The Catholic Church hierarchy, although divided, doesn’t want President Arroyo to resign. But the bishops, in a statement, asked her to make the necessary changes in her administration to effectively deal with corruption. In short: Do what you can to fix things while you still have time. Or as prophets are wont to say: Repent now as the Second Coming nears. Perhaps the bishops are right, and their position deserving of public support.

Political history shows us that in the last 22 years not much has changed: That administrations have come and gone, but corruption remains the same. All presidents after the 21-year reign of Ferdinand Marcos—Cory Aquino, Fidel Ramos, Joseph Estrada and Gloria Arroyo—have had their share of scandals. Not one was spared from the charge of corruption, cronyism and protection of certain business interests.

Perhaps to the Catholic bishops—or at least those who have been in positions of influence long enough to remember the public struggle against the martial- law regime and its culmination in a publicly supported military-led uprising in 1986—there is clear realization that personality is not the issue, and that change should be institutional. It’s now time to change the chair, not just the person sitting on it.

Simply put, an Arroyo resignation now will not necessarily make things better for the country and the people. On the contrary, such development may even result in a political free-for-all, with competing interests all jockeying for positions of power, and this can lead to anarchy and chaos, more poverty, desperation, and a moral downspin.

For unless the political structure undergoes a drastic and revolutionary change, any sitting president can easily be corrupted by power, and that the legislature and local governments will continue to practice the politics of personality and patronage—the politics of social and economic failure. And clearly, the bishops realize that true, sincere, and honest political cleansing will not happen without bloodshed.

Lifting EO 464 is a step in the right direction. Compelling government executives to shed light on current scandals and controversies is the start of a long and grueling process of presenting to the public more plausible versions of the truth—as told by people truly in the know or truly involved, and not just by people who were told the same things or who were motivated by greed, ambition or revenge.

While institutional change is difficult and will take generations to accomplish, there are three steps that can be done in the immediate, particularly by the government: enact laws to reform election finance, strictly enforce the constitutional prohibition on political dynasties and give life to the constitutional provision on right to information.

The real culprit is the lack of transparency and accountability in governance. And these three initiatives, which can all be done immediately by Congress and Malacañang, can go a long way in addressing public concern over corruption and abuse of power. If effective systems of check and balance are put in place, then regardless of personalities, all government officials and their actions can be subject to a “sunlight” test. And only actions that can stand such test can be considered truly aboveboard.

For instance, a senatorial candidate openly admits taking campaign money from Big Tobacco and properly accounts for such financial support. The candidate even goes to the extent of admitting, and properly reflecting in his statement of assets and liabilities, that part of the money which was used to defray some of his personal expenses. As long as there is clear accountability within the bounds of the law, then one can suppose that restrictions may not be necessary.

Also, it is with such transparency and accountability that people can make an informed choice during senatorial elections. Moreover, assuming that the public can legally accept such circumstances of their electoral candidates, then it will not be surprising later on if the good senator will legislate according to his financing. In that sense, there will be predictability in his actions in the Senate. He can then be censured if he transgresses the boundaries of public interest as he protects his benefactors’ financial interest.

Also, electoral finance reforms will be more effective if the good senator will also be later precluded from offering his wife, son, or daughter for public office—either in the Executive or the Legislative branch, or even in local governments.

Obviously, these areas of reform are far easier said than done. The constitutional prohibition on political dynasties has been in the Constitution since 1987, and yet Congress has not found it in its heart to do the right thing and pass an enabling law. And there have been attempts to legislate electoral finance reforms, yet little progress has been made so far.

While she still has time, perhaps President Arroyo, with the support of Speaker Nograles, can make these reforms a reality before she steps down in 2010, if only to help put things in order, finally. Perhaps it can even help erase the legacy of corruption scandals she is bound to leave behind. But she needs to act fast, before a frustrated public turns into a frenzied mob and goes after her like she was Marie Antoinette. 

Comments to matort@yahoo.com

THE apparent faux pas involving the revelation at this week’s hearing by Sen. Jamby Madrigal of a supposed marginal note indicating First Gentleman Mike Arroyo is being given copies of official correspondences involving ODA-funded projects should have given the beleaguered National Economic and Development Authority (Neda) a reason to hit back at reckless detractors. As we shall explain later, it hasn’t.

One month ago, as the credit squeeze persisted, ratings agencies were forced to downgrade thousands of securities after failing to foresee the recent wave of defaults, particularly in subprime loans.

The two major competitors of La Suerte Cigarette Factory Inc.—Fortune Tobacco and Phillip Morris—must be gloating with extreme satisfaction these days.

Sway: Time to change the chair, not just the person on it

The Catholic Church hierarchy, although divided, doesn’t want President Arroyo to resign. But the bishops, in a statement, asked her to make the necessary changes in her administration to effectively deal with corruption. In short: Do what you can to fix things while you still have time.

Servant Leader: ‘Spe Salvi’–Part VIII

The community-oriented vision of the “blessed life” is certainly directed beyond the present world, but it also has to do with the building up of this world.

Philip M. Lustre Jr.: A hard Church and an opportunistic military

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