Corruption - the cancer of a nation
I watched a parent say recently that the death of their son was particularly hard to bear. When one experiences the death of one’s parents, one sees the past slipping away. The hard thing when your child suffers untimely death, he said, is that the future dies with them.
I left the Philippines when I was 14, and now at 42 I feel more compelled than ever to write in a vain effort to induce change. Because I can see the future of the country slipping away in a way that is not so abstract as you may think. Because I see that tragedy unfolding for my 7 year old niece whom I met for the first time two years ago, and the struggles that lie ahead for her. She is an incredibly intelligent child, more so than most people I have met in or away from the Philippines. She may yet transcend her environment, but what of other children who are not so blessed?
What are the chances a few words can change things? Not much really. At the same time, the words of outrage that I see gracing the pages of the Inquirer, from its columnists and its readers, is the singular thing that gives me hope that a better future is possible. For far too long it seemed the consciousness of the nation expressed through its media was as superficial as the government is corrupt. But maybe, the rising chorus of those who reject corruption indicates a nation learning from its bitter experience.
But is it now too late? We don’t have the luxury of a few centuries to internalise the value of institutions and the primacy of law and justice and a “fair go’, as English and Western civilisation did. Our population increases, as the capacity to provide for basic needs of food and shelter diminishes, and this dreadful circumstance will only be an increasingly pervasive global challenge. What chance for a corruption-riddled system to compete on the global marketplace for these basic resources?
Conventional wisdom in basketball has it that a star on a team is no guarantee of the championship, but everyone also knows, that a team will never get the championship without a star. The Philippines right now is bereft of both the team and the star. There is no national or administrative will to move to a state without corruption, and there is no political star. Once again it doesn’t look good for the nation.
Looking after a nation is not a part-time job while you concentrate on self-enrichment; it’s hard enough at the best of times, and it simply is beyond the present cohort whose most pressing problem is concealing the “bukol” of their efforts.
That’s why I agree with Conrado de Quiros’s column in the Inquirer today, 23rd March, 2008 – that Corruption Kills. Like cancer, we just don’t see it, but it will be the death of the nation all the same.
I may not be able to help the nation, but maybe I can help my niece. That much I will try to do. Maybe then I will grieve for one less child.
I left the Philippines when I was 14, and now at 42 I feel more compelled than ever to write in a vain effort to induce change. Because I can see the future of the country slipping away in a way that is not so abstract as you may think. Because I see that tragedy unfolding for my 7 year old niece whom I met for the first time two years ago, and the struggles that lie ahead for her. She is an incredibly intelligent child, more so than most people I have met in or away from the Philippines. She may yet transcend her environment, but what of other children who are not so blessed?
What are the chances a few words can change things? Not much really. At the same time, the words of outrage that I see gracing the pages of the Inquirer, from its columnists and its readers, is the singular thing that gives me hope that a better future is possible. For far too long it seemed the consciousness of the nation expressed through its media was as superficial as the government is corrupt. But maybe, the rising chorus of those who reject corruption indicates a nation learning from its bitter experience.
But is it now too late? We don’t have the luxury of a few centuries to internalise the value of institutions and the primacy of law and justice and a “fair go’, as English and Western civilisation did. Our population increases, as the capacity to provide for basic needs of food and shelter diminishes, and this dreadful circumstance will only be an increasingly pervasive global challenge. What chance for a corruption-riddled system to compete on the global marketplace for these basic resources?
Conventional wisdom in basketball has it that a star on a team is no guarantee of the championship, but everyone also knows, that a team will never get the championship without a star. The Philippines right now is bereft of both the team and the star. There is no national or administrative will to move to a state without corruption, and there is no political star. Once again it doesn’t look good for the nation.
Looking after a nation is not a part-time job while you concentrate on self-enrichment; it’s hard enough at the best of times, and it simply is beyond the present cohort whose most pressing problem is concealing the “bukol” of their efforts.
That’s why I agree with Conrado de Quiros’s column in the Inquirer today, 23rd March, 2008 – that Corruption Kills. Like cancer, we just don’t see it, but it will be the death of the nation all the same.
I may not be able to help the nation, but maybe I can help my niece. That much I will try to do. Maybe then I will grieve for one less child.
posted by JayM at 11:21 pm
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