How the Internet makes corruption harder

Complaining about government corruption and inefficiency is a favorite Filipino pastime. But it's also an indication of how jaded we are. Even as our country pays P50,000 for each P1,980 streetlight, we all shrug, curse our culture of corrupt governance, let out a collective sigh, and move on.

But evil prevails when good men do nothing. We have the worst airport in the world, a capital that exemplifies the worst in urban planning, and talented workers as our largest export, simply because we don't hold our elected officials and public administrators accountable. At least we don't try hard enough.

Let's say that I once bribed traffic enforcers to avoid the hassle of a confiscated license. But after I read an MMDA circular posted online, which listed all traffic violations as well as their corresponding definitions and penalties, I realized that many times I was stopped by (non-MMDA) enforcers for no reason at all.

So the next time I was flagged down, I knew it was a setup. I decided to hold my ground. Turns out that, when you insist on letting the "good guys" take your license (and not pay a bribe), they'll let you off with a warning.

They'll try scaring you with stories of how you'll have to sit through a three-day seminar, of how far the redemption center is from your home or office. But if you've really done nothing wrong, they’ll eventually return your license and let you go.

What's the point of my (hypothetical) anecdote? Information is a powerful tool against corruption. By knowing what our officials’ powers — and thus responsibilities — are, we can scrutinize their actions more. Graft and corruption become much harder under such an environment.

And there’s no better way to share information than through the Internet. It’s a cheap medium that can reach potentially millions, especially as more Filipinos go online. My website Technograph receives around 1,500 visitors daily. Monthly server maintenance costs are P1,000. If I had to support a million visitors a month, server costs would go up to just P10,000 — or around 10 times more money for accommodating over 600 times the visitors.

The Internet also makes it easier for people to share irregularities with each other. We’ve already seen Pinoys mock government representatives for fabricating pictures and passing the buck online, through popular channels like Facebook.

What if there was a website that catalogued government projects, and tracked major public expenditures? It would compile budgets from all government agencies and local government units per fiscal year, and check if what was spent equates to current market conditions.

For example, the site could see how much was spent on a construction of a rural highway, against the cost of a similar project in another country with a less corrupt reputation. This would help highlight overspending for inferior results, such as the aforementioned streetlight controversy in Cebu.

Conversely, such a site would also provide average Filipinos with a better idea of how much public projects cost. Many wonder why the Philippines is full of narrow two-lane “highways”. Lost funds from corruption aside, constructing roads requires a lot of money.

In other words, this website wouldn’t just be a watchdog. It would also help Pinoys identify which agencies and government units are actually spending their money wisely. They won’t have to wait for reports on the latest corruption scandal. The website might not be practical. You’ll need a dedicated team of researchers travelling around the Philippines to make it work.

But the idea behind it is sound: when there’s more information on government activities available for review by the public, it becomes easier for all of us to see which officials are spending our money for personal gain — or making full use of allocated resources to improve the Philippines. And the Internet is a great way to make that kind of data available.

(Image from istorya.net)