‘Insignificant’ gifts still a bribe

With too many versions of the controversial “nominal” or “insignificant” gifts that first emanated from the Palace, and with each one’s interpreting the insignificant value of the “gift,” the Civil Service Commission (CSC) created a team that has been tasked to clearly and specifically define the meaning of “nominal” or “insignificant gifts” that government officials and employees are allowed to receive.

The schedule for the release of the CSC’s draft of rules and regulations for the “proper” Code of Conduct and Ethical Standards for Public Officials and Employees will be out in two weeks’ time.

CSC Assistant Commissioner Ariel Ronquillo in an interview, was quoted as saying that the prohibition against receiving gifts is mentioned in Republic Act 6713 or the Code of Conduct, and the agency that was tasked to issue implementing rules and regulations is really the CSC.

Ronquillo added that “unfortunately, under the law, the parameters on what constitutes ‘nominal gifts’ (are not clear), so this has been assigned to the legal Office of the Chair to define the parameters for the value of the gif ts and the circumstances during which the gifts can be accepted.”

But why even come up with the acceptance of whatever “nominal” and “insignificant” gifts under the CSC’s “clarified parameters” when clearly, the current law that spells out the Code of Conduct does not allow government employees and officials to even accept gifts — whether of great value or “nominal?” So why bother to make what can be termed as “exceptions”?

The big problem in having government officials and employees under the expected draft of the so-called “parameters” of acceptable “nominal” or “insignificant” gifts can be taken by the recipient as an insult that would even get the giver of the “nominal” gift in hot water with the government personnel and probably more so, with a government official.

Take for instance a car driver being stopped by a traffic cop for passing a red light or driving in the yellow lane — an infraction which carries something like P500. Nominal to one perhaps, but to a poor driver of a truck, that’s too much out of his salary.

Say that the traffic cop is a good and honest cop and lets the driver go and feeling grateful, the driver gives the cop say, a nominal gift of appreciation of P20 or even P50. That cop would feel insulted, as he had no thought at all of getting “paid” for letting the driver go with just an exhortation of “Don’t do this again.”

In much the same way, a “nominal gift” offered by a law-abiding giver to a government official can be seen as an insult, the official being in a high position, which gift offered can be seen as peanuts. So why even bother to give the official the nominal gift, when a sincere “thank you” from the giver would be enough?

Or take the instance of a bad cop stopping a driver for an “insignificant” violation especially when it is committed during the Christmas season, and when asked for his license, the driver pulls out an “insignificant” P50 bill, and finds that it is not enough of a “gift” for a bad cop, who expects more. What then can this be called, if not bribery? Where then does one draw the line between an “insignificant gift” and a bribe?

A commissioner of the Presidential Anti-Corruption Commission, Greco Belgica, considers P100,000 an “insignificant” gift.

A hundred thousand pesos is an insignificant gift for an anticorruption official? To what depths have we reached in society?

Philippine National Police chief Gen. Oscar Albayalde quickly disputed Belgica, stating that P100,000 is a hefty amount to be given as a gift or token of gratitude.

Hit from all sides for Belgica’s claim of P100,000 being insignificant, the anti-corruption commissioner hastened to explain that P100,000 is what he earns, after which he gives an example of a government employee who finds a bag containing P1 million at the airport and returns it to the owner.

He said that the airport worker can hardly be accused of corruption if he accepts P100,000 as a token of gratitude from the owner. But heck, if that is the rationale of an expectant government employee accepting 10 percent, what’s the difference between corruption and such an “insignificant gift” of P100,000?

More to the point, it really is out and out bribery — no matter the amount being an “insignificant” gift. And worse, such a mentality that is imbued in a government employee and official, makes for a highly corruptible government force.

For an honest government employee and an honest government official, a heartfelt “thank you” would be more than enough reward for the incorruptible in government.

“A ‘nominal gif t’ offered by a law-abiding giver to a government official can be seen as an insult, the official being in a high position, which gif t offered can be seen as peanuts.

“It

really is out and out bribery — no matter the amount being an insignificant gif t.