By Manny Pinol
(Today’s story about policemen cheating in Napolcom conducted examinations reminded me once again of the culture of corruption and dishonesty in the country today. I will write about this and discuss this lengthily in my succeeding posts but initially, I am reprinting a column which I wrote for the Manila Times two years ago.)
DURING my elementary school days, the education department conducted an annual National Achievement Test (NAT) in the public schools, an unusual method of testing the competency of teachers by determining the learning proficiency of public school pupils under them.
The NAT involved the conduct of examinations which determined the average score of the students in a specific school and this was compared to the scores from other schools within the district. The best achievers, both schools and teachers, were given awards and commendations.
So, the teachers, who wanted to win awards for themselves and their schools, encouraged the young students to cheat or even arranged a cheating scheme to make sure that the goats in the class would have better grades in the examination so as not to pull down the rest of the class with them.
I remember very vividly how the brighter students were made to sit among the class goats so that answers to difficult questions could be shared with them.
(Modesty aside, I was always asked to sit in the middle of the class to be able to share answers with my classmates.)
It backfired in our case though. One of the questions in the test given to our class asked for the name of the then Constabulary provincial commander in North Cotabato who I remember was an officer named Col. Catral. I shared this answer with everybody around me by telling them “Si Catral” (It’s Catral).
When the test papers were checked, those I shared the answer with wrote in their test papers “Si Catral,” thus easily exposing our puerile cheating operations.
It was fun and hilarious in those days but now looking back I realize and understand why cheating, lying and corruption have been ingrained in the Filipino culture and corroded our values as a people.
When teachers themselves encourage their young wards to cheat, including the misdeclaration of young athletes’ age in the national youth sports competition, you will have a country of dishonest and corrupt people.
And this perhaps explains why this nation which used to be so proud of “dangal” (honor), “katapatan” (trustworthiness) and “palabre de honor” (word of honor) has degenerated into a country where people gloat when they are able to pull a fast one on unsuspecting victims and where everybody has learned to accept bribery and corruption as part of life.
From the immigration officers at the arrival desks in our international airports who wink at returning overseas workers, to customs appraisers who leave their desk drawers open so bribes could easily be dropped, to traffic policemen hiding under the bridges to mulct from traffic violators, to teachers assisting in the cheating during elections, to public prosecutors who could slant their resolutions depending on the thickness of the envelop, to judges whose decisions have price tags, to military officers who receive tens of millions of pesos in “pasalubong,” to politicians who openly flaunt their unexplained wealth, to church leaders who publicly declare that they will receive contributions even from Satan himself, it has become undeniable that the cancer has metasthasized into the very soul of the Filipino nation.
The insensitivity to corruption has paralyzed the nation to the point that nobody would dare stand up and denounce it because the moneyed and the powerful will always prevail in the end.
Jun Lozada of the NBN ZTE controversy and other iconic figures who stood up and told the truth are the perfect examples of how futile and frustrating the effort to expose irregularities in the Philippines could be.
That was until Benigno S. Aquino 3rd became president of the Philippines.
Today, there is a national exorcism with the President acting as the chief exorcist who is driving away the demons which have dwelt for so long in the Filipino psyche.
As the campaign against corruption gains ground everyday, it brings with it a fresh air of hope among those who would like to see a better Philippines. On the other hand, there is a discernible feeling of discomfort among those used to the wicked ways as the proverbial sword of Damocles now hangs over their heads.
You can feel and sense the cleansing process. In fact, just like a washing machine, you could hear the sounds of dirty laundry being turned upside down, squeezed and twisted.
You can see it in the red faces of officials who are summoned to the Senate or House hearings as they squirm in their seats like worms trying to wiggle out of a tight hole.
It was just right that for the second SONA of the President, he delivered a speech that revolved around his campaign against corruption in the country.
Of course, there are critics who say that the President’s speech lacked this, lacked that, and that he could have talked about other issues and subjects as well.
People who say this just do not understand the gravity of the problem of corruption in this country and how it has permeated into every layer of Philippine society.
Corruption and dishonesty in governance, even in our daily lives, are issues that must be confronted head on. It does not matter if this is the only issue that President Aquino will continuously talk about. It does not matter if at the end of his six-year term he would achieve nothing else but the cleansing of the government of crooks.
Filipinos are happy and relieved to hear the President focus on one very important message: I will straighten our crooked ways. Have trust in me.
Exorcising the Filipino nation of the demons of corruption and dishonesty to correct the crooked and wicked ways will certainly lead us to the right and straight path.
Then and only then will we be able to regain our self respect as a people.
(Photo caption: The culture of cheating starts in the schools of all places.)
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