Doing things for ourselves

There are many who are urging a tax boycott because the taxes we pay are being stolen by government officials and their cronies. But most of the taxes we pay are collected automatically like the VAT and deducted from our salaries before we see our payslip.

- BOO CHANCO

Also, there are many basic services being provided by the government that must be funded continuously. But yes, our government officials have proven themselves unworthy of public trust.

That's also our fault. We keep electing the bastards into office. We had the chance to elect a president with a clean track record of honesty and good governance.

But we elected one from a family internationally known for plundering our nation. And his running mate is from the family responsible for the potential losses of P42 billion on pandemic purchases including P12 billion on Pharmally alone.

Our business elite contribute generously to their campaign funds. We honor the crooks and their accomplices just because they have money, never mind if it was stolen from us.

The expressions of outrage on social media and rallies are welcome but not enough. We must do more to minimize the ability of these shameless crooks to steal from us.

I have been advocating in this column that the private sector start doing many of the things the public needs. This goes beyond the PPPs which have shown that the private sector is more efficient in building and managing infrastructure from expressways to airports.

When private corporations clean rivers, build classrooms and transport terminals among others, the crooks in DPWH and their patrons in Congress will not have the chance to overprice or even steal the entire budget for such projects.