Crime and punishment

There are some folks who think that foreign investors avoid us because we are too corrupt. But how can we explain Vietnam's and Malaysia's status as the current favorite destinations of investors when corruption is present there too?

- BOO CHANCO

Crime and punishment. The two countries punish corrupt leaders and business people. We don't. We even lionize anyone with money and power, regardless of how they acquired both.

Two Vietnamese presidents were forced to resign in disgrace on suspicion of corruption. Malaysia sent a once-very-powerful prime minister and his co-accomplice wife to jail.

In our case, no big-shot politician has been punished for corruption. The only ex-president found guilty of plunder by the Sandiganbayan was immediately pardoned by his successor. Three senators were charged with participating in a scam involving the use of government funds they earmarked for some questionable foundations. Not one of them spent a single night in jail.

For the Duterte administration, the biggest scandal involved the purchase of medical supplies during the pandemic. A bidder with ties to friends of Duterte snared over P10 billion worth of contracts through questionable bidding procedures. The head of the bidding agency at that time is now facing a case before the Sandiganbayan. Duterte defended the awarding of contracts to Pharmally, an undercapitalized firm that was unduly favored.

But Philippine corruption cases seem penny ante compared to the latest Vietnamese corruption case. Property tycoon Truong My Lan, a 68-year-old businesswoman, just lost her appeal against the death sentence for masterminding one of the biggest frauds in global history, in which billions vanished from Vietnam's financial system. She was accused of effectively turning a major bank into her own personal ATM.