Easter mission

Easter 2011. We are commemorating Christ’s resurrection, but our new life as a nation is still a long way off. Our national resurrection will come only after we have gone through a national conversion, which will involve our ongoing passion-and-death that leads to a new life. And our passion-and-death at this point in our history is our dual national cross: corruption and poverty. Remember the campaign slogan of Pres. Aquino before he was elected? “Kung walang corrupt, walang mahirap!” Let us then ask ourselves: Is this a hopeless situation? In faith, the Lord keeps telling us that it is not. In fact, there are already signs that we just have to recognize and support through our own efforts and trust in the Lord.

One such sign is the Coalition Against Corruption, and a moving spirit behind this admirable effort is David Balangue, former chairman of SGV and co-founder of the Tita Cory Movement. Also in this coalition is the Transparency and Accountability Network (TAN) under Vicente Lazatin which I have previously written about in this column.

In a recent talk that Balangue gave to the Magis Deo Marriage Encounter Community, he emphasized that corruption has become a part of our culture, which I call a mentality of amorality. The “Okey, lang”  mind-set, from the practice of “lagay” on the local level all the way up to the fertilizer fund scam up there, among our leaders. To begin with, many poor people have been deprived of quality education in public schools due to corruption. Says Balangue: “Good education is the best ticket out of poverty and ignorance but continues to be a distant dream for the country because funds that are supposed to be spent for them were instead stolen by our corrupt government officials.” Moreover, many of our social and economic infrastructures like health care, housing, jobs, and others have suffered due to graft and corruption. Based on UN studies, reports Balangue, the Philippines has lost almost US $40 billion to corruption over the last 30 years. Let us support his proposals to combat corruption.

Prevention. Our youth should be educated on the subject of corruption in their respective school curricula, so that as true citizens, they would demand service and accountability from government officials. Moreover, as Balangue insists, “we need a law that would require all government units and agencies, including PagCor and the pork barrels of our politicians, to post quarterly in a prescribed government website all their expenditures in sufficient details, summaries and analysis for all Filipinos to scrutinize, examine and evaluate.” An alternative to this could be the establishment of a Department of Procurements “that shall have the sole accountability and responsibility to approve all local and national government purchases in excess of say, P1 million.”  

Detection. “Detection measures should include the public’s review of the government expenditures. A reward system should be introduced to give monetary awards to those who are able to identify and prove fraudulent purchases and disbursements.”

Investigation, Prosecution, and Conviction (or acquittal). All of this “should be time bound and resolved within two months for all cases involving amounts of P50 million or more. An enabling law should be passed to achieve this. Filipinos have short memories and letting these cases and investigations to drag on for years and decades has contributed to the corrupt getting away with their crimes.”

For the above legislations to become a reality, I agree with Balangue that we need people power, the citizens’ mass action, and most of all, the active support and even leadership of the Church, toward a corruption-free country! This will in turn bring us to social justice, especially toward our poor countrymen.

On the other hand, the commitment and dedication of our NGO’s and other similar institutions for love of the poor are a clear sign of the growing Easter spirit in our country. One such sign is the phenomenal Gawad Kalinga programs. Aside from their fulltime workers and volunteers, there are also part-time Filipino volunteers here and abroad who take time out from their busy schedules just to be able to help GK. Let me single out one such volunteer, Margo Encarnacion, and her socially-oriented husband Mino. They live in Singapore with their 3 sons, aged 15, 11, and 10 years old, and have been quite active with Gawad Kalinga in Singapore. Recently, Margo visited us here and with their three sons, went to Bantayan Island in Cebu for a week to join the GK Bayani Challenge 2011. In her own words, “it was a week of house building, school refurbishing, island greening and farming, and medical mission.” There were no less than 1,780 volunteers there, most of them young Filipinos, “a patriotic youth, proud to be of service to their country.” Her parting words to us all:

“Gawad Kalinga’s Bayani Challenge 2012 will — for the first time — be not in one but FIVE locations simultaneously: Leyte, Occidental Mindoro, Masbate, Compostela Valley and Lanao del Norte. There is a GK way to build a nation, but there are many other ways. Find yours. Find the ‘bayani’ in you to serve others and our country.”

Thank you, dear Margo, and to the many more like you. There is indeed an Easter hope for our country. Amen.