EDITORIAL — Not an end, but the beginning

Today, November 30, is the day of the so-called Trillion-Peso March against corruption. It’s also quite fitting that today is Andres Bonifacio Day; celebrated for the most famous of Filipino revolutionaries.

Massive protests and similar movements are expected to be held simultaneously across the country. Metropolitan areas all over the Philippines are ready for huge crowds and have prepared traffic as well as crowd control management plans.

The message is to call for an end to all forms of corruption in the government, the return of all ill-gotten money to public coffers, the punishment of those responsible, and for accountability from public officials, among others. Civic and religious leaders have called on people to participate and make their voices heard.

It has all been building to this one great rally following several smaller others ever since the flood-control scandal was unearthed. But while this event may be the culminating activity of all the protest movements that have preceded it, it shouldn’t be the end.

Because all this outrage, all this anger, all this indignation against corruption will be for nothing if all the praying, chanting, and screaming stop here.

From this day forward there should be more vigilance against corruption, more scrutiny on projects that are questionable, and watchful eyes on people in positions of power with access to vast amounts of public money.

We all know how prevalent corruption has become in our culture. It has become present in so many aspects of our lives, so ingrained in us that we think it’s normal. Even the little things like accepting money in exchange for a vote or giving a bribe to get faster service or a favorable decision from a government office are forms of corruption.

While we Filipinos are good at starting something, we are also notorious for not being able to sustain that something. This isn’t totally our fault, this is mostly because of the pressing issues that we have to deal with every day, the distractions life will always give us.

However, if we don’t keep our eye on the ball this will all have been for nothing. All will go back to “business as usual”, with those able to take money from public coffers to their own gain doing so with no one looking over their shoulder.