How does it feel to be at the top of the heap? Top of the dung heap, that is. I guess one can argue that it is better to be at the top of the dung heap than buried under it all! A survey has come out placing the incumbent President Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo as the most corrupt president in recent times. Since Ferdinand Marcos, that is. Naturally, the Palace refutes the survey altogether. Really?
According to the Palace, the survey’s results are mostly based on perception and not hard facts. But isn’t perception important nowadays? If I perceive a snake to be venomous, isn’t that enough to be wary of it and avoid it? Or do I whip out the satellite dish, switch to the Discovery Channel and check if they have a show on snakes, and identify it if it truly is venomous or not? Wouldn’t the first perception be enough to dictate my course of action?
Perception is everything! And the perception is, this administration, in the past year, has shown enough incidences of graft and corruption to convince the citizens of this country to say that it indeed is the most corrupt of all administrations, with its President as the most corrupt in recent history. Perhaps a little leeway can be given to the fact that the people are exposed to only the recent incidences of graft and corruption, and that people have probably forgotten the Marcos dictatorship. We as a people have been accused of being easy to forget, fast to forgive. Arguably true, as those that have been banished in the late 80s are now back in some semblance of power. But to be even compared or bracketed with the likes of Ferdinand Marcos is not edifying in the least. In this case, she even tops him!
The recent scandals that have rocked this administration do not have any explanation as of the present. They have been sidelined by events that just had to take center stage such as the G2 blast, Joseph Estrada’s pardon, the Batasan bombing, and most recently, Trillanes’ pitiful, pathetic putsch. All have taken away our focus on scandals as the Fertilizer scam, the Maguindanao/Lintang Bedol fiasco, the ZTE/NBN/JDVIII revelations, CyberEd, the Malacanang Breakfast Club Giveaways, and now Transco. So to say that the results of the said survey, no matter who commissioned Pulse Asia to conduct it, are mere perception and not based on hard facts, all we have to do is shift attention back to these unresolved scandals.
Perception is everything, if not significant. The much ballyhooed upsurge in the economy is a good example. The people do not feel the benefits of a good, strong economy because of the rise in gas prices, the rise of the prices of food, and the stagnant salaries that everyone seems to endure. That is perception, no matter how one is supposed to “feel” a strong economy. The president has to open her eyes to the real issues, the real situation. She has to stop and smell the esteros, along with the river of corruption that flows through the Palace.