Editorial - Avoiding an investigation

If you have nothing to hide, you have nothing to fear. This should be kept in mind by the rank and file of the Bureau of Customs, one of the first government agencies to be covered by the lifestyle checks ordered by President Arroyo.

The selection of the bureau for the lifestyle checks was not whimsical. In any survey on corruption, the Bureau of Customs consistently slugs it out with the Bureau of Internal Revenue and the Department of Public Works and Highways for the stop slot. A career in either the BIR or Customs is regarded as a sure path to wealth. In practically every administration, there is a scandal related to smuggling, which cannot be possible without the connivance of Customs personnel.

If Customs officials are clean, they should lead by example and announce their willingness to undergo lifestyle checks. Instead what do we get? Customs Commissioner Antonio Bernardo and four of his deputies offered to quit yesterday, while Customs employees staged an emotional rally supporting the officials and denouncing the lifestyle checks as an imposition of the International Monetary Fund and the World Bank.

You probably would become emotional, too, if your lifestyle and the livelihood that supports it are at stake. If the Customs employees’ complaints about the IMF-World Bank are true, this will be one of the rare times when the nation will appreciate an imposition of the lending institutions.

The story going around is that certain Customs officials are wondering why they have been included in a list of those who will undergo lifestyle checks while others who are living it up and are widely known in the bureau to be corrupt have been left out. There could be some basis for this. Malacañang, if it wants a credible campaign against graft, should be an equal opportunity prosecutor or ha-rasser of the corrupt. Sacred cows in the bureau will only be suspected of enjoying the protection of Malacañang.

Whether or not there is basis for the Customs employees’ complaint, however, the anti-corruption campaign has to start somewhere. Resignations – even courtesy resignations to protest the lifestyle checks – are seen in this case not as a manifestation of delicadeza but iwas pusoy, an effort to evade and stymie an investigation. Malacañang is right in rejecting the proffered resignations. These can be accepted later – if any of the officials flunk the lifestyle check.