Babe's Eye View article

The Millennium Challenge Corp.'s announcement that the Philippines was qualified to apply for an "MCC compact" couldn't have come at a better time for Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo.

The MCC—an official US government agency established in 2004 that helps developing countries fight poverty by providing grants—virtually thumbed its nose down on accusations of corruption against the GMA administration, effectively diminishing the impact of a recent survey by the Political and Economic Risk Consultancy Ltd. (PERC) that perceived the Philippines as the "most corrupt" economy in Asia.

In 2006, the Philippines received a $21-million grant through the Millennium Challenge Account Threshold Program to reduce corruption in government. Last January however, the Washington-based MCC Board shelved a decision to upgrade the Philippines' aid status from "threshold" to "compact," citing "serious concerns" regarding corruption in government.

With the granting of a compact eligibility status, MCC is saying it believes government is serious in reducing poverty and fighting corruption. Certainly, the Philippines can now receive more than the $21 million it got from the aid agency in 2006.

With no less than US State Secretary Condoleezza Rice as the head of the MCC Board, the decision is naturally seen as a strong affirmation that the United States still supports GMA—in spite of all kinds of rumors that it was "pissed off" with the deals she made with China, including the now-controversial Joint Marine Seismic Undertaking.

Fact is, GMA now enjoys the support of the US because she has agreed to be more transparent with the "China deals." It looks like the people power habitués will have to wait a couple more years before going to the streets again to unseat the next president. After all, it's a known fact that the US was ultimately responsible for the removal of Marcos and Joseph Estrada when they withdrew their support. In the case of Erap, it was more like the US was informed of his "resignation" supposedly by Ed Angara, who was Executive Secretary at the time.

Obviously, the military component is equally necessary for any people power attempt to succeed. But at the rate Jamby Madrigal is holding up the promotion of AFP officers, she is pushing them to become even more loyal to their commander-in-chief, and in the process creating a lot of enemies with the military. In fact, I received a lot of emails, one of them describing the senator as a "spoiled rich brat."

Of course, there's no question the US has a strong influence on the AFP since most of the hardware and equipment come from them, plus the close coordination and continuous exchange of intelligence information. Needless to say, the Balikatan exercises have made the US and Philippine military even closer.

Actually, presidentiables are thankful that efforts to oust GMA are dwindling because they will have an even playing field as far as 2010 is concerned, with Noli de Castro not having the power of an incumbent.

While international institutions like the MCC recognize government efforts to reduce corruption, it's unfortunate that domestic perception is different, with people thinking that nothing is being done about corruption.

In this country, perception can blur reality and muddle issues. Manila is now known as the "chismis" capital of the world, with so many stories coming out and transmitted by 8 million OFWs all over the world in just a matter of minutes. Stories can be planted and floated, carried over by text messages, emails, blogs, endlessly discussed in talk shows, coffee shops, barber shops, everywhere—circulated many times over until people begin to believe them. Let's face it, gossiping is the number one national pastime, invading almost all areas of people's lives. As a matter of fact, my friend Tonyboy Cojuangco has been the victim of gossip for three months running now.

Gossip can be a potent and destructive weapon, usually carried behind a victim's back, leaving behind a trail of malicious innuendoes and dangerous half-truths with far reaching consequences. In fact, a foreign "spinmeister" who was a former psy-war intel officer once conducted an experiment in the Philippines by floating a rumor, and watched it return to him a hundred times bloated—with people adding or subtracting a word here and there, interpretations colored by their own perceptions and opinions.

According to a study, people tend to be more influenced by gossip, accepting it as fact or truth even when it contradicts common sense or their own observations. Gossip has such a strong "manipulative potential" that it can be used to change (tarnish or improve, depending on the nature of the rumor) a person's reputation.

Which is why, with all the allegations and accusations of corruption against the government and people getting confused about who is telling "the truth" or who is lying, and having a difficult time sifting "the truth" from gossip, rumor and conjecture, the only reliable way to validate any allegation is through the courts—even if our justice system leaves much to be desired. This is where truth can be established with evidence. We have to remember a person is supposed to be innocent until proven guilty beyond reasonable doubt. In this country, a person is perceived to be guilty often without reason.

Initially, there was so much hope riding on the Senate inquiries. Unfortunately, the hearings have been almost reduced to "chismis sessions" where testimonies by witnesses—a number of them beginning to look dubious—can't really hold water since they are turning out to be mere hearsay and conjecture.

Clearly, we have to strengthen our justice system—because that is the only institution where we can count on the whole "truth"—and nothing but the truth.