Corruption is being observed around the
world and all institutions are prone to corruption. An exchange to rush or to
haste the process, giving privileges to an individual with compensation
describes the act of corruption. In the Philippine political setting corruption
is rampantly observed, and Philippine is the one of the most corrupt country
around the world. Is corruption is really inevitable? How can we determine
corruption? There is no exact determination on what to be considered as a
corrupt action. Reducing corruption is a hard task to do; combating corruption
in the Philippines will be challengeable for the government itself and for the
people who do not know the limitations and description of a corrupt action. Corruption
is not just getting money; it also affects the future of a country and its
people. In Southeast Asia Philippines consistently rank low in Political and
Economical Risk Consultancy (PERC) and in Corruption Perception Index (CPI) for
international level. Corruption is misuse of government power and funds for
other purpose and for self-benefit. This study is a comparative research, it
illustrate the key factors to lessen or to reduce corruption in the
Philippines. Singapore is one of the leading less-corrupt country around the
world; this study will distinguish the factors that decrease the corruption in Singapore
and other developing countries that may be applicable in the Philippine
context. Do the Southeast Asian countries perform well in combating corruption
except in the Philippines, Cambodia, Vietnam, and Indonesia? The developing
countries seem to be prone in the practice of corruption. Corruption is
resulted by weak implementation of laws, impotent political will, the practice
of informal institutions and other form that invites the practice of
corruption.
The Philippine context, in every institution corruption is
observed. Poverty and political immaturity is the cause of corruption. In the
Spaniard colonization corruption is the cause of many revolutions; corruption
is a problem older than any anti-corruption institutions in the Philippines.
Corruption in the Philippines is beginning to be a custom or corruption has
become a way of life, people do not seek to redress laws for combating
corruption. In the declaration of martial law by Pres. Ferdinand Marcos in
1972, many actions by the government are not exposed to the public because of
the government controls the press. In the time of Marcos era and up to the
present administration, corruption has a retrograde effect. Many anti-corruption
institutions in the Philippines lost their credibility to fight against
corruption. These institutions are use by individuals to benefit their selves
or to please a higher leader. It is getting more severe, corruption is like a
disease the spreads to different sectors in the community. Not only in the
government corruption occurred, in private sector, in media and civil society
corruption is also enjoyed. The ratification of anti-corruption institutions
will eliminate corruption but it is a big help to lessen or to limit
corruption. Philippines scored 2.6 in Corruption Perception Index 2011 and the
Philippines is in rank 129.
In Singapore, corruption is a fact of life rather than a
way of life. The way Singaporeans think is very real, they admit that
corruption is inevitable and the only thing that they can do is to lessen the
practice of corruption. In Singapore, those found guilty of corrupt behavior
are punished accordingly regardless of their position or status in society.
Singaporeans are equally in terms of punishment in doing such crimes, it is an
indication that their government has a strong will or there are rigid in law
execution. All Southeast Asian countries admire Singapore for their rapid
development and will to fight against corruption. Singapore is at number five
less-corrupt country around the world, they score 9.2 based on Corruption
Perception Index or CPI in 2011.
See the big difference of Philippines and Singapore in
every factors of fight against corruption. What can be learned on these
empirical data? First, we must identify what is corruption, identifying the
problem would be essential fighting the problem. The Philippine norms are one
key factor that boosts the prevalence of corruption in the government and
society. The government must address the issue regarding corruption.
Fortification of laws and policies will be a big help to reduce the practice of
corruption, we cannot totally eliminate corruption and we must accept that
fact. The equal punishment to law violators and no one should be excused; like
in Singapore they have a stiff law implementation. The grassroots of corruption
is inequality. Those people in power can do whatever they want to bribe an
anti-corruption institution to hide their wrong deeds, and those in authority
can extort money by use of power especially the concept of “police power”.
Secondly, we must learn from the past. Learning from the past and making things
better will be an essential factor to develop our maturity, attaining maturity
is a development. Filipinos must participate or can show their grievances for a
faster solution. Laws must be obeyed at all times, and the strong
implementation of Code of Conduct and Ethical Standards for public officials. We
must know what are the things that we want and pursue it. We don’t have any
problem in the structure of our government, the problem lies into the culture
of the people. Technically, Philippine problem lies on individual deeds, for
example, a boy stealing money from the wallet of his mother. This is
corruption, and our culture tolerating it. It is not the issue of how much or
how many but corruption is the issue of stealing or getting what is not yours.
We do not have a crystal clear concept of corruption, is the example above is a
form of corruption? If yes, then a boy must be punished by the law. Corruption
does not only occur in the government, corruption is everywhere. In the
Philippine setting corruption is a way of life, doing wrong is a way of life.
In mid-19th century Philippine was the leader in
economic is Asia, at this time Philippine is always at the last in good things
and leading in doing bad. How the Philippine acquired this curse? It is the
result of multiple social distortion and colonization. Filipinos do not know
who they are, it is a long process of development and it is called maturity.
Combating corruption in the Philippines is very hard to fulfill, the strong
will of the present administration to fight corruption is a long journey to
have a good result. It is not an instant process; it will require many years to
attain. We must educate all our people to be conscious on this idea, for us to
be able to know what’s for us and what’s not. The problems of our corruptions
are inevitable and it is older than any existing leaders in our time. We are
political immature, hence our political system full of corruption. To end
corruption is too impossible we are a number one client of informal political
norms and we have a profound recognition of these traditions that affects the
effective governance of our government. Majority of our countrymen are
unfamiliar with the righteous and just leadership, they thought that corruption
is part of public service. The practice of corruption is rampantly express by
the national and local officials of our government, and maybe it is their
reward for themselves for serving the public. Politician now a days are also businessman,
so they tend to corrupt after winning the election. Corruption in the
Philippines is obviously seen and people cannot determine if an action is a
practice of corruption. That is the main problem of our society, people are not
participating regarding the issue of corruption or they have no idea what can
they do to combat corruption. The best example is the impeachment of C.J.
Renato Corona; some people probably don’t know what the sole purpose of
impeachment it is because the government is giving limited information to the
public. That is another form of corruption, lack of transparency.
It is a big debate on how can we fight corruption, some
suggest an overhaul process or charter change and other requires only political
maturity. It is a big question on how to solve corruption, and probably it
takes hundreds of years to develop an institution that can fight against
corruption. It is the call of duty for the people to demand redress to at least
reduce corruption. It is simply chained to every negative factor of the
society, base on the Transparency International, the occurrence of corruption
is on the depress countries, with social conflicts and where poverty resides.
It is like a reciprocal effect, corruption may be the cause of poverty and
poverty may be cause of corruption.
Corruption is inevitable, eliminating corruption is very
impossible to attain. The ignorance of the people invites clever individuals to
take advantage. Even in developed countries like in Singapore corruptions
exist. The right thing to do is to accept the fact that corruptions exist and
it is permanent to every institution around the world. What can the Philippines
learned in other less-corrupt countries? A gradual solution for every problem
of corruption, just do not haste every opportunity. People must always take
their part demanding for the redress of the government. Only the people can
make the government accountable, by the use of a mature thinking. Creating an
anti-corruption institution and programs can show significant and rapid results
to lessen corruption. The people must know what are the forms of corruption for
them to be able to show that they know who is corrupt and who is not. The
freedom of information must be ratified, and all democratic institution in the
Philippines shall be guided by a strong leadership. Corruption is like a ball of snow,
once it's set a rolling it must increase. So it must be stop in the first drop,
preventing is always the better solution. Corruption is the greatest spoiler of
the society and government officials. The concept of money and power makes
corruption inevitable, eliminate money and power will eliminate corruption.
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