Honesty and transparency are demandable

Bencyrus Ellorin . 

HONESTY and transparency are important values the electorate should consider in voting.

It has been said honesty leads to transparency.

I searched “Honesty and Transparency” and this is one of my finds: Honesty in Webster’s is put this way: “… fairness and straightforwardness of conduct and adherence to fact.” Other dictionaries define honesty as “speaking truth in all varieties of communication, both verbal and non-verbal, being without deception.”

From this definition, fake news is dishonest. Proliferating fake news is downright dishonesty.

Fairness, straighforwardness of conduct and adherence to facts… Speaking the truth varieties of communication… without deception.

Using the above definition and elements of honesty, let us analyse the statement: “Most anti-Duterte mayor.”

Is this a fair, straightforward and adherrent to facts? No. The reality is that even if Mayor Moreno ran under the Liberal Party in 2016, President Rodrigo Duterte won decisively in Cagayan de Oro. Gusa Kapitan Marlo Tabac, a staunch supporter of the president, attests to this, and, in fact, said they were free, did not have any difficulty getting permits to use public areas for the campaign.

In fact, Mayor Moreno has declared support to the President by supporting his anti-drug war, the first Mindanao local chief executive to support in writing the declaration of Martial Law in Mindanao, among others. More importantly, Mayor Moreno joined the president’s political party PDP-Laban in 2017 and filed his candidacy for reelection in 2019 under the PDP-Laban.

Most corrupt? Wrong. Mayor Moreno has not been administratively and criminally found guilty in any of the harassment and politically motivated cases filed against him. He and all others facing suit are presumed innocent until found guilty in a fair trial.

Kawatan. Another lie. In all the cases against Mayor Moreno, there has been no allegation that he pocketed public funds. The cases for equipment rental alleges he violated procurement procedures because there was no bidding. The accusers and spin doctors of the opposition are maliciously withholding the fact that bidding is not the only method of procurement. “Shopping” is allowed in certain procurements.

In fact, no less than the Commission on Audit observed that it is incontrovertible fact that services have been rendered, services of equipment not found exceeding the prevailing rental rules, benefits enjoyed by the public , and the accomplishments duly recognized and cited.

The President wants the mayor replaced because of corruption. Hearsay. This means the information was received from other people that one cannot adequately substantiate. That is rumor.

Spreading hearsay is not fair, not straightforward and not based on facts. It is therefore dishonesty.

The Kagayanon voter is better forewarned against candidates who have founded their campaign on dishonesty.

I widened my search to see if honesty is demandable from those in public office.

The answer is yes!  How about those running for public office? The risk of having a dishonest person in public office is very high, the electorate should shun away from anyone who have shown dishonesty, much more those who lie systematically.

According to the Constitution, “Public office is a public trust. All government officials and employees must at all times be accountable to the people…”

If some candidates are incapable of telling the truth, they cannot be transparent. Governance without transparency brings back our local governance to the dark ages. The people would not know whether the stewards of city hall are doing good for the city or just being lulled by fake news.

Eventually, the victims of dishonesty are the people who deserve no less than truthful disclosure in all public transactions.

(Disclosure: The author is a former journalist. He is now into public relations and social advocacy.)