines during a workshop in Cebu City.

 The American lawyer was obviously not well-informed about the subject he was talking about, at least as far as it applies to the Philippine setting, otherwise he would not have asked Filipinos to “promote the culture of whistleblowing.”

 The truth of the matter is, whistleblowing is already a thriving cottage industry in RP. But for the information of the American lawyer, in case he is still around, whistleblowing in the Philippines should not be taken in the same context as it is undertaken in his country.

 Perhaps in his country, whistleblowing is undertaken by people genuinely aggrieved by shenanigans in government, people with clean hands in possession of dirty inside information that they cannot keep anymore and thus force them to surface and expose the filth.

 It is completely different in the Philippines, where whistleblowers are usually involved in the shenanigans themselves but got screwed along the way or wanted to be in on the pie but got shoved out of the way.

 Either way, these people are often just as guilty as those they now seek to expose and incriminate and, other than their possible worth as witnesses, should not be accorded the same honor and respect that other countries like the United States regard real whistleblowers.

 Had that American lawyer who came to Cebu known the real background stories behind the so-called whistleblowers who have surfaced, he probably would not have made the mistake of urging Cebuanos to “promote the culture of whistleblowing” in the Philippines.

 If that American lawyer gets another opportunity to lecture about whistleblowing, it may serve him in good stead to do a little background checking first, so he will not be asking his audience to emulate those who, in reality, could be nothing more than wolves in sheep’s clothing.