Marichu C.

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11- Secchi

Corruption is national shame: Duterte

By Azer Parrocha

MANILA – President Rodrigo R. Duterte on Monday dedicated a large portion of his 4th State
of the Nation Address (SONA) expressing his frustration over corruption within the government
and his promise to use the remaining three years of his term to curb it.

“Corruption continues and emasculates the courage we need to sustain our moral recovery
initiatives,” Duterte said in his report to the nation at the Joint Session of the 18th Congress at
the Session Hall of the House of Representatives Complex in Constitution Hills, Quezon City.

“No amount of euphemism can trivialize or normalize betrayal of public trust or any other
criminal offense. It is an injury laced with insult. It is both a national embarrassment and a
national shame,” he added.

Massive fraud

In particular, Duterte said he was “grossly disappointed” by massive fraud within the Philippine
Health Insurance Corp. (PhilHealth) related to irregularities in the funding of bogus kidney
dialysis treatments.

“The recent uncovering of the massive fraud perpetrated against the public health insurance
system proves that corruption is pervasive. Huge amounts of medical funds were released to
cover padded medical claims and imaginary treatment of ghost patients. I am grossly
disappointed,” he said.

To fix this, Duterte said he has ordered the National Bureau of Investigation (NBI) to arrest and
prosecute those who are liable.

He appointed retired army general Ricardo “Dick” Morales to prioritize ridding the agency of
corruption.

Duterte also mentioned how he would send corrupt Bureau of Customs (BOC) employees to
report to Congress every day since he could not simply fire them due to security of tenure.

“I hope that I can have the cooperation of Congress. If we cannot abolish their position and if I
cannot dismiss them for the reason that there is a security of tenure, I will just allow them to have
their plantilla positions but they have to report to Congress every day to help me in the huge
paperwork that we have to do every day,” he said.
“All of them will go out from the premises of the Customs area. I do not want them back,” he
added to the delight of the crowd who included former presidents Fidel V. Ramos, Joseph
Estrada, and Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo.

According to Duterte, the BOC could have collected more revenues than the PHP585 billion it
posted in 2018 if its employees were less corrupt.

Use the hotline

The President, meanwhile, urged Filipinos to use the government’s 8888 hotline to report
corruption complaints.

“There’s an (8888). Be sure that it is true. Though you are not liable for libel pero huwag naman
‘yang makasakit ka ng kapwa-tao na wala namang kasalanan (but don’t report something that
could damage a person who has no fault). (8888), then place ‘To President Duterte, re: abuses by
the director asking for money.’ Text mo, lalabas ‘yan diyan. (Just text and it will be disclosed)
And that is for the public to view,” he said.

Duterte said Malacañan Palace would be open to receiving complaints for 24 hours so long as it
involved corruption.

He, meanwhile, touted the signing of the Ease of Doing Business and Efficient Government
Service Delivery Act to improve service delivery and fight corruption.

When will it end?

Duterte acknowledged that although he has been working for government for almost 35 years, he
still does not have answers how to end corruption.

“Let me ask you: When will corruption end? Kailan ba talaga ‘to? Hanggang kailan? (Until
when?) Well, I don’t know. I’ve been in --- with government for almost 35 years now. I am not
singling out myself. It’s the entire gamut of our system,” he said. “Corruption exasperates. It
frustrates.”

By the end of his speech, Duterte said that although he could not change the past, he will make it
a point not to “squander” the future.

“I will push harder in the pursuit of programs we have started but always within the parameters
of the law,” he said.

“I will not while away my time during the remaining years of my admin, it ain’t my style. But I
will not stop until I reach the finish line. Then should I call it a day,” he added.

Duterte’s 93-minute speech began at 5:14 p.m. and ended at 6:47 p.m.
His first SONA lasted 90 minutes; his second, 120 minutes; and his third, only 48 minutes, his
shortest one yet. (PNA)

My stand against this issue is that corruption has to be prevented or best, has to be stopped. All
of the Filipinos are very affected because of this issue. Corruption has a lot of bad effects in our
country and one of it is on the education system. According to Nelson Mandela, education is the
most powerful weapon you can use to change the world. Knowing that our country ranked in the
7th place as one of the poor South-East Asia nations in the area of education according to Max V.
(2011) of ABS – CBN news, how can the younger ones help in improving our country? There
are a lot of children who can’t go to school because they cannot afford to buy education. The
government should help them because a lot of these children are desperate to go to school.
Currently, the public schools in the Philippines lacks a lot of school materials like books and
computers which are essential because these are the sources of information. There are a lot of
students who can’t afford books because their family is financially unstable. How will they be
able to learn if they lack these necessary materials? These corrupt government officials should
think again of what they’re doing. Janna Thompson (2010) states that, A society is
intergenerationally just when each generation does its fair share to enable members of
succeeding generations, both inside and outside its borders, to satisfy their needs, to avoid
serious harm and to have the opportunity to enjoy things of value. Our country should be
Intergenerationally just so that our country would somehow improve in the future years and this
is because of our future leaders which is the youth. For our country to be intergenerationally just,
the government and the Filipinos should help with each other. The corrupt officials should stop
stealing and should start providing good quality education to those children who can’t afford to
learn. We know that a lot of these children has the potential to become a future leader and a lot
of them might be able to solve our county’s issues in the future years to come. In conclusion, we
must think not just the present generation, but also the future because there are a lot of youth
who are capable of improving our country and would be able to stop corruption.

Sources:

 Azer P. (2019). Corruption is National Shame: Duterte.

https://www.pna.gov.ph/articles/1075704
 Max V. (2011) Philippine Education Ranked ‘Poor’.
https://news.abs-cbn.com/business/06/14/11/philippine-education-ranked-poor
 Janna T. (2010). What is Intergenerational Justice?
http://www.futureleaders.com.au/book_chapters/pdf/Future_Justice/Janna_Thompson.pdf