CORRUPTION IN RECENT years has become extremely sensational and adversely affecting the Philippine economy. We’re drowning in debt, while people can’t seem to find a formula on how to make both ends meet.
For one, the P695 minimum wage in Metro Manila isn’t enough to cover the daily expenses for a family of five – food, rent, transportation, education, health, and utility bills to name a few.
The suffering all boils down to government corruption. Funds intended to ensure public welfare isn’t serving its purpose.
After two humongous fund mess — the pork barrel scam and the flood control scandal, crooks in the government were compelled to adapt and become more creative and enterprising. Crooks are slowly veering away from agencies under public scrutiny.
Aware that the Filipino taxpayers are getting more vigilant, the so-called “honorables” reinvented the conventional way to siphon public funds. In fairness, crooks are certainly very intelligent these days as they have found a way to sustain the illegal practice in the guise of the so-called investments.
‘After two humongous fund mess — the pork barrel scam and the flood control scandal, crooks in the government were compelled to adapt and become more creative and enterprising. Crooks are slowly veering away from agencies under public scrutiny.’
REINVENTED VERSION OF CORRUPTION
Under the Marcos administration, the media has flagged down at least four government agencies adapting the reinvented version of corruption.
The Overseas Workers Welfare Administration (OWWA), the Government Service Insurance System (GSIS), the Pag-IBIG Fund, and the Maharlika Investment Corporation ( MIC).
By law, OWWA is mandated to ensure the welfare of overseas Filipino workers (OFW), a sector that has been contributing a significant chunk in the country’s economic stability through remittances. Former OWWA Administrator Arnell Ignacio sealed a P1.4 billion land deal without the approval of its board. Ignacio, who has already been sacked, is currently facing a graft complaint at the Office of the Ombudsman.
GSIS is mandated under the law to make sure that the life of government employees won’t be miserable after retirement. But its top honcho Arnulfo Veloso gambled billions in pension funds in an online gambling venture. By the way, online gambling is illegal.
Pag-IBIG Fund, which is supposed to help the Department of Human Settlements and Urban Development in addressing the gargantuan task of covering 8.25 million (as of 2025) housing backlog, infused a P6 billion investment in a company that has been wallowing in debt and on a losing skid over the last three years.
MIC, meanwhile, isn’t created to bail out oligarchs. It was formed to “multiply limited government resources.” Using sovereign funds, MIC is poised to acquire an 11.2-percent stake in ATI as the port operator transitions to private ownership.
Perhaps, it’s high time for the “sparrows” to resurrect.