Corruption and waste in Philippines election
Manila (AsiaNews) - More than 31 million Euros in election posters and advertising on local TV and radio were spent between November and January by candidates in the presidential elections, also using public funds, the agency Agb Niesen Media Resarch reveals. Analysts say the exorbitant costs spent by the candidates to advertise before February 9 (official start of the campaign) are examples of endemic corruption in the country.
"Philippine society is deeply affected by corruption - said Fr Gerard Francisco Timoner III, professor of theology at the Catholic University of Saint Thomas in Manila - the key to solving this problem is to assert the common good over private interests. " "Government officials – he continues - are siphoning off of funds from public services and using them to satisfy their interests." The priest says the spread of corruption in all levels of the bureaucracy is the main cause of chronic poverty in the country.
According to Rey Vargas, a professor of theology at the University of Manila, corruption in the public and private sector has become a habit that has destroyed moral values. To solve the problem, he invites the population to take up the words of the Gospel. Only through the teachings of Christ, honesty, transparency and attention to the common good can there be values accepted by society.
In 2008, the private organization Social Weather Station conducted a survey on the payment of bribes by foreign companies to local authorities in the cities of Manila, Cebu and Davao (Mindanao). The study found that seven out of 10 companies were asked a "extra" cash reward in order to open up its business. According to the World Bank this widespread prevalence of corruption costs the Filipino state about 3 billion per year. This has led the Philippines ranking 139th in the list that measures the internal political transparency of 180 countries around the world conducted in 2009 by the organization Transparency International.
Clarita Carlos, director of the National Defence College of Quezon City (Manila), said: "Most of our students born after 1986 has the aim to work in customs offices or in the tax bureau". These are the jobs where the crime of corruption is prevalent. "They – she adds - want to go to an institution where they can get rich with the least effort, because by our example we have demonstrated to young people who work hard that honest does not pay.
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26/08/2022 11:13
