TRANSPARENCY International ranked the Philippines 113th out of 180 countries in the recently announced results of its corruption league table.
I divide the table into quartiles. The bottom quartile (136th-180th) consists of countries, many in war zones, where day-to-day incidents of corruption affect the lives of everyone.
The third quartile (91st-135th) is seriously corrupt but many can live without incurring corrupt officials on a daily basis.
For several years, New Zealand and Denmark have been reported as the least corrupt countries. But they are not without problems.
In Denmark, a former social worker was convicted of abusing her public position to embezzle $17 million (P850 million) in welfare funds. She offered the curious defense that the safeguarding mechanisms for the funds were too lax. Our DSWD is squeaky clean by comparison!
In New Zealand, a parliamentarian disguised large political donations by breaking down the funds into smaller amounts, thereby creating a need to make political party financing more transparent. We could do with more transparency here as well.
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Last week, we heard much talk about āgag ordersā. I am not relaxed about this. We need an active national conversation in which issues and controversies are aired and sometimes resolved. This is one way in which we can progress from being a āfledglingā democracy to a āvibrantā one. We are not yet vibrant but there is progress.
One example is where the National Capital Region of the Philippine National Police sent a memorandum to schools asking for an updated list of Muslim students in High School, Colleges, and Universities.
Updated. Does this mean the PNP has done this before?
The Alliance of Concerned Teachers (ACT) has exposed this practice which has resulted in the National Capital Region Police Office (NCRPO) directing Manila Police District chief Brig. Gen. Bernabe Mendoza to recall the memorandum.
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The existence of 357 police officers who are accused of involvement with illegal drugs is not reassuring. I cannot criticize PNP officer Espenido for defending himself. Furthermore I do not support Department of Interior and Local Government (DILG) secretary Eduardo AƱo who says Espenido violated the gag order which was agreed upon by the 357 policemen themselves.
Agreed upon?
I donāt think so. It is much more likely that the police officers were coerced.
We need to know much more about how hapless officers can get onto the ānarcolistā. If there is poor intelligence gathering whereby some officers who are not blameworthy are put on the list, then this should be investigated.
Truth matters./PN
