EDITORIAL — “Money talks”

We were not expecting Russian-American vlogger Vitaly Zdorovetskiy to stay silent about his experience being imprisoned in the Philippines, and he didn't.

Speaking to an American online personality during a livestream conversation following his release last month, Zdorovetskiy said he was allegedly able to sneak in a cellphone after bribing jail guards.

“I had a phone the whole time in jail. I vlogged the whole experience. I’m going to expose the corruption… Bro, you can do anything. Money talks in the Philippines,” Zdorovetskiy said.

Palace Press Secretary Claire Castro said that three personnel from the Bureau of Immigration have been sacked for allegedly giving special treatment to Zdorovetskiy while Interior Secretary Jonvic Remulla said that if proven that Zdorovetskiy corrupted personnel inside the facility, authorities could file charges against him and seek his extradition back to the Philippines.

In all likelihood, Zdorovetskiy is telling the truth about bribing guards to get a cellphone. We know how the penal system is here in the Philippines; most of our jails aren’t places where criminals become rehabilitated, it’s where they become better criminals.

Let’s not forget that moneyed inmates can actually live in luxury, with creature comforts and more. Some, especially those involved in the illegal drug business, even run their criminal enterprise from behind bars. Money indeed talks and guards can be bribed to bring in contraband, smuggle things out, or even look the other way.

But then again, Zdorovetskiy might not be coming out with all these or exposing corruption in our jail system for the sake of carrying out changes or to just expose the truth; he may also be doing so just to get attention or to establish himself as a vlogger again.

He might even be doing this just to get back at Filipinos who dared charge him in court, convict him, and then jail him for a few months for acting like a jerk. Or even just to make people look ridiculous because, let’s face it, his vlogs are exactly about that; making people look ridiculous.