On greed, apathy,
and corruption

Speaking during the 22nd anniversary of the Edsa Revolution last Friday at the Libingan Ng Mga Bayani, former President Fidel Ramos said, “The continuing greed, apathy, and corruption we brought down during those years are once again making themselves felt.”

He spoke in the presence of the President and the Cabinet.

I maintain the President must not step down. Otherwise, we will not be able to correct all these faster.

That is why, on this anniversary, let our people fervently pray for the President to be gifted with the Divine Guidance and endowed with the Divine Wisdom to heal the country and steer it over turbulent waters towards a desired port. All is not lost yet.

We pray she will also be given the Divine Discernment to know the true feelings of her people, an empathy or the ability to put oneself in the shoe of others.

I am happy to read she admitted that the ZTE-NBN deal was flawed.

* * *

We agree and believe, the President has done much for the country. That is what her people are projecting to the public.

Julius Caesar did much for Rome but as a dictator he was stabbed by Brutus. He is better with a few stabbers. Jose de Venecia was lustily applauded after his speech. Then after an hour, when a votation for his ouster was called, 173 Congressmen stabbed him on the back.

What did Shakespeare say of Julius Caesar? “The evil that men do lives after them. The good is oft-interred with their bones.” People do not remember Julius Caesar made Rome the center of the world. They remember he was stabbed as a dictator.

GMA should not be naïve. Ferdinand Marcos has done more than what other Presidents did for the country. But those good ones were interred with his bones. People remember the money he stole.

Indonesia’s Suharto saved Indonesia from political and economic collapse. But because he stole the people’s money, he is ranked No. 1 corrupt among the chiefs of state all over the world. Marcos is No. 2 and Joseph Estrada is No. 10.

GMA must not push Estrada out of the list.

* * *

Why do greed, apathy and corruption continue to hound the country despite two People’s Power?

No finger-pointing. The fault is with the people. And we can even include the Church and media. After the Revolutions there were no follow up. That’s one of the greatest crimes, apathy.

People stealing money left and right. We tolerated them. We did not punish them. So they believed they can do it again and again. We even lionize some of them.

* * *

When Cory Aquino became President, her mother-in-law I remember recommended a relative from Tarlac to head the National Irrigation Administration. The fellow hired a PR man and spent many millions. When questioned, he left for abroad. People did not raise a howl and even the President didn’t bother, probably out of respect for her mother-in-law.

That’s apathy!

When Fidel Ramos became President, there was the energy crisis. Ramos hired Independent Power Producers (IPP) to solve the problems. Many said, many contracts were onerous and suspected a big anomaly.

The media and the Church didn’t bother. There should have been a thorough investigation because it raised too much the energy cost.

Apathy! How right President Ramos is!

* * *

Joseph Estrada also made many millions that led to his ouster and eventually conviction by the Sandiganbayan. It’s because there was a Chavit Singson who blew the whistle.

But Chavit did it not only because of love of country but more so because Estrada was taking away the power from him to collect gambling funds in the north.

Two entities are important here, the Church and media. The most media can do is make noise. The Church has the clout. Let us salute whistle blowers. And media people who make exposés.

Have we asked our Congressmen for a report on where the pork barrel money went? Were the projects not scandalously overpriced? Let the Commission on Audit check.

Have we asked our local officials for the details of where the budget went? Were their purchases not scandalously overpriced also? Was there no payroll padding?

Did we as a people file cases with the Ombudsman? Is the Ombudsman not corrupt also? The Church and media must know.

These are our thoughts on this 22nd anniversary of Edsa.

* * *

Tomorrow morning the former West Negros College will launch its conversion into a University. Cheers to West Negros. Cheers to Dr. Suzette A. Agustin, University President! The history of WNU is a story of struggles of its founding fathers led by the late Leodegario Agustin Sr. and most important the leadership, the foresight, and the managerial skill of Suzette Agustin.

WNU competed against religious-run schools – La Salle, UNO-R, San Agustin, and LCC – which are not for profit and enjoy some tax privileges. How Suzette Agustin did it is very commendable.

Its examinee in nursing placed 5th all over the country last week. WNU is out to prove something.*

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