Babe's Eye View article

I will never forget what the late vice president Emmanuel Pelaez said, while he was being wheeled into the operating room after an assassination attempt in 1982, when he turned to Gen. Tomas Karingal and asked: "General, what's happening to our country?" Today, we continue to ask the same question. Joe de Venecia in his angry voice last Monday asked the very same question: "What is happening to our country?"

The ouster of JDV in Congress, the circumstances surrounding the "disappearance" and now the appearance of Jun Lozada are fueling the indignant confusion that people are feeling. Lozada's comment about "dysfunctional procurement" in reference to the ZTE-NBN issue is just one of the many examples of how a flawed system spawns corruption.

And now once again, some politicians are calling for GMA's resignation and the holding of snap elections, but majority of people have come to realize that People Power is no longer an option because it will only deepen the divisions among us. Instead of strengthening democratic institutions, it has set us back, and so, to this day, we continue to reap the consequences.

We can talk about the ills that plague this country, but the root has remained the same: greed and corruption, which everyone knows has been in existence for so long, with only the characters and players changing. Whereas a lot of people were astounded at what JDV said—and the fact that he did—denouncing the Arroyo family, implicating the First Gentleman in the ZTE-NBN deal, criticizing corruption in government—it was just a rehash of issues that are reflective of the problems that have been with us all along.

Unfortunately, I felt—and many share the same sentiment—that JDV could have used another occasion to bring out his recriminations against GMA and the hurt and betrayal that he felt. Joe could have seized that moment to deliver a powerful farewell speech—which I had advised him to do—that would have showed the kind of statesman that he is, instead of enumerating the favors he did.

Be that as it may, JDV highlighted the many ills that continue to haunt this country. But as I said, and I will say it again, as I told the Rotary Club of Makati Central last Friday—we have a broken down system which continues to breed corruption. Just take the pork barrel system—an obvious source of corruption since projects don't have to go through evaluation or verification, plus the fact that it can be used as a carrot stick to make legislators toe the line.

Joe de Venecia hit a raw nerve when he said that "everything is for sale, bribery and corruption after bribery and corruption"—but then again, the buyer is as much to blame as the seller. The point also is, no matter how one tries to be straight, a defective system will only bring about frustration and in the end, erode a person's resolve and compel him to give in just to get things going.

This happens to be true even in simple things which I experienced personally, when I was told I could have my license easily renewed within an hour. I tried to follow the system, only to find out after waiting for four aggravatingly long hours that in the end, all it took was a fixer to get my license faster. So tell me, what is one supposed to do?

With the modern technology that we have today, maybe we should have robots as government employees since it will probably be easier to input a program that will make the system more efficient and eliminate corruption altogether. BIR is an example where we must automate and computerize the system because it is one big source of corruption.

JDV talked about a moral revolution and the need to transform our hearts and souls. The fact is, this is only possible if the one who will lead a moral revolution is credible and has the impeccable integrity to inspire others. Some are already looking at spiritual leaders to lead this country. Maybe they're right. Brother Eddie Villanueva was probably just ahead of his time when he ran in 2004.

Others argue that it is the people who should change first. But let us not forget what our own experiences should have taught us by now—we can keep changing leaders—as we have done so many times in the past—but nothing much has really changed because we still work within the same old system.

As Malcolm Gladwell pointed out in The Tipping Point, change begins when we are ready to look beyond the present and adapt to new ideas and systems, particularly if the present ones don't seem to work. One person with enough motivation can move the world—but he should be someone with the credibility to inspire people into believing that such changes are possible. Who knows, perhaps a religious figure will come to inspire this change, but each one of us must be willing to do our share.

At the end of the day, we must remember that it is the system we should change first. How we can do that is the big challenge. We all want those guilty to be punished. But more importantly, we must begin the process of change in the system. For instance, the legislators can start by cutting back on the pork barrel system. Those who are in a position of power to make the changes must begin with themselves. Because until such time, people will continue to feel angry and frustrated, and will keep asking the same question over and over again: "What is happening to our country?"