Graft and corruption always part of our culture?

The above title is the common tone of the reactions to my column on former Sandiganbayan Justice Manuel R. Pamaran’s piece on fighting graft and corruption (Dec. 30 issue). What a bleak judgment — or prediction? — on the present state of affairs in our country, and on what is yet to come.

Ed Valenciano (e-mail: [email protected]), writes that “unless we are able to fight greed (or minimize) within ourselves and especially, our government officials, graft and corruption will always be part of our culture. I have not encountered a person running for public office whose No. 1 goal is not to recoup the investment he made running for office.

“Was it former NEDA Director General Romulo Neri who uttered the now famous remark, ‘Moderate your greed?’ This is precisely a confirmation that greed rules those who rule us.

“Graft and corruption cannot be fought with more laws or more commissions or investigative bodies. These are all exercises in futility. If we rehabilitate ourselves first and get rid of greed (and its twin, envy), then fighting graft and corruption would not be so difficult.”

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Vic Velasquez, a lawyer living in the United States ([email protected]), writes that “whatever will stamp out corruption is welcome by me, but I am sorry to state that the suggestions of Justice Manuel Pamaran have, in one way or the other, been tried/tested, but corruption is still proliferating, and getting bigger and worse.          

“I am a practicing attorney and licensed in the states of Texas and New York, the US Federal Courts, and a lifetime member of the Integrated Bar of the Philippines. Hence I am in a position to compare different judicial procedures and see the weakness of the Philippine judicial system which is prone to resulting in “justice delayed, justice denied.” Further, as long as prosecutors or judges can be bribed and get away with it, delays in the justice system are inevitable, and corruption in all branches of government will continue.

“In the US rich, influential, powerful people get convicted and penalized with prison time, while in the Philippines such convictions are merely a dream. What is the big difference between the US justice system and the Philippine system? The jury trial system. I believe the jury trial system (American system) if adopted in the Philippines, will make us see the ‘big fish’ go to jail.

“Those interested in knowing the jury trial system may see me when I return to the Philippines next month. Contact me at my e-mail [email protected].”

Nomer Obnamia (e-mail: [email protected]) writes that my column of December 30 is “a very appropriate subject to tackle as we enter the new year.”

Corruption, Obnamia says, “has been plaguing our nation since independence. The culture of corruption is ingrained in Philippine society, as a matter of fact, as part of doing business, etc. As a result, the nation suffers, the poor gets poorer, and justice is not served. Our people are used to corruption in their midst that reform is almost impossible to implement in the public and private sectors. 

“If we go back to the Old Testament, God gave Moses the Law to rule society and to keep order. Through the course of history, the Law did not stop man from sinning; the Law only exposed man’s sinful nature. However, God gave us the conscience to know what is good or evil. Only through the knowledge of the true and living God will man live a righteous life, not by his goodness, but by the grace of God. We are saved from the punishment of death only by our individual act of accepting Jesus Christ as our personal Lord and Savior as justification before the judge — Father God. 

“As long as Filipinos are not taught that God wants our obedience, there is no hope for change and progress for our nation. Our good behavior is a result of our individual faith and obedience to God . . . When one responds to God’s invitation and accepts His son Jesus Christ as his personal Lord and Savior, he is immediately welcomed into the family of God, and the change in that person’s personal and spiritual life begins. This is spiritual rebirth.

“This is the only way that our nation will gain a just and righteous society. The reformation starts individually and then to the general society. The law and the penal system will not stop human corruption which is the nature of the unsaved man.”

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A New Year has descended upon us, and we are warned about this one going to be worse than the last one. Many of us feel anxious about things happening and about to come — about the global financial crisis resulting in overseas working relatives being forced to come home, about hundreds of thousands of people having lost their homes and pension funds in the once so formidable and seemingly invincible United States of America and the rich developed countries, about losing jobs and incomes. Will we suffer, will we have enough to tide us through, will our poor relatives even become poorer? Ah, such dismal anxieties. What will help keep our hopes and dreams and struggles alive, is our determination to overcome obstacles, and more important than anything else, our prayers and trust in the goodness and mercies of the Lord. As my friend, Priscilla Lasmarias-Kelso of Boston writes in her Christmas newsletter, T. S. Eliot’s lines from “Journey of the Magi seem more and more relevant today: ‘The worst time of the year for a journey, and such a long journey . . . and I would do it again.” Priscilla concludes: “In the cycle of faith and the search for certainties — the Veritas that sees us through all journeys — may we persevere together.”

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My e-mail:[email protected]