Stamp Out Corruption at Its Root

While the brouhaha brought on by the Arroyo arrest drama continues, it will be well for us if we stopped for a while and pulled back a little to see the big picture in all this. While it is true that Malacanang is currently focused on former President Gloria Arroyo who has been charged with electoral sabotage, she is but a part of the grand whole, that is, an entire system of corruption that has allowed her and her ilk to take the entire country down the road of decay and disarray. After all, Arroyo did not invent cheating at the polls - it was there long before she came to power, and if we are not careful, it can be still part of our collective lives long after she is gone.

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One of the biggest mistakes our people have made in the years after the 1986 People Power uprising was the continued dependence on personalities to lead us instead of putting up a cohesive system that would guide us no matter who is at the helm. Each president that has arisen since martial law has made a sort of cult around himself and herself, such that their respective administrations had risen or fallen on their strenghts alone. This has been especially true of Presidents Joseph Estrada and Gloria Arroyo, who ruled with own brand of iron fists that ultimately led to heir downfall. With personalities playing too strong a role in politics , it was inevitable that the democratic system itself would become weakened - too weakened to respond when it is abused.

It is thus incumbent upon the current president to disabuse the minds of the people that he and he alone holds the answer to every problem we are facing. To his credit he has done that, but he must be careful also to see to it that the system is strenghened and not just used to prosecute past sins. We understand President Aquino's fervor in running after Mrs. Arroyo; after all, that is a campaign promise that he intends to keep. But if all he does is drive his predecessor to prison, then he shall have missed out on the chance, to institute real change in Filipino politics and society. Corruption is not a one-man or one-woman operation, and singling out specific individuals can only go so far. What government must do is run after the core of problem and stamp it out at the very root. Otherwise we will be doomed to live the same spectacle we are currently experiencing over and over again.

 

(Today's - December 8, 2011 Editorial "Mindanao Daily Mirror" published also here with friendly permission of my publisher and Editor-in-Chief "Tita" Marietta Siongco).

Why Is The Search For Peace So Difficult?

How can peace be elusive as its is seemingly now when all you hear these days are clarion calls for stable peace down to dawn in Mindanao? Towards the end of Ramadan there pervades an aura of reconciliatory vibes and forgiveness. The yearning for peace is felt from east to west and from north to south. Despite all these we ask in desperation, "Why is the search of peace such a difficult task?"

If a cease fire agreement can be sustained, then why cannot a permanent truce be attained? What does it take for protagonists to yield to the deafening call of the overwhelming majority for the forces to lay down heir arms and silenced these forever? There is so much land to share, so much resources to develop, the seas are so rich with a cornucopia of marine wealth. But the opportunity to make these resources productive is lost in the futile struggle for an independent state that stirs apprehension among those who abhors it. That is why the partnerships and joint ventures among Filipinino Muslims, Lumads and Christians is so extremely difficult to attain because that struggle comes in the way to reconciliation, trust, unity and peace.

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When can we talk and talk and laugh and share our sorrows and joys without (?) having to ask what our religious faiths are, our ranks and station in life like children who harbor no hatred but only genuine friendship and love?

With friendly permission from my publisher of Mindanao Daily Mirror, Marietta Siongco, posted again on this website.

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