Who says the Philippines is a poor country? Well, that’s what many people thought about the country. And most of them put the blame on the former Marcos regime, which allegedly pillaged the country’s coffer into bankruptcy. While others have strong doubts about these allegations made against them, nothing much was proven in the past decades to indict even a single family member for the criminal offenses logdged against them.
Some independent economists and political observers have expressed doubts about the accusations considering that there’s a lot of factors why the country is suffering economically. Is it really the Marcos to blame for the sagging economy in the country? While others believed some of the accusations were true, others simply shrug their shoulders and just keep mum on the sensitive issue. In fact, the Presidential Commission on Good Government seemed to be locked in a battle to recover the ill-gotten wealth of the Marcoses to no avail. Why can’t the government just scrap this agency if it is found to be useless for what is supposed to do?
With the kind of politics and political system that the country has, there’s no doubt that the national economy is always vulnerable to graft and corruption. Worse is that even those public officials accused of corruption still cling to their seats like leeches. Only Commission on Elections Chair Banjamin Abalos had done for the first time in the history of the Philippines. Just think about the number of congressmen and senators that the country has and you will be astounded to know how much each of them get, legally or illegally, in disposing of their countrywide development fund (CDF)? Of course, it could run into billions when everything is all accounted for. And they would try to feign negative accusations on their personal lifestyles. The truth is that some of them are reportedly conniving with private contractors to get hefty commissions in cash or in kind, depending on their secret deals behind closed doors.
What about the local government officials, who have taken control of their constituents in the provinces and local communities? Are they not prone to corruption, too? No doubt about it. But that’s the name of the game. Worse is that the Department of Interior and Local Government is inutile to act on complaints made by ordinary citizens against local officials. If ever, it is very slow on acting on these complaints. The most they can say is for the complainants to file them with the Office of the Ombudsman. Apparently, these something wrong inside the system of governance because DILG officials are reportedly in cahoots with governors and mayors on how local projects could be undertaken. What’s frustrating is that even the Commission on Audit is helpless to stop this anomalous transactions in some government offices. Is it because auditors and COA inspectors have joined them. In fact, there’s a lot to consider why the country is going to the dogs. If the peso gets stronger now, it is not because of the flow of foreign direct investments, but the enormous amount of foreign remittances that the overseas Filipino workers send, especially with the onset of the Christmas season. Aside from this, nothing else. Unless the National Economic and Development Authority wanted to say something.
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