Values: The lasting antidote to corruption

Forty-five years ago, corruption in government was one of the major issues which led to EDSA People Power and the change in government.

- By GIL YUZON

A few months before the event, at the lowest ebb of our country, I wrote a widely appreciated article in the leading newspaper titled, “Values~Cornerstones of a Society’s Destiny.” My contention then was that changing some people in government, changing a whole government or even changing the system of government will not solve our problems as long as we do not change our values. Our country’s history since then has proven this view correct.

Today, almost half a century later, corruption has not only persisted through several administrations, but has become progressively worse, costing up to 40 percent of our annual national budget per some estimates. This easily amounts to trillions of pesos.

To solve the problem, successive leaders have created (in addition to the Constitution-mandated Office of the Ombudsman) special commissions, i.e., Presidential Commission Against Graft and Corruption (Magsaysay); Presidential Anti-Graft Commission (Macapagal-Arroyo); Presidential Anti-Corruption Commission (Duterte). All these special bodies “eventually disappeared into irrelevance,” as a columnist put it.