Overboard

Whoever it was who first described the crackdown on the nightlife of policemen and other public officials as Talibanism in a new form had a bit of inspiration in him.

He was running against the currently fashionable. He was courting the risk of being crucified by the blaring moralists, of being run over the coals by the flaming feminists and of inviting the ire of those who think the culture of corruption may be solved by issuing out chastity belts.

When Puritans break out of their quarters in a frenzy, burning witches at the stake, it always safer to conform. Witch-hunts have the dynamism of an epidemic. In search of mythical victims, they mow down all who dissent, making them the victims in afterthought.

The current campaign does exhibit the vestiges of Talibanism in a new form.

At any point that the campaign against corruption becomes a moral rather than a scientific question, it is in danger of falling through the crack. It becomes an exercise in witch-hunting rather than sustainable and effective renovation.

I grew up with a generation that, out of our own stupidity, tried to mimic Mao’s Red Guards. I have since then grown suspicious of grim and determined people who think humanity’s complex problems may be solved by maintaining a constant scowl.

The Red Guards, we will remember, went on a rampage they called a "cultural revolution" – an orgy of destruction that was in actuality carefully manipulated by an incompetent and therefore fanatical faction around the aging Chinese revolutionary.

The Red Guards unleashed great cruelty on their own society. They persecuted anyone for every imaginable reason. They tortured "Confucianists" and "capitalist-roaders". They burned books and priceless relics. They junked the merit system in universities and threw old professors over the ledge.

While they thought they were unlearning old ways, they were actually dis-learning. They produced chaos but not wisdom. In place of the science and technology they rejected, they evolved a fanatical culture that bred stupidity or what one analysts of that period called "know-nothingism."

What the Red Guards did not realize was that Mao Tse-tung, around whom a personality cult was built, had actually stepped into the shoes of the feudal emperors. The imperial system was restored while the children of a misshapen revolution lit bonfires in the streets.

The thought struck me last weekend, when, on a provincial sortie, we chanced upon an incredible piece of technology called the Magic Mike. The device did magically transform our evening. Everyone, regardless of competence, began belting out songs resurrected from misty yesteryears.

DBP directors Jerry Barican and Dan Songco, along with the bank’s senior executive vice-president Panser Tumangan displayed inexplicable providence with the art. At the end of that happy session, we decided – jokingly – to subject all three to a severe "lifestyle check."

Under our laws, any public servant may be subjected to a "lifestyle check."

And, indeed, that check has been employed the last few weeks as a component of much broader campaign to curb the culture of corruption. That, is suppose, is a legitimate exercise.

But one particularly vigilant group has since announced they would do a "mistress check" on their own, inviting the public to send in information to the group’s call center. This, I think, smacks of the emergence of moral vigilantes, of new Torquemadas leading a modern version of the Inquisition.

This latter effort, I think, serves no purpose but to appease the perverse curiosities of moralizing vigilantes.

Sure, policemen ought not to inhabit nightclubs – especially not in their uniforms. Public officers should try their best to avoid these places, too, as a way of honoring the service. Those in the public service should constantly exhibit the truth that theirs is not a financially rewarding vocation.

But what the authorities should explain very well to the public is that the "lifestyle check" is not, in and of itself, an instrument for curbing corruption. Public humiliation on the slimmest evidence, much like the Red Guards’ penchant for parading their tarred and feathered victims through the streets, does not solve problems rooted in systems and cultures.

The final solution to the crippling culture of corruption that afflicts our society and penalizes our economy is bureaucratic renovation.

Systems need to be studied carefully and reformed so that accountabilities become clear and the processes acquire greater transparency. The margins of discretion must be reduced dramatically by streamlining processes and computerizing as much as possible.

All corruption studies worldwide demonstrate that corruption is a by-product of institutionalized inefficiency.

We don’t really solve the problem by grabbing "big fishes" or by publicizing mansions. What that achieves is to penalize ostentatious display of immorally acquired wealth – although that might have some merit as well.

By sensationalizing cases of unexplained wealth, we feed the public’s thirst for scandal and the media’s craving for celebrity criminals. It is also an easy way for piling up political points by conveying the impression that the authorities are indeed putting effort in catching the bad guys and crucifying them at the mount of public opinion.

What is more important, however, is that real hard thinking is applied to renovating our processes so that we lessen both the possibilities and the rewards for corruption. Real hard thinking, coupled with political will, ought to be applied in streamlining our bureaucracies and ensuring that every peso from the taxes of citizens is used wisely to bring general prosperity.

Let’s go for the gut and not for the carnival is we want to diminish the gross culture of corruption we find staring us in the face.

Lifestyle checks are good if they are understood as means for the most preliminary indicators of corrupt practices. They should not be a substitute for the hard work of prosecution as well the challenging work of bureaucratic renovation.

Through this difficult and sensitive process, let us make every effort to ensure that the anti-corruption campaign does not degenerate into mere public entertainment. We must ensure that this is a process that educates the public on the complex demands of a sincere reform agenda.