CORRUPTION AND POVERTY: A TALE OF TWO REALITIES

 

“And thus, with this in my heart, I know that the state of the nation is sound, and is improving.” -- President Bongbong Marcos (PBBM) State of the Nation Address 2023

PBBM’s choice of the word “sound” seems to scoff at this headline: “PH ranks 116^th [out of 180 countries] in global corruption index” – CNN Philippines

In his SONA, PBBM said:

“One of the keys to continuing economic growth is infrastructure development. So, we will build better, and more. Our 8.3-trillion peso “Build Better More” Program is currently in progress and being vigorously implemented.” [applause]

The sound of the applause would surely have made you cringe had we placed side by side the following words of Baguio City Mayor and retired police general Benjamin Magalong:

“I had a chance to talk to several contractors. I asked them assuming that I will take cuts from infrastructure projects, how much will it be? And they said about 10 percent to 15 percent or 20 percent to 25 percent, depending on the decision of the mayors or the lawmakers.”

“Only about 45 percent to 52 percent will be left (to the actual contractor and project). In short, if the project is worth P100, they said Sir, they will have to settle for P42.50 to P55, including their profit so they will be forced to make substandard projects.”

“The way they disposed of it is institutional. Some congressmen have several projects and roads but the bidding was rigged. You can check the profile of some legislators and LGU executives – many of them are contractors and suppliers. They get a percentage and they also get the projects as contractors.”

Magalong also revealed that members of the Bids and Awards Committee receive commissions, as do other individuals involved in the decision-making for projects.

Based on Magalong’s assertion, it exposes the harsh reality that roughly half of such a colossal 8.3-trillion peso “Build Better More” Program will fill the coffers of the contractors and their “partners in crime” in the government.

Given that, hearing the deafening applause during the SONA, without a doubt, would infuriate any conscientious citizen.

Let’s revisit PBBM’s grand finale line: “And thus, with this in my heart, I know that the state of the nation is sound, and is improving.”

His inclusion of yet another word “improving” seems to contradict this headline: “Marcos year 1: 45% of Filipinos say they feel poor – SWS”

The following is a true story by Irish missionary priest Shay Cullen, SSC, one that is echoed many times over:

“Luisito was a boy from a hungry, homeless family. They lived in poverty under sacks at the edge of a beach. His father was a simple fisherman but when international fishing companies were given commercial fishing permits in Philippine waters by corrupt officials, the fish disappeared.

“Thousands of Filipinos were thrown into the pit of poverty. Luisito, then 15, collected junk, plastic bottles, anything he could sell for a few handfuls of rice. That’s all they had but it wasn’t enough. Sickness took his father.

“One day Luisito, who was emaciated with hunger, was seen by the owner of a basket-weaving shop and invited to learn basket weaving. Luisito was amazed when he was paid, in advance, a generous trainee’s allowance. Immediately he bought rice and fish for the family, the first that they had in weeks.

“He was determined to succeed and joined several workers in the small factory. Quickly he became a skilled worker and was paid a higher just wage and was given shelter in the workshop.

“Luisito saw a way to overcome poverty. He went to evening classes and graduate high school and, with the help of the basket shop owner, he eventually graduated from college and found a managerial job. He saved his family and his own children.

“That was and is the exception rather than the common reality.”

The recently released World Bank national poverty estimates show that poverty incidence rose from 16.7 percent in 2018 to 18.1 percent in 2021. This translates to 19.9 million poor people, an increase of 2.3 million over the same period.

By ignoring the twin elephants in the room – endemic corruption and chronic poverty – PBBM has missed his chance to deliver a convincing SONA that will convey his vision and goals for the Filipino people amid the twin crises facing the nation as a whole.

PBBM could have learned from U.S. presidents who delivered the best State of the Union addresses during the time they were facing a war or a crisis that threatened the nation, drawing on their vision and goals in inspiring their people to unite behind them.

Abraham Lincoln’s 1862 address was delivered amid the Civil War, a bloody conflict that split the nation and put its future at stake. Lincoln used his address to justify his decision to issue the Emancipation Proclamation later that year. He said: “In giving freedom to the slave we assure freedom to the free-honorable alike in what we give and what we preserve. We shall nobly save, or meanly lose the last best hope of earth.”

Franklin D. Roosevelt’s 1941 address was delivered less than a year before the U.S. entered World War II, a global conflict that threatened democracy and human rights around the world. Roosevelt used his address to outline his vision of the “Four Freedoms” that every person in the world should enjoy: freedom of speech, freedom of worship, freedom from want, and freedom from fear. He said: “We look forward to a world founded upon four essential human freedoms…Freedom means the supremacy of human rights everywhere. Our support goes to those who struggle to gain those rights or keep them.”

Dealing with an unconventional sort of war – a covert war during peacetime -- Lyndon B. Johnson’s 1964 address was delivered shortly after he assumed office following the assassination of John F. Kennedy, a tragic event that shocked the nation and put its morale at risk. In this address, Johnson declared an “unconditional war on poverty in America” spelled out in the following excerpts of his address:

“This administration today, here and now, declares unconditional war on poverty in America. I urge this Congress and all Americans to join me in that effort.

“It will not be a short or easy struggle, no single weapons or strategy will suffice, but we shall not rest until that war is won…”

“Our chief weapons in a more pinpointed attack will be better schools, and better health, and better homes, and better training, and better job opportunities to help…escape from squalor and misery…”

“Very often a lack of jobs and money is not the cause of poverty, but the symptom. The cause may lie deeper in our failure to give our fellow citizens a fair chance to develop their own capacities…”

Our aim is not only to relieve the symptom of poverty, but to cure it and, above all, to prevent it…"

That could have been a good template as well as a great opportunity for PBBM’s SONA in declaring his “unconditional war on poverty”. The following headline is spot on:

“Present ‘battle plan’ for nation in SONA, lawmakers tell Marcos” (Inquirer)

Unfortunately, PBBM got, in his own words, an “incomplete” grade on that requisite visioning subject.

Let me wrap up this article with some pertinent points to ponder.

At best, this quote is motivating: “Victory is always possible for the person who refuses to stop fighting.” (Napoleon Hill)

At worst, this quote is encouraging: “If he fails, at least fails while daring greatly, so that his place shall never be with those cold and timid souls who neither knows victory nor defeat.” (Theodore Roosevelt)

Head collage photos courtesy of Philippine Star & The Catholic Position

Video Clips courtesy of YouTube