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[av_heading heading=’EDITORIAL | The power of good’ tag=’h3′ style=’blockquote modern-quote’ size=” subheading_active=’subheading_below’ subheading_size=’15’ padding=’10’ color=” custom_font=”][/av_heading]
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Thursday, April 27, 2017
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IN CASE you haven’t noticed, these past few months President Duterte has, aside from illegal drugs, also included in his speeches his campaign against corruption.
For most Filipinos, disillusionment with a corrupt government system has set in – dangerously – into a sense of hopelessness. Public service on the part of those who were elected or appointed to serve has become a sick joke for those at the receiving end of service most selfish and governance most bad. In its stead, we have corruption most gross. For public servants, elected or appointed, it has become a way of life, but for an exceptional few. The higher the position, the bigger the cost of corruption. Those in lower positions, on the other hand, justify their own take because their superiors have become immoderately greedy.
From kotong paid by lowly workers to policemen and traffic aides, to outright bribes given to generals and prosecutors, judges and justices, to commissions and kickbacks given to government officials for huge contracts and monopoly privileges – corruption sucks the lifeblood of our economy and distorts the principle of equal opportunity.
Little wonder that our infrastructures are substandard; tong-pats corrupt the quality of materials and design. Ghost projects and ghost deliveries spook agencies of government. How many times has Transparency International ranked our country among the most corrupt? We have lost count.
We keep asking ourselves what must be done? We keep thinking of new laws and new rules, new systems even, in our desire to fight corruption. We keep thinking of new ways to entice investments, to make our economy produce more, and create more jobs for an ever-increasing population.
We keep calling for moral revolution, exhorting all in a crusade for change, forgetting that change must begin within each of us – and begin with our leaders, too. Good example is the most powerful agent of change. We need leaders who can lead by the power of good and selfless example, with unwavering determination to reform government, discard the politics of compromise and unseemly transaction, and instead enshrine service beyond ourselves at the cornerstone of democratic governance.
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