Like rust, corruption is corrosive

Lately, there has been a series of damning headlines about the state of corruption in the country.

For example, comparative import data of the IMF and BoC indicate huge disparities such that estimated losses to technical smuggling alone was P1.9-Trillion from 2002-2011. That excludes the losses from outright smuggling!

 

Then there was this news about a drug lab operating in a high-end condo in Global City; before that in a farm in Batangas; before that in a house in Ayala Alabang; before that in various places in Luzon, the Visayas and Mindanao. Reports of Mexican drug cartel collaboration with Chinese triads and Nigerian syndicates abound.

It means we have porous gates, bad law enforcement, corrupt local government officials and a growing market of drug users. 

 

Yesterday, it was reported that the perception index of corruption was higher last year than the previous year, from 43% to 56%, which viewed it to be "a lot." Surveyed were around 1,000 enterprises that deal with national agencies and local governments. Notwithstanding exhortations for taking the "straight path" many in government continue to ignore presidential orders and the voice of the people.

 

Corruption, like rust, is corrosive. Preventing rust requires an eagle eye and regular preventive maintenance. Removing rust is more difficult requiring much more time than it takes to prevent, and aggressive expensive measures to restore to its original state. 

 

That's what we have to do with the advanced state of corrosion we see in our state of governance and the state of the nation. We must take aggressive measures to clean house and restore it to a state of honor and respectability. This is not being done in a methodical and aggressive manner across-the-board and down-the-line. "Talk the talk" has not shifted to and gained traction as "walk the talk."

 

There's a simple formula to avoid/prevent wrongdoing and not add to our state of corrosion: Just Say NO! — KDM, GMA News

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