Promise of transparency

EDITORIAL

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03/15/2009

Afresh breeze is how describes aptly the call of political stalwarts for financial transparency in the coming elections.

Former President Joseph Estrada called for the waiving of privacy rights on bank accounts on all incumbent government officials, as well as those aspiring for elective positions next year.

Transparency should even be provided under the laws of the land since the lack of it has been blamed for the unending allegations and suspicions of corruption among those in government.

The Arroyo administration has been a major case study on how corruption eats away at the relationship between the government and the public which is needed for the country to progress.

Pride in being in government and serving the country has been lost in the haystack of financial gain that everybody believes await those who makes it through in government particularly in being elected to a political post.

Too often and too much, a lot of money is spent merely to win an elective position, yet it is known that the money spent on campaigns is much, much more than that which the elected politicians will be receiving as their pay, because theoretically, the pork barrel allocations for the members of Congress and other elective officials do not go straight to them, but to their allocated programs. It is also a given, however, that corruption is present in every government project and that a percentage of the contract price does get into the bank accounts of these elected and even appointed officials.

There is still pride among Filipinos in exercising their right to vote, which is among the few instances that most feel being in equal stead with the high and mighty since a vote has the same value, regardless from where it came. What was lost is the pride on the person that the voter elected to represent him in deciding the path of the country since it is a given these days that the politicians’ first agenda once they get positioned in power is to enrich themselves.

Transparency could be a gesture of commitment. The statement of assets and liabilities, for instance, may not seem to be a significant effort for an elected official in entering government but it would be during the years spent being in government since it would show how much was gained in being in government service, or at least those that cannot be hidden away.

The secrecy on bank deposits is a basic right in maintaining privacy, which in turn is guaranteed every person under the Constitution, but it has become a major hindrance in the prosecution of mainly those in government suspected of having committed graft.

The act of volunteering to be stripped of the shield of bank secrecy when entering the government should be a necessary requirement for those seeking to serve in government. It not only provides a deterrent to irregularity but it serves as a compact in focusing on serving the people.

Had this requirement been applied to the big and small in Malacañang now, the nation now may have had a different president and Filipinos would be free of being subjected to the daily dose of scandals and the scheming ways of those in power.

Remove the financial gain of being in power and the likes of the cartel gentleman and the poll fraud leader would not be attached like a leech to the presidency.

The candidates for the 2010 presidency agreeing among themselves to open their bank accounts to the public would be a good start in restoring the Filipino public’s long lost trust.

From trust, the nation can rebuild the non-existent pride on being Filipinos.

Trust and pride have been constantly eroded under Gloria because of the almost daily assaults of corrupt practices and international humiliation in being regarded as a country of thieves, ruled by a most corrupt President.

Transparency would be a right way forward for the country’s next leaders.

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