Defending whistleblowers

Sen. Mar Roxas, chair of the Senate committees on trade and commerce and on economic affairs, has reacted positively to a proposal from businessmen that they would donate an average of 5 percent of their profits to an anti-corruption campaign. The offer had been made in response to the 2005 SWS Survey of Enterprises on Corruption.

The senator from Capiz said that if the businessmen are serious about their proposal, the amount will be used to reward informants of illegal government and corporate transactions.

"Whistleblowers often face the risk of social estrangement," Roxas said. "One of the ways by which we can encourage them to come out in the open is by financially compensating them for the risk that they are willing to take."

If the businessmen set aside 5 percent of their net profits, that would translate to an estimated P19.6 billion for Year 2005. I figure that this amount may not be used up immediately, but  the savings to be made by cutting down on anomalies and corrupt practices in government offices will mean a lot particularly during these bad times.

The Bureaus of Internal Revenue and Customs are already giving cash rewards to informants, encouraging people to tell on corrupt officials.

But aside from monetary compensation, whistleblowers must be given protection from social harassment and legal suits.

Currently going on is the congressional investigation into charges that certain officials have been receiving financial contributions from jueteng operators. Now the whistleblowers, chiefly Lingayen-Dagupan Archbishop Oscar Cruz and his chief witness, self-confessed jueteng operator Boy Mayor, are threatened with legal suits and other forms of harassment for their revelations.

It is generally assumed that whistleblowers such as the church prelate and Mayor, know what they are saying, but they will be hard put to present documentary evidence to nail down the culprits they’ve mentioned. As in the case of all whistleblowers, the two should be proven innocent – like Caesar’s wife.

For now, Archbishop Cruz, who heads Krusadang Bayan Laban sa Jueteng, an anti-jueteng watchdog, has been told that groups of people are planning to raise charges of homosexuality against him – to discredit him in the eyes of the public.

Cruz said jueteng operators had tried in the past to bribe him to buy his silence, but he has consistently said no. His action runs counter to the popularly-held belief that the church has been accepting contributions from jueteng operators.

Cruz said he received checks, but he has not deposited nor encashed them. The amounts were quite substantial. "Next will come the attempt to attack my moral integrity. There will be certain characters scheduled to come out with various accusations about the long list of the ‘boys and girls’ as well as the ‘men and women’ in my life. This is funny and entertaining, to say the least."

Former Sen. Francisco Tatad confirmed Cruz’s revelation of attempts to cast him in the role of immoral prelate. He said he had received information from "highly related and conscience-stricken insiders" that two "highly-placed agents" of the National Bureau of Investigation (NBI) were allegedly asked to "produce a witness who would claim having had a sexual relationship" with Cruz.

As to what’s happening to Mayor, poor guy, he’s already being slapped with threats of libel suits. But let’s wait for developments.

So whistleblowers do need the protection of lawmakers and us citizens.

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Concerned New York politicians and some past leaders of Gold Star Mothers, Inc., are supporting Ligaya Lagman’s application for membership in the organization, and are calling for  a membership rule change  after her application was rejected by the organization on the ground that she is  an immigrant,  not an American citizen. Ligaya Lagman is the mother of  27-year old Army Staff Sgt. Anthony Lagman who was killed in action  in Afghanistan while driving out the remnants of Taliban and Al-Qaida forces. New York Gov. George Pataki and Congressman Eliot Engel are among the politicians who asking  the organization’s present president, Ann Herd, to "review (the organization’s) politics or membership in the interest of fairness and recognition of the fact that service in defense of American freedom should be the paramount factor in determining eligibility."  Congressman Eliot Engel, who represents an adjoining district, said, "whatever the excuse, American Gold Star Mothers’ decision smacks of xenophobia and is in stark contrast to what Mrs. Lagman’s son fought and died for." Senator  Hilary Rodham Clinton said, "We now have many non-citizens serving honorably in our armed services, and I hope that this can be satisfactorily resolved."  

This case smacks of the way Filipino soldiers who fought during the Second World War – a war of America against Germany and Japan – are being treated. Filipino war veterans have not been fully compensated for their services – the way American soldiers have. Yes, Virginia, discrimination exists in America, supposedly the land of the brave and the free.

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This columnist has been receiving many e-mails, letters and phone calls after reading my column about the late Ted Borlongan,  and  this one from TSG expressed the general sentiment of those who communicated with me.

"Your story about Ted Borlongan’s life was truly the most touching article I’ve read about a man’s effort to protect  his name and his family. I’ve  read other articles about his life from another newspaper but not without the same depth and sensitivity you displayed in your column.

"Your story made us look at Ted from another viewpoint – the human emotions that control our lives and forces that make us decide on the action we take that can affect our lives as well as our relationships.

"If there is a lesson to be learned from this tragedy it is that a person marked with success all his life can have a difficult time rebounding from a painful defeat much more if the failure will bring him down from his very high and lofty position. There is truth to the saying, ‘The bigger you are, the harder you fall.’

"Second, keeping one’s name as a legacy and getting  validation and respect from your peers is not as important as having the love and support you get from the meaningful relationship you have with your family and loved ones. So long as one’s conscience is clear, than that should be  validation enough of your legacy."

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