Speak up against corruption!

GRAFT AND CORRUPTION: IMPLEMENTATION OF HEAVIER PUNISHMENT AGAINST DISHONESTY AND BRIBERY

When money talks, everybody either shuts their mouth or opens it. It has been apparent to all of us that money plays an important role in our lives. Without it, one cannot simply live nor have a decent life. It is one of the crucial aspects of our lives that clothes us with dignity and pride. Money greatly shapes our lifestyles and even the trends of the society we live. I could say that the world revolves around money and humans evolve because of the influence of it. Whether we like it or not, in this millennium, money is vital to make everything move in this world.

Meanwhile, as we acknowledge money as an integral part of our lives, it has also been the cause of greed among us. Though we have been told at school that we should be men for others, money is just something that others could not simply resist. It has become the fuel of greed and dishonesty. It derailed our values system and at some point, became a norm.

How did this happen? Where should this end? Or maybe the question is, where did it all start? Let me sight a very simple example. A kid who was asked to buy something at the store did not return the loose change until he was asked to return it. If he gets through that situation, the kid would probably do it again. Worst, it would escalate into a much bigger amount.

But what if the society allows this act of dishonesty to happen? Like in the case of a driver who violated traffic rules, who would just pay the enforcer a few hundred than getting through the tiresome process of claiming his driver’s license in the Land Transportation Office. Add to that, the expensive penalty the driver would be paying. On the side of the enforcer, aside from money being given for convenience, it is a matter of humanitarian consideration.

On the bigger picture of this, we have government officials who will use their power and authority to amass a fortune. A signature for a contract would cost businessmen hundreds of thousands if not millions. In the end, services and infrastructures that are supposed to be of good quality are compromised just for businessmen to have fatter ROI’s. In some cases, however, power and authority have become the protection of illegal activities: drugs, gambling, and logging to name a few. People in authority use their influence to protect syndicates for a price. Worst, some politicians themselves are the leaders of these syndicates.

Cases of graft and corruption are never-ending. Have these people lost their values? Where they blinded by money? Have they lost their conscience?

I believe that in this drastic time, we need drastic measures. It is high time that the government imposes heavy punishment against graft and corruption. No one should be exempted from the law. At this very moment, I still trust the check and balance mechanisms that our government have. Recently, high profile cases have been successful and were put in jail. This goes to show that our constitution is not dead. It still has its fang to bite whoever defies the law.

          Having said all this, it is a matter of how we live with the value system that was imbued upon us.