Poverty, corruption, and accountability

Yesterday, the protest rally that began at 1 p.m. in Liwasang Bonifacio in Manila was billed as“Kilos Bayan Laban sa Kahirapan, Korapsyon at Kawalang Pananagutan (People’s Action against Poverty, Corruption and Lack of Accountability). It was led by the Bagong Alyansang Makabayan (Bayan) and allied organizations.

Two other protest actions on the same issues were held (one in the morning, the other in the afternoon) by two different groups before the People Power Monument on EDSA.

All three activities sharply criticized the public misconduct of Vice President Sara Duterte in the performance of her office and demanded her ouster through impeachment, mainly on the grounds of violations of the people’s trust, corruption and non-accountability to the people.

Months ago, it came to light in December 2020, she spent nearly P200 million in just 11 days and produced dubious receipts to justify the disbursements, using fictitious names as signatories of the alleged recipients.

Government corruption has again become a hot-button issue today, a problem that everyone decries but nothing has been done to really tackle it. Even in the past, we have had leaders who could not be said to be personally corrupt, but they only tolerated, maybe even ignored, the worsening situation.

Yesterday, one of the protests at the People Power Monument was called by the Clergy and Citizens for Good Government (CCGG). Speaking for the group, former Finance undersecretrary Cielo Magno, who recently resigned after questioning the 2025 national budget approved by President Ferdinand Marcos Jr., strongly condemned corruption in the government.

 More tellingly, Magno called for accountability from the President, Vice President Duterte and the members of Congress.

Through her Facebook account, Magno posted a CCGG statement alleging that the 2025 national budget prioritizes the personal interests of corrupt politicians, notably by removing fundings from essential services like PhilHealth. This move forces citizens to continue the old practice of begging politicians to “help” them get assistance for their medical and health needs. This then results in families incurring so-called debts of gratitude, explaining their support come election time.

The CCGG also decried the reduction in the allocations for the 4Ps program, which extends a regular subsidy to poor families through the social welfare administration, with certain criteria in place to ensure against misuse. At the same time, the national budget has increased funding for financial assistance programs which are vulnerable to exploitation by politicians.

There are significant allocations for pork barrel projects, the CCGG said, which are nothing but “corruption vehicles” disguised as public works funding. This particular criticism really strikes a raw nerve.

Pursuing their analysis of the national budget, the CCGG says that it has weakened public institutions through the following ways: by cutting funds for priority infrastructure projects, reducing support for hiring teachers and educational modernization, deprioritizing public transportation and scaling back military modernization efforts.

 Top of its demands, the CCGG called for a Supreme Court ruling on the constitutionality of the 2025 national budget and the revisions therein of provisions that seek to strengthen public services, especially in education, health care and infrastructure. They also pushed for the passage of the Anti-Political Dynasty Law.

Importantly, the group urged full transparency in the process of crafting the national budget, particularly in the deliberations by the House of Representatives, the Senate and the small bicameral conference committee that mainly determines the annual budget’s final provisions for plenary approval by both chambers.

 Specifically, the CCGG pressed for the disclosure of the beneficiaries of the government’s aid programs for the poor and underprivileged, and the elimination of all confidential funds.

 Besides their recommendations on the national budget, the CCGG called for the impeachment of Vice President Sara Duterte over the alleged misuse by her office of P200 million in confidential funds, mentioned earlier. The huge sum was handed over to her by Marcos Jr. in late 2020, when they were still allies.

Further, Defense Secretary Gilberto Teodoro Jr. was asked to release the findings from an investigation by his office on funds handed out by Duterte’s office to military units assigned to secure her.

 On a broader scale, the CCGG pressed for legal actions against the Duterte family in government for alleged crimes, including extrajudicial killings tied to the former president’s “war on drugs” which claimed many thousands of victims.   They urged the Marcos Jr. administration to cooperate with the International Criminal Court’s investigation into ex-president Rodrigo Duterte’s direct actions in the drug-related killings, which could probably constitute crimes against humanity.

Lastly, the CCGG urged Filipinos to rally against corruption and announced a protest at the EDSA Shrine on Friday, Jan. 31. They declared that true unity, healing and peace are impossible without justice.

Why is the issue of accountability at the heart of the corruption problem? 

Following the ouster of the Marcos martial-law dictatorship in 1986, all the succeeding administrations, starting with president Cory Aquino, must be blamed for their failure to identify, charge and prosecute military/police officers and personnel responsible for grave and widespread human rights violations during the 14-year dictatorship.

Thus, the issue of impunity has characterized the continuing human rights violations perpetrated by the security forces under every administration without exception – with the Gloria Arroyo and Rodrigo Duterte regimes almost replicating the severity of the Marcos dictatorship record.

While there have been relatively less incidents of grave human rights violations under the current administration, there continue to be serious concerns about the way the state security forces enforce the questionable provisions of the Anti-Terrorism Act of 2020, which has unfortunately been declared constitutional by the Supreme Court.

What about the cases of corruption in high places? As previously discussed here, the Marcos Jr. administration appears committed to clearing the President’s family of all the 47 criminal and civil cases – all related to his father’s regime – filed against them in the Sandiganbayan. That’s only the tip of the iceberg.

Accountability should start at the top, shouldn’t it?