PDAF scam and fallouts

The pork barrel scam which has cost the nation a staggering 10 billion pesos has shaken the faith of the average Filipino in the integrity and trustworthiness of their leaders particularly those in the legislature. And since there's a perceived political color in handling the disciplinary processes affecting the alleged culprits, the executive branch too, particularly the President, suffers from the same loss of faith. What will be the effect of such erosion of trust and confidence on the country's socio-economic development?

That effect has actually been felt all these years because all these years corruption has held us hostage. And is it not a fact that in terms of progress and prosperity we are being left behind by our Asian neighbors? Time was when we were second only to Japan in socio-economic status. But today where are we?

Even with an impressive GDP this country cannot boast that it has already attained the status of a newly industrialized nation. Nor can it claim that its people now enjoy a better quality of life. On the country, poverty is becoming a way of life to most Filipinos, a situation which has driven hundreds of thousands to other countries in search of livelihood. And all these are happening because of corruption.

Before the PDAF anomaly, the stigma of corruption seemed to exist only in the subconscious mind of most people. But when the Napoles fiasco exploded with all its shocking catalogue of evidence the reality of this bureaucratic malfunction has become an undeniable happening.

No wonder we have bogged down in our efforts to make the life of the average Filipino better. No wonder our democratic way of life is not functioning as it should. We are theoretically free to choose our leaders, but the same leaders have syndicated themselves into a gang of unscrupulous people who are stealing the scant resources of this nation. That's why we have never moved forward. That's why millions can't have decent meals a day.

 Now we have collard the suspects. Or have we? Is our justice system competent enough to dispense justice with dispatch? Assuming that it is and the culprits are placed behind bars; will this be enough to cleanse the system? What about the report that more than half of the incumbent senators and more than a hundred congressmen have also dipped their dirty hands into the cookie jar of the pork funds? Shall these be left to their own merry ways enjoying their bounty of stolen wealth?

Charges may be filed against these bureaucrats, but the wheel of justice moves at turtle-pace in this country and many of them could be left untouched. Many of them too are untouchables" as far as Malacañang is concerned because they belong to its political country club. Yet even those who belong to other groups may escape prosecution because two years from now the new president may have a different priority. Moreover, these alleged culprits with the millions they have stashed will likely still make it in the 2016 election, hence they can take shelter under the Aguinaldo doctrine.

Election or reelection-this seems to be the reason why senators or congressmen fatten their bank accounts with dirty money. Without money only a half-wit would aspire to a seat in the legislature. Without money how would they be able to draw people to their political watershed?

Here's an example. Sometime ago, a friend of mine ran for a seat in the sangguninag bayan of his city. Being idealistic he vowed never to use money to advance his candidacy. So to those who came to him asking for medicine for a sick family member he would say, "Try the DSWD." And to those who asked him for donations he would remark, "Go, see the mayor". On election day, when the votes were tallied, where do you think he landed? At the bottom of the list of course,

Disheartened with legislators and bureaucrats who lined their pockets with people's money? Be disheartened first with the culture of crass materialism and greed that has afflicted many of us mainstream Filipinos in this, ironically, Christian archipelago.