corruption.

a sad, sad word.

i still believe that filipinos are generally good people. deep inside. deep deep deep down. corruption is something we often hear of, pertaining to government officials usually, but on a more personal contact, corruption is also rampant. in the processing of papers, acquiring a driver's license, getting clearances, people in charge of the processing often need, uh, "pampadulas," or else you lose all hopes of ever getting that requirement. i remember one time, about two months ago, my mom and i went to the chinese embassy to process pa's papers. after hours and hours of waiting, the man in charge of the processing informed us that the papers cannot be processed because of an inconsistency in the details. in one of the forms, "sandy" was written in the space provided for the alias, in the other form the space was left blank. we didn't really think of it as a big issue but the man insisted that we need to pay a correction fee of P1000. heck, we gave the money, we didn't get any receipt, and of course, we wanted the process to be over and done with so we can't really do anything anymore. friends, welcome to the philippines. hehe. still. as i said earlier, i believe that filipinos are generally good people, however, it also remains true that no matter how clean and good hearted a person is, once he stays in a dirty environment for quite sometime, it would be hard for him to stay clean. corruption is a vicious cycle that traps countless of souls, with no easy way for them to get out. the way to corruption is an easy one, an effortless road sloping downward, with nothing but benefits on the way. prof monsod said that only 7% of corrupt politicians go through trial, and only 2% are punished for their deeds. so, really, what are the odds of an employee in an embassy of ever getting caught? zilch, nada. the current administration is too busy to even think of helping improve the country's present situation. the current administration is too busy campaigning for a 12-0 (there's no chance in hell that kiram whats-him-name will win over legarda), the current administration is too busy filing libel suits and killing journalists and activists who have enough dignity not to join kiss ass writers and politicians, the current administration is too busy with its own agenda to even take notice of other people doing the same thing that they are doing. though the philippines is a predominantly christian society, people are acting the way members of a godless society do. oh okay, after stealing during weekdays, they go to confess on saturdays, and go to mass sin-free on sundays, then back to stealing on mondays.. heck. if that's the way a spiritual life works, then they are in a win-win situation because if they die between saturday afternoon and monday morning then they go straight to heaven and if they die on a weekday then they still won't be damned as they only have half-a-week's worth of sins on their record. see, God is way different from politicians. God sees everything we do, knows every thought that comes to our minds, and is aware of the real intentions of our hearts. people think that if they confess and go to mass, then everything's gonna be okay. reality is, no matter how many times you confess your sins, if you still have every intention to continue sinning then your words aren't worth a thing. it's hard to make people realize that, though, becaue they're too comfortable in their positions right now. but then, maybe some really don't think that what they are doing is wrong. people in their comfort zones will go miles to justify their deeds and make themselves and other people believe that what they are doing is right and is well within their rights. a thousand a day pocketed is nothing compared to millions and millions of pesos stolen by politicians from our taxes. a few hundred pesos every now and then is just righteously taken because it rather go to a poor person's pocket than the bank account of the big shot mole-y woman in the palace. it's easy to justify deeds that bring lots of benefits, that's the problem. people who stay in a very corrupt place will, sooner or later, adjust to blend in. it's a cycle that's easy to get into, easy to justify, and seems almost impossible to get out. every peso taken by politicians is like a bottle of milk taken away from a crying baby, like a roof stripped of a public school filled with students with the biggest potentials to get our country out of its misery.. after i sigh in dismay with the way our country's turning out to be, all i can do now is pray.

Father,
i pray that the people involved in corruption will come back to You and listen closely to Your commands. i pray for clean elections, and for people to vote wisely. i pray Lord that people will stop being indifferent to the issues concerning our country, because every single person that says "the philippines is hopeless" is a big loss to the country's hopes of recovering. i pray Father for the government officials, that You may guard their hearts especially during the coming days, when they are vulnerable to temptation more than ever. i pray Lord that every vote will be counted properly, and that every seat taken will be taken by a righteous leader. lastly, i ask Father that love for country may be instilled in the heart of every filipino. this i ask in Jesus' Name,
Amen.