Government temps

Sorry, folks, I’m here for six years so put up or shut up. This, in essence, was reportedly the message of one of the officials ordered to resign recently when confronted in the past months with complaints about the official’s abusive behavior, including “requests” for expensive “gifts” and other perks.

Happily for those complaining, the six years turned out not to be fact but fiction – a mistaken belief of the official who thought powerful backers guaranteed security of tenure in the Duterte administration.

That President Duterte is brutally dispelling such beliefs is one of the most welcome developments in his administration as it enters its third year. Only the sacked officials and those benefiting from their abuses are not cheering on this purge.

Sacking, however, is not enough if the purge is truly about stopping corruption. Administrative and criminal charges must be filed. If the accusations are accurate, the amounts involved constitute plunder. Those in the private sector who colluded in anomalous deals must not be spared.

Ordinary public servants have been convicted and sent to prison for up to 20 years for corruption involving only five-figure amounts. Why should they face harsh punishment while those who pocket P80 million are allowed to go free?

Firing officials must also be fair. There are people who believe Mark Tolentino’s complaint that he was sacked as assistant secretary for transportation after he disclosed alleged anomalies in a railway project in Mindanao, including efforts by transport officials to secure a Chinese loan for the project that already had a funding allotment of P26 billion from the Philippine government. When no one would listen to him, Tolentino reportedly sought out Duterte’s sister. Should someone else be fired instead of Tolentino? Malacañang must address this issue that threatens to undermine the anti-corruption campaign.

The government should also stop giving VIP treatment to anyone held without bail for plunder. Why is an impoverished person who steals P100 tossed into a crowded, vermin-infested, poorly ventilated jail while the venal politician who pockets P100 million or more is held alone in an air-conditioned room and made to feel at home?

We know life is unfair, but this is not supposed to be the case with justice.

In the ongoing purge, there must be no sacred cows in the indictments. Every exception erodes an anti-corruption campaign. Lessons won’t be learned. It will always be business as usual, with only the top cast of crooked characters replaced in every leadership change. With each new administration, there will always be individuals believing they have blanket authority to steal throughout the entire term of the appointing power.

* * * Prosecution for corruption is up to the Office of the Ombudsman, which can obtain relevant documents from the Commission on Audit (COA) and possibly the Anti-Money Laundering Council.

But the executive can show its support by forwarding cases or providing leads to the ombudsman. Malacañang can also order the Bureau of Internal Revenue to assist in any lifestyle check. The executive may also provide more resources to the COA and ombudsman.

Such clear gestures of support could help lift the ratings of Duterte and his administration, now on a steady decline, with a further slide likely as fuel prices skyrocket in the coming months.

Duterte’s economic managers insist that global crude price increases are to blame, which is correct. But people also know that the heavy excise tax on fuel adds to public woes. The higher the pump prices, the more we pay to the government in excise tax – and for what? So crooks in government can go jetsetting, and taxpayers can pay for the perks, including bodyguards and mistress maintenance of congressmen – the same geniuses who approved the excise tax?

A genuine crackdown on corruption, to show that tax money is being utilized judiciously, could placate the public.

This is always a challenge to a Philippine president. In recent weeks, Duterte has often publicly bemoaned something that his predecessors must have also felt: why are the people who urged him to run engaging in corruption?

He’s no naïf; of course a number of his supporters urged him to run for their personal benefit. The government is seen by many people in this country as one of the top sources of immense fortune if not fame, with the biggest fortunes made by those connected to high officials.

Duterte’s plaintive statements may simply be his way of blowing off steam, short of unleashing tokhang on his abusive supporters.

Besides blowing off steam, of course, Duterte has also been on a firing spree, even denying friends and supporters a graceful exit. While allowing the officials to claim that they resigned, he later lets on that he has fired them for corruption.

He should do more than belie their claim of resigning. If this anti-corruption campaign is to get anywhere, he must make sure graft or plunder charges will be pursued against the sacked officials.

* * * Has the firing spree put the fear of God – or Duterte – into the hearts of the corrupt?

At the very least, the continuing purge should remind everyone that no one holds a title to his or her government position. They are all temps in the service of the people. Everything comes to an end – and in the time of Duterte, it can come tomorrow or even tonight, without warning.

When the end comes, the public servant must be able to declare honestly that he or she truly served the public, and served well.

For those who betrayed public trust, there will be no peace in retirement. They will bring shame not only to themselves but also to those bearing their surnames.