GAA 2025 and corruption

The headline news of recent days were replete with commentaries from various sectors of society regarding the signing by the President of the General Appropriations Act for 2025 after he assured the public that responsive line-by-line vetoes had been incorporated.

The outcry seemed to have been triggered by a former government finance official’s vociferous and widely publicized criticism that the 2025 approved and signed “anti-poor” and “anti-people” budget was the “most corrupt” in the country’s history mainly arising from the usual midnight insertions by the joint bicameral conference committee of the House and the Senate.

I believe the public criticism centered on several issues — the cut in PhilHealth’s budget suggesting that this would result in the deprivation of critical health benefits that most Filipinos would not have access to because of the prohibitive cost of getting sick; the higher budget allocation for the DPWH which is traditionally the enabler of corruption for favored administration politicians receiving generous allocations for their public works projects in their bailiwicks; the violation of the Constitution’s mandate that the DepEd, the guardian of the education of the youth, our hopes for the future, should have the biggest budget allocation; the AKAP program, which is direct cash dole-outs to the poor, although well-intentioned, that could easily be manipulated for the selfish interests of campaigning incumbents and aspiring local officials; and perhaps deemed to be the most blatant and disturbingly self-serving were the increases in the pork barrel allocations for the Senate and the House. Provisions that are all fodder for corruption.

Of course, this sentiment is not at all unfamiliar to most of us. Corruption is always a hot topic discussed in coffee shops among kibitzers, particularly among those of us who may have experienced it first-hand. Perhaps ranging from petty requests for a “special” consideration when charged with a traffic violation in exchange for a wry smile and extension of one’s driver’s license accompanied by a few peso bills discreetly positioned; to the more problematic concerns of most businesses on how to navigate through the labyrinthian and serpentine maze of local and national government regulations and unconscionable greedy corrupt officials.

Corruption is a curse that has faced humanity since the fall of Adam and Eve when the serpent lured the dumb-witted pair into believing that a bite of the forbidden apple would turn them into beings as powerful as their Creator.

Today, this desire for personal gain and eternal scourge manifests itself in various forms such as bribery, nepotism, favoritism, embezzlement and other atrocious acts that undermine the fabric of every society and have dire economic, political and social consequences. Think inflation, unemployment, hunger, riots, Godlessness, and anything else that is an apocalyptic doomsday scenario that we can imagine and have seen in other countries.

Corruption is a curse that has faced humanity since the fall of Adam and Eve when the serpent lured the dumb-witted pair into believing that a bite of the forbidden apple would turn them into beings as powerful as their Creator.

I believe that the howls of protest against GAA 2025, notwithstanding the many more merits of the budget, given the dire reality of our government’s scant resources, particularly brought about by the coronavirus crisis that infected the whole world, and admittedly also by the usual unfortunate wasteful governance inefficiencies of government, can really be traced to a fear that GAA 2025 will just become another tool for corruption.

So, is there then anything that we, the ordinary folks out there who do not have any economic, political, legal or other extraordinary resources, can do to mitigate at this stage what already is a reality?

I say, yes, there is. Let’s face it, the problem of corruption can only arise if there is one who corrupts and takes the easy way. Let’s not offer an enabling “gift” if faced with any difficult situation that could make life inconvenient for us.

Another example, with elections fast approaching amid the ridiculousness of some candidates who clearly have no business making laws for us but somehow are likely to be elected, let us do our own share and educate those who need to be enlightened not to vote for candidates who offer a few thousand pesos in exchange for their votes.

I know it’s easier said than done. But we must try. We have no choice.

Until next week… OBF!

For comments, email bing_matoto@yahoo.com.