EDITORIAL

Taxpayers shortchanged, abused by rampant corruption in government

Taxpayers are the ones shortchanged by the rampant corruption in the bureaucracy where over P1.2 trillion in national funds and P20 billion in local funds are being lost due to graft and corrupt practices in the various government offices.

This is coming from lawyer Lorenzo Danipog, regional director of the Civil Service Commission in the Cordillera who added basic services to the poor Filipino populace are not addressed due to unscrupulous practices of a number of government officials.

If the stolen money is wisely spent by responsible government officials, the CSC official said, the country would have an excellent health service for the 90 million Filipinos as well as improved roads for better accessibility from one place to another.

According to Danipog, corruption is being reportedly masterminded by presidential appointees, thus, officials in the lower portion of the bureaucracy are being forced to commit graft to satisfy the demand of their superiors in said government offices.

While the national government maybe doing something to lessen graft and corrupt activities of unscrupulous officials, the greed for money and power continues to hound the bureaucracy, this the supposed efficient and effective delivery of public service to the people especially those from rural communities is sacrificed.

The good news, Danipog said, is that despite negative perception of the people on government officials, there are still a good number of responsible, dedicated and trustworthy officials and employees of the bureaucracy who are duly recognized during the anniversary of the Philippine civil service every September.

The endeavor of the CSC would make good practices and examples of outstanding government officials and employees serve as a motivation for the more than 1.5 million workers in the government to shape up and start working for the general welfare of the people they serve.

In the Cordillera, since the search for outstanding public officials and employees was launched, the region produced 61 awardees in the Presidential Lingkod Bayan Award, the Dangal ng Bayan Award and the pag-asa Award being given by the CSC every year. Out of the said number of awardees, 25 received the Presidential Lingkod Bayan Award, 27 got the Dangal ng Bayan Award and 10 garnered the Pag-asa Award.

Indeed, rampant corruption in the bureaucracy being frequently reported is a disappointment among the upright government workers who are diligently performing their assigned duties and responsibilities.

Worst, Danipog said, the supposed “big fishes” are the ones who are able to escape their immoral acts while the “sacrificial lambs,” who are usually lowly-paid government workers performing their work in accordance to standards are being convicted for graft even with a simple mistake, thus, the enforcement of the law is sometimes selective and biased against ordinary workers and citizens.

Danipog said with reforms being introduced to fight rampant corruption in the bureaucracy, corruption would be lessened so people’s money would be used for the greater advancement of the government’s basic service for the people and not for a few individuals.

But then, if reforms being purportedly done in government are being met with skepticism, it is because those in power are flouting it and setting a bad example to the bureaucracy. An affective anti-corruption strategy is what is needed along with an upright crop of officials holding the highest posts in the land to put fear into the hearts of the morally bankrupt and corrupt officials.