PORK BARREL

by: dodong

 Graft and Corruption

The Pork Barrel system in the Philippine government which breeds the latest scam has reached its highest peak.  The high level of graft and corruption is endemic in our country where our public leaders have practiced these traditional politics or patronage politics where the systems in the distribution of jobs and services, favors are done on a political basis, as preferences given to those who have supported one's party or political campaign. These are ways of running the government based on affiliations, especially closed ties with blood relations instead of true God-based governance for all anchored in honesty and integrity serving the interest of the people.

There are times that we are confronted with a situation where there seems to be no more solutions possible of the problems at hand. As our easy way to escape this feeling of hopelessness we felt for our people, we tend to assign the fate for “karma” to take over and lift all to God for disposition. And we forget that we all have “freewill” given to us by God in order for us to do independently choose either good or bad, right or wrong and take responsibility and accountability for whatever consequences used to have on our choices and decisions.

 In the recent Government Officials scandals involving their Priority Development Assistance Fund (PDAF), it is not time to be desperate but instead to be more resolute in every move and think this positively for a moment of great hope. God surely allowed the people who are greatly aware and highly politicized to change the leaders. As it happened before without much bloodshed in rooting out them during EDSA I and II  (President Ferdinand Marcos was toppled down and President Joseph Ejercito Estrada was forced to resign respectively), it was said that a providential events took place to weed out corrupt Public Officials through mass actions. It's the truth that set the Filipinos free from the undesirables.

It’s therefore proven that if people are aware of the situation and will supplement their awareness with actions the fruit of their labor can be tasted and is not in vain. Their words through their complaints were matched and ripen by their actions even just to start admittedly with little effort but it went to a monster-gathering with a purpose to denounce the crooked, corrupt and evil leaders. The birth of EDSA mobilization, the unprecedented people power is an acknowledgment of true citizen empowerment where the real power exercised by the sovereign people can decide, rule according to their voices as “Vox populi vox Dei” to mean, as "voice of the people is the voice of God." Eventually the people had their new set of leaders for their new government.

Confronted by the same problem, the people now realized that they could not condone their wrong doings lest the coming generation blame them for intolerable silence, they could not just fold their arms in desperate and just indulge themselves in frivolity and pretense while the corrupt officials continue to commit these crimes with impunity. The truth is many people have already expressed their disgust, in fact the expose’ of this Pork Barrel scandals went viral in the social media, but few people matched their words with actions. Past Edsa “people powers” are touted only to represent a mere fraction of 2% of the population. So the people should now show to the world that they meant it where their words go, their actions will follow with sacrifices and bravery. It’s about time to show solidarity for the Filipino people to fight justice. For the silent majority, you could no longer stay isolated for the rest of your life away while the few people who are active fight for the many. Every Filipino must take responsibility towards others thus your involvement is imperative. The unscrupulous Officials upgraded their aggressive and complacent nature of greed for power and money, must also be matched by your resolved ways to criticize, finger-point them of their office-related inanities, condemn them, and bashing them in any form of expose’ in the media with mass action mobilizations without let up to pressure them and also those who are tasked to investigate and prosecute the culprits like the Office of the Judiciary, Justice department, Ombudsman, Commission On Audit and Sandiganbayan to ensure that justice is served and virus of corruption is killed.