Ruffy MagbanuaTHEY are not square pegs in round holes, per se, but were frontally identified by President Rody Duterte as misfits (read: corrupt) in the bureaucracy.
The President’s recent call to rid the bureaucracy of scalawags and the corrupt was aimed at dissecting the social and economic malfunction called corruption in almost, if not all, instrumentalities of government.
The feisty President has a direct and harsh definition of corruption: it is a social evil with immediate economic effect with long-term damage on the moral fabric of the nation.
In fact, Advocates of Good Governance like lawyer Tony Soriano, the local convenor of the group, have been very vocal in espousing decent and efficient government service in all levels of the bureaucracy – both local and national.
Like drugs, President Duterte sees corruption in government as pandemic and needs surgical operation with a sense of urgency. He has already identified these regulatory bodies like the LTO, LTFRB and the BIR as the most corrupt agencies of government.
And in his own words, the purging will start from here – without delay.
His call for courtesy resignations of all presidential appointees has been in effect to include those who have graft cases filed in the Ombudsman. The words of the President are very clear: “they have to go.”
This brings us to the question: how do we curb corruption in government? Advocates in Good Governance has laid down several options in curbing corruption.
According to the group’s assessment, Singapore and Hong Kong are two of the least corrupt countries which have exceptional records of getting rid of massive corruption in the public sector.
These Asian countries have draconian laws on corruption such that they pay their bureaucrats and employees exceptionally well.
The level of political competition in these countries is extremely low allowing exceptional level of pay in the bureaucracy without too much political pressure.
Further, the need to put up a whistle blowing agency whose sole mandate to educate the citizenry on corruption is likewise suggested by the group.
Make corruption a subject or topic in basic education, carry out nationwide HIV-like campaign on the evils of corruption and set an alternative form of social justice system dedicated to corruption.
Training our children in sound morals and a sense of civic duty and service to humanity is at the root of addressing a whole range of social ills, many of which go beyond corruption.
Having looked at some of the ways in which corruption damages the social and institutional fabric of this nation, the Advocacy Group further suggested that a two-pronged strategy aimed at increasing the benefits of being honest and the costs of being corrupt must be put in place into the very fabric of the working force.
A sensible combination of reward and punishment system must be put in place to serve as the driving force of reforms. The Advocacy Group would also want to discuss two more complementary approaches in addressing corruption in government.
First, the government must create transparency and openness in public spending. The more open and transparent the process, the less opportunity it will provide for malfeasance and abuse.
In this respect, press freedom and levels of literacy will, likewise, shape in important ways in the context for reforms. With an active civil society, the culture of participation is an important ingredient to support various strategies aimed at reducing corruption.
Second, the government must apply smart technology. Just as government-induced distortions provide many opportunities for corruption, it is also the case that frequent, direct contact between government officials and citizens can open the way for illicit transactions.
One way to address this problem is to use readily available technologies to encourage more of an arms-length relationship between officials and civil society. Internet has been proven to be an effective tool to reduce corruption.
The use of online platforms to facilitate the government’s interactions with civil society and the business community is seen to effect transparency in the areas of tax collection and public procurement.
Perhaps one of the most fertile sources of corruption is associated with the purchasing activities of the state. Adequate levels of openness, competition, a level playing field for suppliers and fairly clear bidding procedures are procedures that will guarantee transparency and accountability.
In many of the measures aimed at combating corruption, the underlying philosophy is one of eliminating the opportunity for corruption by changing incentives, by closing off loopholes and eliminating misconceived rules that encourage corrupt behavior.
But an approach that will focus solely on changing the rules and the incentives, accompanied by appropriately harsh punishment for violating the rules, is likely to be far more effective if it is also supported by efforts to buttress the moral and ethical foundation of human behavior.
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