Last week Taiwan’s ruling Kuomintang expelled Wang Jin-pyng from the party, effectively kicking him out as chief legislator.
His offense? Interference in the judiciary. Wang had called up the justice minister and a senior prosecutor and allegedly urged them to drop an appeal on a court verdict acquitting a fellow legislator belonging to the opposition. The justice minister has resigned. Wang won a court reprieve last Friday on the KMT’s move, retaining his legislative seat – for now.
Wang is not the first top Taiwanese official to be penalized for impropriety. In 2009, the Taiwanese sent to prison their newly retired president, Chen Shui-bian, for embezzlement, bribery and money laundering involving the equivalent of $15 million while in office.
Chen, president from 2000 to 2008, was sentenced to life (later reduced to 20 years) and fined the equivalent of $6.13 million. The investigation included his wife. Last June, Chen tried to kill himself. In our case, unfortunately, our crooked officials tend to be homicidal rather than suicidal.
Wang is just the latest example of public officials in other parts of the globe being stripped of high office and penalized for wrongdoing.
Their cases should show Filipinos that punishing public officials for high crimes is not impossible. In fact it should be a source of pride for any country trying to show the world that it is serious about reforms.
Corruption is a problem around the world. What sets countries apart is how they deal with the problem. Public officials can scream all they want that the accusations against them are politically motivated and they are victims of black propaganda and persecution. Such complaints won’t matter, however, as long as the prosecution is fair, thorough and backed by solid evidence.
The US, for example, has sent scores of people to prison for corruption-related offenses and sex scandals, including lawmakers, state governors and private individuals. Prosecution and punishment – as in many other countries where the system works – are swift and decisive.
US lobbyist Jack Abramoff, for example, served four of his six-year prison sentence for a corruption scandal that also saw two White House officials, a congressman, other lobbyists and congressional aides being convicted.
When justice is deemed to have been served, some redemption is possible. Freed in December 2010, Abramoff rebounded with a movie about his story, “Casino Jack,†starring Kevin Spacey.
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In our case, now that criminal charges for plunder have been filed against three senators, their chiefs of staff, former congressmen and over two dozen civilians led by businesswoman Janet Lim-Napoles, what can we expect to happen next?
So far, prosecutors in the Office of the Ombudsman and the Department of Justice are moving in the right direction. They have announced that they will seek a freeze on the assets of the 38 individuals named in the charge sheet for plunder, including the senators. The 38, now considered persons of interest, are being watched in case they try to leave the country (at least two have done this).
Prosecutors have promised to file charges against more individuals named in the special audit report conducted from 2007 to 2009 by the Commission on Audit. In all, 12 senators and over 180 congressmen were implicated in the COA report for that period alone.
More senators were named in subsequent audit reports covering the P-Noy administration, posted online recently by the COA and the Department of Budget and Management. Unlike the testimonies of whistle-blowers who are vulnerable to various forms of pressure, a paper trail is harder to puncture in court.
People expect prosecutors to show the same zeal in going after P-Noy’s allies as they have shown with “Sexy,†“Pogi†and “Tanda.†This will blunt accusations by the opposition of “selective prosecution†or political persecution, which can erode the credibility of the probe.
Authorities are also expected to go after others in the corruption chain, including local government executives, members of the judiciary, and even barangay captains.
Each barangay gets from P1 million to almost P2 million in public funds each year. Approximately 40 percent reportedly goes to “soft†projects involving the procurement of the “consumables†that lawmakers are now banned from earmarking for their constituents. Do you remember receiving any “consumables†provided by your barangay?
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Even with the filing of the plunder complaint, there is a lot of public cynicism over the outcome of this scandal. The nation has gone through numerous upheavals in the past decades. Democracy is holding, but political and social reforms have not taken root.
One reason is our failure to send any big fish to prison for corruption and other forms of misconduct. Worse, almost all of the offenders manage to return to government and even build political dynasties.
Two people power revolts, all those high-profile congressional investigations, and a slew of criminal indictments have failed to dispel the notion that public office is a sure path to vast personal wealth at taxpayers’ expense.
The amounts that three senators allegedly earned as kickbacks from the pork barrel scam, as detailed in the criminal complaint, give you an idea of how lawmakers become amazingly upwardly mobile even after a mere three years in Congress.
It also gives you an idea of why politicians are ready to kill over an elective post, and why they want to install their entire extended family in every available government position in their turfs, despite the low pay in public service.
Public coffers are turned into personal piggy banks. Even under the daang matuwid administration, there are complaints about Customs personnel demanding five figures to expedite the release of even small shipments, and of judges demanding six figures for a favorable ruling even in minor cases. Even the speedy release of public funds from one government office to another can involve grease money. The public should be informed about the use of technology and proper coordination with law enforcement agencies to entrap these crooks.
Along with efficient prosecution, structural reforms must be implemented to make government transactions as transparent as possible, with loopholes for corruption plugged.
With the pork barrel scandal, the country has an opportunity to effect a sea change in the way people regard public office. The nation can’t afford to blow this chance again.