Bribery, Tattletales and the famous Filipino Crab Mentality
Why do tattletales do what they do? Is it because of their innate sense of what is right and wrong? Or maybe because they believe that justice must be served? Is it done out of the goodness of their hearts? Or is it because like spurned women, they were spurned out of a very profitable deal?
I am not a judge and would never pretend to be the judge of someone that I only know in the papers and television. Although, I admit, I have heard enough to make a decent judgment about the doings of these people. These people who are officials in our country, these people who are responsible for making the laws that govern our daily lives, these people who we have elected into position, these people who are taking our money to fund their pockets.
These very people are at each other’s throats, practicing the famous Filipino “Crab Mentality” - the bane of our nation. They may look fine and dandy, singing praises about their projects and selves but they are nothing but power-hungry officials on the lookout for the freshest and most profitable deal, and always, always on the lookout for other power-hungry individuals to be their scapegoat. They bribe and accept bribes, they make under the table deals, but when the tables are turned, they are like sheep scattered by wolves. Hiding behind a mask of indifference until such time that they have no where to run or if a tattletale comes out of hiding and tells his version of the story - then all hell breaks loose.
Such is the destiny of our country - to be ruled by power-hungry men and power-hungry tattletales. They are one and the same, it just depends on the angle you’re looking at. The tattletale may seem to be the hero for uncovering a misdeed by his fellow. A multi-billion deal must have been very impressive and very profitable and to be declined would make me a tattletale - that is my opinion.
The question now is, “What is your opinion?”
Philippine Politics - what went wrong?
The Philippines is a country full of good people and unnatural evils. Unnatural and unnecessary evil. Good people who turn unnaturally evil because of the strong lure of money and of power. Good people who decided to shut their mouths in the face of corruption. Good people who do nothing. A perfect waste of human goodness.
I am a Filipino and will always be proud to be one. The government is not the only indication of goodness in a particular country but more often than not, the way a government projects itself becomes the basis of other country’s perception. Sad but true. Really good, heart-warming news stories deserving to be on the front page get pushed to the side by the corruption that is overwhelming the country right now. I am particularly partial to news editors because I have been one a few years back, and I know that it is their work to give their readers up-to-date news of what is hip and happening at the moment. But what badgers me is the fact that some editors seem to relish rubbing it in. We, Filipinos, do not really need to know what that particular senator’s closet skeleton is, nor do we need to see the way our public officials grill and tear each each other apart. It is depressing, very depressing. Reading and watching the news, you would think that the Philippines is a very corrupt country with fights and murders happening everywhere. But that is not the case, if you are not particularly up-to-date with the news, your life would be very peaceful. All you would see is the good in our country.
Corruption is something that every country could not escape. With power and money comes corruption - that is a fact. It is a very sad fact that the Philippines is known not for its very hospitable people, nor its beautiful natural resources but by its corruption. Don’t you think it is time for us to rethink our future? Do we really want our children to live in a country where corruption and corrupt men flourish and good men do nothing? I know, I don’t.
What went wrong with Philippine Politics? Simple, corruption and corrupted men driven by money and power are in power because good politicians, men who are not swayed by the strong lure of money and power do nothing. They just stand there, watching, thinking of ways to stop the corruption that they are witnessing - but doing nothing. I admire those who go out of their way to expose corruption at the expense of their lives. They are people who could not stand to just be on the sidelines, to be puppets. I admire their courageous hearts. It is my wish that more good politicians will stand up and be good leaders. Good leaders do not wait and watch on the sideline, they assert their rights and they do something about it. Good leaders are those who possess great minds, and a courageous and good heart. Philippine Politics would not come to the way it is now if we have more of those good leaders.
The Farce that is Philippine Politics, the Circus that is the Philippine Judicial System
Amidst the ZTE Scandal and the over hyped Erap Plunder case, the Philippines has once again proven that power corrupts and money is the root of all evil. I am not against the government per se, I adhere to its laws and the democracy that it represents. But I thoroughly abhor the people who run it, not necessarily the people in the limelight, but those people who hides in the shadow of those in power. They are the puppeteer and those in power are merely puppets. As puppets, they are easily manipulated to do things that they normally would not do, they are driven by ambition, by the lure of easy money and ultimately by the temptation of power.
I have ceased to read the headlines of Philippine newspapers a year ago, I only read the paper for my daily dose of comic strips and sudoku puzzles. Its all the same, day in and day out. Everything is over hyped and every politician wants to make a name for himself by riding on whatever is hot at the moment. It gets stale easily and it disrupts my appetite. But news get around fast and even if I no longer read the headlines I am still updated. I even watched the Erap plunder case ruling and it disgusted me. Erap was not the one who was on trial that day, the Philippine Judicial System is. I once wanted to become a lawyer, but just watching the circus that is the Philippine Judicial System, I lost all desire to be one. It does not matter if you are a good lawyer with good intentions, power still corrupts and money rules the system and not justice. Lady Justice is not just blindfolded in the Philippines, she is thoroughly blind.
I am a staunch believer of goodness and democracy and to be surrounded by too much corruption and greed is suffocating. I still believe that the Philippines deserves to have democracy in its truest sense, because what we have now is democracy that is only skin deep. You might think that you are free to say whatever you want and that the people will ultimately decide the future of our country. It is not so. The Philippines is a democratic country in name only, and I am saddened by that fact. I do not want my children to be in a country that is ruled by corruption and money. But I am a Filipino and will always be one. I believe that the Philippines still deserves the benefit of the doubt and if the Filipino people unite, justice can still be restored and the government can still restore whatever dignity it once held.
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