Some fanatical supporters of Vice President Sara Duterte have the gall to ask us: why is her office’s so-called “confidential funds” such a big deal for her opponents?
Here’s a simple answer: transparency and accountability.
Public service is a public trust, the great statesman Claro M. Recto was once quoted as saying. That means that since we entrusted our public officials our hard-earned money in the form of taxes, they have the duty to tell us where they spend the money.
Hindi pa rin ninyo maintindihan? Ganito lang ‘yon – noong bata pa tayo, kapag nanghihingi tayo ng pera sa mga magulang natin, lagi tayong tinatanong kung saan natin gagastusin ito. (Kung kendi iyan o “teks,” naku, baka pingot at palo ang abutin natin noon).
Bakit? Pinaghirapan kasi ng ating mga magulang ang perang iyon, at ayaw nilang gastusin natin iyon sa mga walang kapararakang bagay. Period.
The fact that many of Duterte’s supporters have not only turned a blind eye but have actually supported and lauded her for insisting that these “confidential funds” are not a big deal has forced me into thinking: are we turning into a nation of robbers and deceivers?
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I had earlier discussed in this column space how we have euphemized scamming and hoodwinking other people as “diskarte.”
I’m talking about various acts of petty deceit such as not returning excess change that was given by mistake, trying out the “1-2-3” tactic to avoid paying jeepney drivers, surreptitiously using false weights and measures to stretch our produce or even using company funds or office supplies for personal use.
Petty deceit has, unfortunately, become normalized into our mainstream culture.
What’s worse is that many of these acts of petty deceit are now being held up as the ideal way of “getting along” in a country where abiding by the process means wasting your time and money on standing in lines all day long.
Why? The answer is, again, simple: buoyed by the examples of politicians blatantly stealing our coffers and getting away with it, a simple rationale creeps into our national consciousness: okay lang pala na manloko at manlamang, huwag ka lang magpapahuli.
That old saying, unfortunately, still holds truth: “Ang anumang ginagawa ng matanda ay tama sa paningin ng bata.”
And if our children see from our own example that it’s all right to cheat others as long as they don’t get caught, we really are on our way to becoming a nation of robbers and cheaters.
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