Are anti-corruption laws enough?

Dear Editor,

Corruption has been hounding the Philippine government since time immemorial despite policies to combat and eradicate the country’s bane.

It is unfortunate that, up to this day, corruption still exists in various government offices. While countless investigations were conducted, not many were found guilty and convicted.

Examples of corruption in the Philippines include graft, bribery, cronyism, nepotism, impunity, embezzlement, extortion, racketeering, fraud, tax evasion, lack of transparency, lack of sufficient enforcement of laws and government policies, and consistent lack of support for human rights.

While the public may or may not have seen it, it is evident that it still exists today — just varying in forms, situations, and occurrences.

Take the case of the infamous Priority Development Assistance Fund scam, which rocked the country the previous years, as there is still no clear indication of it being resolved since it was exposed in 2013.

Investigations are slow-moving, and while personalities were already jailed and acquitted, the case is still pending.

As it is, one of the most enduring forms of corruption in the government is red tape — which refers to regulations or conformity to formal rules or standards that are claimed to be excessive, rigid, or redundant or to bureaucracy claimed to hinder or prevent action or decision-making.

Efforts require our officials’ more stable moral compass rather than a stronger political will.

President Ferdinand Marcos Jr. is setting his sights on at least curbing the presence of red tape plaguing the country for as long as one can remember.

The President has recently instructed his economic team to lay the “red carpet” instead of red tape. His administration aims to create “a climate” that boosts incentives, promotes ease of doing business, and funds high-impact infrastructure.

Marcos has stressed that red tape is choking the industry and innovation and reiterated that the government should not be a yoke on the back of business, like taxing investors heavily and tightly regulating growth.

He said the government’s commitment to progressing measures extends beyond mere facilitation, framing it as “mandatory equity” for national growth.

Now that the government has laws to curb red tape – the Anti-Red Tape Act of 2007 — which articulates the government’s call to improve efficiency in the delivery of public services by reducing bureaucratic red tape, preventing graft and corruption, and providing penalties.

It is also encompassed in the Republic Act 11032, or the Ease of Doing Business Law, which thenPresident Rodrigo Duterte signed.

We applaud the efforts made by the Marcos administration to look after the welfare of the public and those who are eyeing to invest and do business in the country, as it will mean viable progress in the near future.

But the question remains: Are these laws enough to finally eradicate the “plague” that until now is evident in different government offices across the country?

Will we see an end to red tape in our lifetime? Hopefully, we still can.