An opaque government

EDITORIAL

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05/23/2008

Aside from having the most unpopular administration in history, Gloria has earned the title of having the most opaque government ever.

These notorious titles, however, complement each other. As Gloria keeps on issuing edicts to securely seal the truth, the more the public loses trust in her.

The latest survey conducted by think-tank Ibon Foundation showed Gloria’s net trust rating diving to an unchartered depth of negative 75.

Net trust rating is the difference between the people trusting Gloria and those who do not, meaning those who have expressed having lost confidence in Gloria certainly were more than 75 percent of those surveyed for her to earn a net rating of negative 75.

Gloria’s bane, the corruption watchdog Transparency International (TI), in a regional meeting of its affiliates held the other day, gave a candid assessment that the Philippines should not expect an improvement in its corruption perceptions index rating, which is near the bottom, when the TI releases its index for this year around August or September.

As perceptions go, the country under Gloria is already seen as having the most corrupt economy in all of Asia, and TI regional officials already point to the Philippines under the Arroyo regime, as one of the 10 most corrupt countries in the world, having stated too, that corruption under Gloria has worsened.

What Gloria can look forward to is a further slide in the rating since the survey period covered the time when she and her husband were implicated in the kickback-rich $329-million National Broadband Network (NBN) deal awarded to Chinese supplier ZTE Corp.

The questions raised on the deal were swept under the rug and the muzzling of witnesses and the stonewalling applied by her government never stopped . This was no different from how the truth was hidden over allegations on Gloria of stealing the vote in the 2004 elections.

TI mentioned the use of Executive Order 464 and the abuse of executive privilege to block public officials from testifying in hearings conducted by the Senate in several cases where high-level corruption was being alleged as a major source of perceptions on the absence of transparency in Gloria’s government.

The TI’s corruption perceptions index is used as a reference of most governments and ethically-sound multinational corporations in their considerations on where to put in aid and investments.

It has always gotten Gloria’s goat due to the fact that ever since she was installed to power, and through a power grab, the country’s ranking fell progressively.

Gloria’s anointed chief anti-graft official, Constancia de Guzman, knowing that corruption can only get worse under the regime she embraces, tried to kill the corruption tag by even suggesting to the TI that the Philippines be stricken off the annual survey list because of its sordid ranking year after year.

The Philippine Anti-Graft Commission even tried to malign the name of TI’s chief representative in the country Judge Dolores Español as a retaliatory response.

On hindsight, that is the usual response of Gloria when faced with allegations of misdeeds or damaging accusations, which is to besmirch the name of the accuser.

The country is considered among the most corrupt in the world and Asia’s center for graft and such notorious tags would have not been possible without Gloria and her cabal of evil at the helm of power and position.

There would be no hope for improvement in the country’s perceptions index ranking as cases of irregularities are unearthed against her in a regular fashion.

The only possible way Gloria can ever hope to stem the worsening perception on the country on corruption with her help is for her to step down and let authorities have a free hand in investigating allegations of corruption against her.

The possibility of that, however, is as remote as Gloria’s promise of the country reaching First World status in 20 years.

It just won’t happen. Not while she continues to hang on to a twice-stolen presidency.

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