Monday, August 4, 2014

CORRUPTION (Illegal but moral)


by Peter Paul D. Eting

There is no doubt that Philippines is better now in some aspects, as I observed government is very sincere of fighting the corrupt practices in different agencies, in fact there are many high profile figure were sent to Jail or some have been removed to their offices, others are forced to resigned from their position. This is good news for the Filipino people especially to the next generation, who are anticipating better future and job in their adulthood.
Political analyst said that corruption can be a practice in any agency of any organization and it is impossible to stop it, but at least we still have hope, there are still people who are concern of their nation more than anything else, one of my professors said that the reason our nation is struggling is because of lack of patriotism, we are tend to be self-centred person and no time for other issues in government, our concern is only for our self and family, earnings and business.

Today our Philippines is facing a lot of problems, the successive natural and manmade calamities leave plenty of damages and counting years to recover, but gratefully for the international communities helping us to recover from devastating effect of our nation and people.
One of the trending issue today in the Philippines is the corruption of the lawmakers, they called it the Priority Development assistance Fund  (PDAF) this money is from the tax of people which is in the hands of the government, for the purpose of development in the different areas of the Philippines, it covers agriculture, livelihood, infrastructure projects for the benefits of the common people, the intention is very good but what makes it problematic, the people who are given the authority to implement this program was blinded by their personal interest, this private and public officials are having a manipulation of that money and this money was only went to the pocket of few individuals, this is violation of the Law and there is moral accountability to the life of people and the Nation.

The latest is the collision of the two branches of the government, when the Supreme Court declared that part Disbursement Accelerated Program (DAP) is unconstitutional. This DAP is created by the executive branch to have authority to spend the “savings” of the government for immediate needs of the people in times of  calamities and other unexpected disasters. The Supreme Court said that the congress has only the authority to declare budget based on their approval, the executive is the implementing body, the executive said they did nothing wrong because they use it for good of people (Yolanda victims), the Supreme Court answered that they are not saying that spending it is wrong but the way it was done was wrong process. Many people asked if it is moral to use the money without the approval of the congress. The executive says it is also moral if we will wait something happen before we take action during calamity relief operations? Others said that this is another way of pocketing the money of people? I am grateful to learn from your opinion, please give your comment.



Questions:
What do you think of the position of the Executive judiciary branch?
Did the Supreme Court fail to exercise their moral judgements?


                







Resources: (From my reading and watching)

ABS CBN news TV.
 PHILIPPINE DAILY INQUIRER


14 comments:

  1. thank you for this blog, actually brother many times we blame to government only, and the system of the country, why we don't take that responsibility because we are the one who select the politician, judge and the other people in the government. let's christian church and believers stand in this gap and be example for the government.

    ReplyDelete
  2. I do not think the Supreme Court fail to exercise their moral judgements because when the Supreme Court declared that part Disbursement Accelerated Program (DAP) is unconstitutional. So people have question on DAP already, and the real judges are the people of the Philippines. The problem is corruption concerns. The question how to get out of corruption? Mini

    ReplyDelete
  3. people hate those who are in position and corrupted, however, people sometime ended in corruption when they have the position. that is the temptation of money and power, or the sin. there is no perfect law to solve it unless the law that change the heart. luke

    ReplyDelete
  4. 1) What I think of both the positions of the Executive and Judiciary branches is that they are out of sync. Firstly, I am saddened to observe that our President has been very complacent on dealing with corruption issues. Worse, all of these corruption issues about the PDAF and DAP are most likely connected to him and his latter decisions. The Judicial body, on my take, is very tolerant. I have no idea of the longevity of the processing of any trial, but they seem to be quite relaxed on dealing with this issue. There is no doubt that tolerance and the likelihood of corruption is high because of their complacency of discipline and judgement.

    2) I do not think that the Supreme court has come to a point of failing their exercise of Moral judgement. I still believe that embedded in their judgments are moral driven decisions. The only bad thing about the supreme court is their preference or biases on the judgement being placed upon a criminal. There is somehow a special treatment to these former government officials who are put behind bars since they have accesses and grants that a normal convict doesn't have.

    ReplyDelete
  5. One character who practiced this would be robin hood; he did something illegal but it was for the good of the citizenry. However we are governed by laws and basically that was the reason why we have 3 branches of government where one of the purpose is to check each other. Yes, it was for the good of the poor, of the economy, of the country yet if we will let this practice continue somewhere along the way, something that was initially meant for the good would be use for the benefit of a select few.

    ReplyDelete
  6. In my opinion, I think it isn't primarily the fault of the system or whichever branch is to blame for an action. But rather it is in the challenging reality of having not very competent public officials together with their lack of integrity. - JP

    ReplyDelete
  7. The picture of corruption is very common in the third world. It becomes like a open secret and written illegal but unwritten legal constitution. Even out of control of government. It sometimes bring some short of good results for bribing people though it is bad.......thats why it is being appreciated by some people but discouraged by major people and constitutionally.............Joy

    ReplyDelete
  8. What an excellent idea of corruption! This is only one aspect that how people are involve in the corruption. For me if it would happen in other country I would not surprise but I surprise because Philippines is the Christian country. It is very hard to believe that people can take advantage, even when people suffer in natural calamity. Corruption is the sign that how sinful and greedy man are!

    ReplyDelete
  9. I trust that the executive branch knows what they are doing but the very purpose of having a democratic govt is to allow checks and balances in orde that the three branches of the government would be held accountable. With that said i trust that the judiciary also knows what they are doing. Its rare for a Filipino to have faith in the govt but I actually believe in some ways God hs enbled me to be more supportive having known some people, and met some of them who are doing their part faithfully. To most people i feel this is the issue when it come to our goveernment: trust. Is our government still trustworthy? There is hope still, its not impossible but the country still has a long way to go.

    ReplyDelete
  10. the DAP in itself is a valid option to help the Filipinos, however the one's authorized to use this provision are the ones who are incompetent (although not all). moreover, if the congress would have the power to hold such provision, would it not be the same as lending it to incompetent people? that is why no matter who holds the authority to use this provision, corruption would still be inevitable. i would suggest that another party would be in charge for the check and balance (though there are no guarantee of success, it can still help). finally, trusting God's sovereignty on this matter would be the best option for us Filipinos.- Ramcel

    ReplyDelete
  11. Actually corruption is a moral issue. You can not change it by the authority or by the supreme court dealing with laws. It needs the inner change. We don't have any guarantee that the opposite party will not be corrupted. That's why we should select the honest leader in election period. Thanks for sharing.

    ReplyDelete
  12. The Supreme Court is absolutely abiding to the mandet and responsibility it has to bear. All SC trying say is end does not justify the means!! And that's all.

    ReplyDelete
  13. I think the fact that DAF and PDAF are being questioned is a positive sign towards exposing corruption in our government. If they are not exposed then this corruption will continue undisturbed.We don't have a perfect Executive branch but when we see deep rooted sins being exposed and high ranking government officials being tried then that is a good sign for this country. The Judicial branch however is not perfect. We have also heard of corruption among our judges but this time we have a God-fearing chief justice. Although she is also not perfect but I think she will cooperate with GOd more than the non-Godfearing justices.

    ReplyDelete
  14. I was contemplating about the issue of the Philippines regarding corruption and as far as I concern, it’s been long time ago that until now corruption in the Philippines was still increasing. In fact, many people are affected by what's happening in congress. Based on what I have known, the constitution would know which one is right or wrong. In another words, if somebody is in the high position of law, no one can dictate him from the lower position to higher position. Meaning, every corner of the responsibility has had an implemented of obligation in which all are in the right declaration of their stance. Now, regarding the implementation of responsibility according to the constitution, the Supreme Court has authority or power to command the Executive Judiciary Branch to submit all the concerns. As a matter of fact, EJB would not work without the consent of the Supreme Court towards the needs. It means, every single of decision making, the EJB would have to ask for permission to manifest the task. Therefore, the Supreme Court has a big role in terms of implementing the law. Nevertheless, the situation of the government faces many trials and obstacles. I think personally, the Supreme Court has failed to implement that. And it's true that the economy was prone to deficit, but it doesn’t mean that we have to neglect or set aside the law, which had made several years ago. Lastly, as my reflection about this, it was not about how they are effective doing their part as leaders to deal the reality, but how they commit themselves to do right in an integrity ways of living towards the goal.... Thank your for sharing your thought and allowing me to be part of this issues.

    ReplyDelete