ON MANY occasions, President Duterte describes how much he abhors corruption. According to the annual results produced by Berlin-based Transparency International, the Philippines’’ level of corruption has remained fairly constant since the first half of the Aquino administration.
The results of the 2018 league table put the Philippines at 99th out of 172 countries surveyed. Not particularly good. In absolute terms, the Philippines scores 38 out of 100. Again, not particularly good.
At last week’s State of the Nation Address, Duterte excoriated the Bureau of Customs (BOC). This was quickly followed by Ombudsman Samael Martires who has ordered an in-depth investigation of alleged graft and corruption at BOC. What I would like to see from the Ombudsman’s investigations are recommendations as to how BOC corruption can be reduced. The Ombudsman is constitutionally empowered to do this. Article XI Section 13(7) says that the ombudsman should:
“Determine the causes of inefficiency, red tape, mismanagement, fraud, and corruption in the Government and make recommendations for their elimination and observance of high standards of ethics and efficiency.”
In other words, the Ombudsman is meant to make it extremely difficult for the corrupt to succeed in obtaining ill-gotten gains. The danger with the BOC situation is that even if many are removed from their posts, we see the possibility of their replacements repeating the same corrupt practices.
The Ombudsman needs to make a full-blown systems review identifying corruption opportunities and eradicating these.
I have never thought much of the use of the annual Statement of Assets, Liabilities and Net Worth (SALN) as a means of identifying malpractice. Ombudsman Martires himself declared a net worth of P41.72 million for 2017 but P57.06 million for 2018. If asked to do so, I am sure that Martires could give a reasonable explanation for the 37 percent increase in one year (property revaluation, for example). But then I felt the same way about a similar increase in the declared net worth of Jed Mabilog and his wife (2013 compared to 2012).
SALN declarations should not be used to prosecute anyone. The Constitution deals with this in Article III, the Bill of Rights. In particular, Section 17 says:
“No person shall be compelled to be a witness against himself.”
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When discussing corruption at last week’s SONA, Duterte went off-script (which I welcome) and said in a low tone: “Be assertive.” He is saying, I believe, that we all have a role to play in reducing corruption.
One such example was reported last week in a national broadsheet where airport officials “found” a lone bullet in a passenger’s luggage. All corruption is about inappropriate ascendancy by the corrupt over the rest of us. This “tanim-bala” example met with articulate resistance from the intended victim. He has since reported the matter to the Department of Transportation and the Civil Aviation Authority. We hope these government instrumentalities will follow-up the case with vigor.
This is the only way we can reduce corruption.
Be assertive!/PN
