Ruffy Magbanua“The trouble with us in government is that we talk too much, act too slow, and do little.” – President-elect Rodrigo R. Duterte
WHY do government officials and employees--whether clerks, regional directors, congressmen, senators or a Malacanang appointee--seem to have embraced with impunity the culture of arrogance and abuse (read: corruption) in dealing with the people?
Whether we like it or not, my take is: absolute greed. It’s all about the unending quest for power and the urge to make money the easy way, folks.
This serious concern, raised many times over by ordinary folks like you and me could end up one of the many urgent matters to address once President-elect Rody Duterte assumes office on June 30.
At 71, Duterte should muster enough guts, physical stamina and emotional balance to hurdle this clarion call to put law and order in place as compliance to his campaign promise to the millions of Filipinos who supported him in the May 9 general elections.
On top of the promise of busting the rising criminality and the penetration of illegal drugs in almost all places, whether high or low, Duterte has to have the nerves of steel and the heart of a lion to steer his administration to where he envisions to be--a government with no biases, fear or favor.
He wants a country free of illegal drugs, where its people can sleep safe and sound.
He wants a country where every Juan and Juana can proudly raise the national flag with respect and pride.
He wants a country prosperous enough to feed the millions who are in desperation due to extreme hunger.
The rise of Duterte could perhaps be the entry of a new era of governance the people would want to happen in the next six years of his administration.
For the tough-talking mayor of Davao, it’s a do or die kind of governance.
As I see it, his first year would be crucial and maybe “bloody,” as Duterte puts it, as he confronts the country’s ills and problems head-on.
For example, the task of cleaning up the bureaucracy is definitely not a walk in the park. More so of dusting off the country’s vicious social evils: drug lords, criminals roaming in the streets, and rapists lurking for victims.
Duterte’s daring and most often punchy statements against criminality and corruption are sweet nothings to the many, but bitter to the few who glorify evil and money more than anything.
In fact, there was this lawmaker who proposed an “anti-arrogance bill” that would penalize government officials and employees who display rude and arrogant behavior in the performance of their duties as public servants.
Add to that is an “anti-name dropping law” that would also penalize private individuals who will flaunt their connection with high government officials to get out of sticky situations. It was also proposed.
But sorry folks, these proposals have failed to go viral, so to speak, because many of our lawmakers could not stomach these bills. To them, being arrogant is a “social license” worth the taking.
Under the Duterte administration, fighting corrupt practices may be a tall order, a Don Quixote against the Giant Windmill kind of struggle. But it’s a fight Duterte is challenged to the fore, a make or break kind of corrupt-busting war against the misfits in government.
Academics have said this time and again: the reason our nation struggles from the rotten governance is simply because of the lack of patriotism of people in government.
And there is no denying the fact as well that we as a people tend to be self-centered citizens, and concerned only for ourselves and our families, earnings and businesses.
In short, moral accountability to the life of the people and the nation has been sidelined in favor of the greed of the few to the frustration of the many.
E-mail: ruffy44_ph2000@yahoo.com
