Up the ante

Published by the Visayan Daily Star Publications, Inc.

NINFA R. LEONARDIA Editor-in-Chief & President

CARLA P. GOMEZ Editor CHERYL CRUZ Desk Editor PATRICK PANGILINAN Busines Editor NIDA A. BUENAFE Sports Editor RENE GENOVE Bureau Chief, Dumaguete MAJA P. DELY Advertising Coordinator

CARLOS ANTONIO L. LEONARDIA Administrative Officer

A recent Social Weather Stations survey says that 56 percent of executives from some 1,000 enterprises in Metro Manila and six urban areas nationwide have indicated “a lot” of corruption in government last year. This is a big increase from the 43 percent of businessmen who claimed to see “a lot” of corruption in the public sector in 2012 and this news puts a damper on the perceived effectiveness of President Aquino’s much ballyhooed “Daang Matuwid” more than halfway into his six-year term.

One of the reasons Filipinos are starting to become jaded where the well-meaning fight against corruption is concerned is that three years after, none of the big fish have been jailed. We knew that fighting against something as deeply entrenched and well established as corruption in government was going to be an uphill battle but slogans and threats can only go so far before we come face to face with the bitter reality of what upright Filipino people are up against.

Another reason why the people who allowed their disbelief to be suspended are now letting reality sink in is that the Freedom of Information law, a critical piece of anti-corruption legislation that everybody wrongly assumed would be a shoo-in under the leadership of PNoy, still remains in limbo up. Yes, improvements such as the “Open Data Philippines” project that provides more access to information on government spending are welcome, but as long as the FOI Law is not passed, President Aquino’s resolve to establish safeguards and institutions that can combat the scourge of corruption long after he has stepped down remains as one glaring question mark.

Everyone knows that the crusade against corruption was never going to be easy, especially for someone with just 6 years to make a difference that should hopefully last for generations. There have been minor victories and improvements but the bottom line is, if Aquino were to suddenly disappear today, whatever gains against corruption that have been made over the past 3 years would be erased just like that.

If President Aquino wants to be known as the president who brought this country to a turning point in the war against corruption he will have to up the ante because if he does not change strategies and decide to go all in, his term will already be over and Filipinos will still be reporting “a lot” of corruption in government.*