The Disposable Pinoy and the necessity of studying corruption

There are two truths about corruption: first is that the more corrupt the leaders of a country are, the poorer the country tends to get; and second the poorer the country is, the more obvious the people's (largely the government) vulnerability to it. The Philippines is happily sandwiched between these truths, making no exceptions as corruption is a universal inclination of both the government and the governed.

These are not new to us. The poverty of the Filipinos is blamed upon corruption, wastage and gluttony in all levels of government. On the other hand, kotong cops (for instance) extort money from truck drivers with the reason that they have not enough wages to suffice for their families. I'm not sure if the same case applies to agencies such as the Customs though, but in any way the heavy boulder of such theft falls on the laboring backs of the middle class and the dreaming heads of the poor (today the Philippine middle class are the new proletarians).

The Disposable Pinoy
I've noticed that political aspirants now rarely, if not no longer, underline the elimination of corruption as a part of their speeches. This I attribute to a couple of reasons: one is that they want to be careful not to mention something they think is stupidly incredible or incredibly stupid, another is that they want to be honest of something they cannot dissociate from themselves with consistency, as they are without doubt prone to backsliding. Either way again the boulder falls to the nape of the voter whose body is stretched on the ground, an idealistic creature punch-drunk from the chimera of promises. This lame beggar, who candidates remember for six months but forgotten for thirty, is called by them the “Disposable Pinoy.” Everytime I hear the words “Aking kababayan” from campaigning wannabes it's like they're saying, “My Disposable Pinoys!” Everytime they say “Mahal ko ang bayan ko,” it's like I'm hearing “Mahal ko all of you Disposable Pinoys!” During Congress inquiries one will hear something cool like “Pero ang tanong ko, este ng naguguluhang taumbayan...” which is translated to “But our Disposable Pinoys are asking you.” I heard this one not long ago as 2010 approaches; otherwise we will just hear the more direct “I demand an answer Mr. -!” during ordinary session days.

Yet why are Filipinos subject to frequently making the wrong choices? Is this because they can easily be fooled, as the long-worn saying goes, not only once, but many times?

I think the Filipino's weakness is not foolishness or idiocy, but cowardice. He fears of falling short of living. He fears hunger and uneasiness, that is why he would rather let others buy his vote than perish from them. He succumbs head-over-heels to many concrete but fantastic promises because he fears the longevity of his poverty. Most of all he is silent of corruption because for him of course life is weightier than integrity. Perhaps it is natural for man to fear the obstructions to his Happiness. But the Filipino, desiring fervently to avoid these obstructions, is well-intent on doing everything just to bypass the wretched hours of his fate, trading his Honor and Integrity to ransom himself from Fear. From this cowardice he himself descends to moral corruption just like his political saints.

Changemaking
I should say there are a commendable few who do engage in moral movements, and indeed most of us may have heard of diverse organizations bearing these words “Moral,” “Reform,” and “Change.” And though these have grown to be generic clichés, I find some movements worthy of support for their non-partisanship or simply their being apolitical.

However, there is one thing about their method of “educating the masses.” It is correct that we should start from the root, inspiring the people from whose ranks the leaders emerge, though in our democratic oligarchy they ultimately come from a wealthy few. Yet I think it is not enough to just sift for leaders who can act as our living heroes. Besides, concerned individuals often regard to morality and good governance only as straight responsibilities and nothing more. I think there should not only be an education of responsibility, but also an education of importance. Teach the child his household responsibilities and he wouldn't keep them at the back of his head because he is innocent of their significance. The Filipino then, must learn how honor and integrity are greater-than-life virtues that ought to be safeguarded. He must understand that the reward of their preservation accomplishes his meaning and purpose as part of his family and society.

But even so, corruption is not as easy as it looks. It has evolved into a something which needs a more than superficial study. Just as washing clothes effectively requires the products of science, effective cleansing of morality too, involves different approaches from as many scientific disciplines as possible. Talking on stage seeking to lift people's hearts cannot single-handedly purge the nature of corruption out of our culture. We also have to become thoroughly familiar with its origin and development, and here movements must deal with its psychology with all patience. Even areas such as sociology, anthropology, and other social sciences do have relevant roles in the analysis of corruption and how it occurs in the Filipino psyche, necessitating a lot of studies in different levels and perspectives in order to arrive into a more effective solution.

Corruption is not even absolute but relative, and we should not just pertain to the entire mass as a single type with a single cause and nature of corruption - instead we should be dealing with different types of people.

In other words, the moral force should not only be a movement, but an institute. To alter this system, we have to attack the problem concrete against concrete.