Corruption is widespread

 What do cellular phones and corruption have in common? Both have become abundant and part of the Filipino lives.

The commonness of corruption has come to a point where selected government positions are seen as quick tickets to massive fortune. For example, employment at the Bureau of Customs (BoC) and the Department of Public Works and Highways (DPWH) is perceived as an opportunity not to serve the people but to gather wealth. But the Question is, why is such thing happening? Do the higher officials simply neglect to investigate on these “common” actions? Such public impressions are based not only on occasional news about government inconsistencies but also several studies that have identified various government agencies as havens of corruption. Though, it is not just confined to the public sector but is also evident in the private sector. The frequency of corruption in the country was highlighted at the National Study Conference on Corruption (NSSC) on January 14 and 15 2005 at the University of the Philippines College of Social Work and Community Development (UP CSWCD). That corruption is everywhere has been proven by the session and workshop papers that analyzed corruption in various sectors of public and private life. One of the speakers, said “The prevalence of corruption...implies that corruption is not simply an individual act but is a phenomenon that is systemic...and defined by particular social relations in the realm of ethics and culture, politics and economy in each society as well.”

We, civilians, know that these are happening in real life. But what are we doing to stop it? Some reason out that they do not act on this issue because they no longer have the spirit to fight since we have already given up on our country a long time ago. Some even state that they want an iron hand that will make the Filipinos follow the laws. By iron hand, do we mean we need to suffer greatly before following the law? Isn’t it better if we have freedom and still follow laws? When I hear this statement, I immediately thought of the recent movie RIO. Here, two rare Macaw birds have different mind-sets. One bird would rather be caged and not try to fly because he is already accustomed and comfortable with just being a pet. On the other hand, Jewel, the Macaw bird from a forest in Rio De Janiero would prefer to be free and learn things eventhough it will be outside her comfort zone. At this point. We are neither of the Two birds I mentioned. We are a worse case. Blu, the first bird, prefer to be in that cage because he is already comfortable with the way he is living. Jewel would like to be free to see or learn more. We know what is happening around us and we are not happy about it. This brings back the question, what do we do about it? We should adopt the both the mid-sets of Blu and Jewel. We should learn how to appreciate what we have  and we have to explore what else we can do to make us better.