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Presumption of corruption

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Archbishop Oscar V. Cruz

10/22/2009

In the same way that someone is presumed innocent until proven guilty, everyone is assumed honest until otherwise established as corrupt. This is the way of a fair people, the norm of a civil community, the system of just laws.

The opposite wherefore is not only offensive to reason but also contrary to social justice. That is why it can be said that there could readily emerge social disorder and public disharmony, not to mention pervasive injustice and profound inequity, in the event that the presumption of corruption premised on the assumption of guilt, ever becomes the norm of pre-tainted thinking followed by the consequent cause for punitive action.

But what if a given administration has been wallowing in a long litany of duly exposed big and scandalous corrupt deals and devious practices, has wherefore received definitely more than one public dreadful citation for corruption according to the judgment not only by national and regional but also international forums? What if someone has been uncovered as involved not only in corrupt but also corrupting action and reaction patterns, and has wherefore in fact consistently received one very negative trust rating after another practically throughout the latter’s tenure of power and influence? What if a particularly high public official supposedly in a position of an equally high public trust, instead customarily engages in self-service for personal interests in conjunction with the disbursement huge public funds? In this concrete case, could the presumption of integrity still be sincerely, reasonably and objectively upheld?

More. The recent climate catastrophe in the country that wasted many lives, that destroyed much assets and that continues to haunt and challenge the Filipino spirit, expectedly called the attention of the international community. In solidarity with the already poor and still impoverished thousands of Filipino families, different countries already sent their much appreciated rescue and/or relief services. Such was the gravity and extent of the devastation that even the United Nations (UN) decided to send its assistance in cash and in kind to the Philippines. The humiliating factor in all these grants and donations is that they are being sent to this country specifically under the “Presumption of Corruption” made by the said composite universal donor.

In other words, the UN knows only too well what kind of many high public officials this suffering country has — especially on the occasion of the incumbency of the present administration. In short, many qualifying terms and phrases can be said about the present government — except the presumption of integrity. In brief, Malacañang “enjoys” the presumption of corruption. This is so painful to say yet too fallacious to deny, very shameful to affirm yet highly hypocritical to deny. The ground reality is that even the incumbent administration is gone when its supreme leader is a Malacañang tenant no more and even when the latter’s allies members have opted for private lives if ever, rightly or wrongly the presumption of corruption would in all probability follow them still. And that indeed is a stiff moral price to pay for.

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Climate change

When the matter of “climate change,” “global warming” and related concerns were first brought to the formal attention of the world, at first there was shock. This was followed by worry that in some way ended in doubt if not downright rejection by some members of the world of science and technology due to counter arguments of their own. Eventually, however, there have been some concrete moves taken and particular resolves made specifically to counter and thereby respond to the already felt adverse climate effects in certain parts of the globe. This is especially relevant to countries leading in business and industry, and wherefore also leading in gas and coal consumption said to have big effect in global warming causative of climate change. In general, the call is in favor of more ecologically safe sources of energy, more especially on the part of developed countries in Europe and in Asia.

In other words, true or false, party true or partly false, a good number of countries — be these already developed or simply developing — are responding in their own opted ways to the fatal danger poised by the change of world climate precisely due to the warming of the globe as a whole. In fact, as time goes by — particularly in those continents that repeatedly suffer much from natural disasters such as howling typhoons, formidable earthquakes and other extraordinary calamities that are climate connected — there are more and more people taking climate change more seriously. At present, there seem to be two major theories to explain the change in world climate and the warming of the globe.

Some scientists say that the warming is basically caused by a heating earth that thereby makes more and more water evaporate to the clouds. These in turn when already so much saturated, pour immense quantity of water back to earth which causes flooding, landslides and the like. Recently, other scientists claim that the global warming is in reality caused by the progressively more burning sun that thereby accordingly brings about global warming, climate change and all other adversities in nature and in the environ.

Concretely in conjunction with the infamous “Ondoy” and “Pepeng” much unwelcome visits to the Philippines, it seems that the phenomenon itself of climate change for whatever cause, is no longer debatable. For decades, there was nothing like the said terribly destructive pair that landed on the Islands — particularly in Luzon — that took so many lives, flattened so many houses, destroyed so many crops and impoverished so many families. The lamentation is rightfully “Never before!” but the expectation is not “Never again!”

For those still harboring either doubt about or rejection of climate change, it would be enough for them to go over world history — in addition to biblical narration if they so wish. They say one and the same thing: Ever since climate came about, it has been continuously changing in the course of time. Otherwise, how could the following be rationally explained: The division of land into islands. The coming out of mountains here and there. The making of volcanoes in this and that place. The rarity of certain plants and the appearance of new ones. The extinction of these and those huge mammals.

(Reprinted with permission of Archbishop Oscar V. Cruz, from www.ovc.blogspot.com)