On July, 26, 2000, at Hotel Renecca, located at Kisad Rd., Baguio City, Linis Gobyerno was formally launched. Together with the launching was the induction of officers and members and covenant signing. The Office of the Ombudsman, during the occasion has also awarded Linis Gobyerno its certificate as a Corruption Prevention Unit (CPU).
The Executive Director's Speech
One in the fight against graft
A Culture of Morality in the Government
The Executive Director's Speech
Let
us be one in bringing our nation back to glory
Speech Delivered by Freddie J. Farres
Executive
Director
Its with an inspired heart that I welcome our guest of honor and speaker the
Hon. Ombudsman Aniano Desierto and all of you, gallant and distinguished
guests.
As I stand before you at this very moment, an act of corruption is probably taking place somewhere in our country. That’s how rampant corruption is in our society.
For the longest time, our nation has suffered from an endless barrage of social ills. We have shouldered one burden after another. As we nurse our bent and twisted backs we realize that we have gotten nowhere in this seemingly endless cycle. The trouble is that most of the time, we tend to tackle problems as individuals, not as a group. This has proved to be our Achilles heel.
The Launching of LINIS GOBYERNO is intended to serve as a trumpet call for all Filipinos to get our acts together and as a team, lift the foul deadweight known as corruption, out of our lives.
It is indeed a great tragedy that a country borne out of the spilled blood of heroes has been forced to its knees by corruption. This most vile and perverse betrayal of public trust has held our nation back from true progress. It has prevented us from becoming the great nation our fore bearers intended us to be.
Instead, we are stuck in a rut, festering in a putrid little hole the result of rampant, unchecked corruption.
But the greater tragedy is that our society has been gradually desensitized. Corruption has been around for so long that the most of our countrymen accept it is a part of the way things are. We must put an end to this.
Inasmuch as a stagnant pool is the breeding ground of flies, in the same way, a complacent society is the perfect breeding ground for corruption.
Corruption in the government is a crime, punishable by law. Allowing corruption to flourish is a crime too. And the result of such a folly will bear heavily on the generations to come. We owe it to ourselves and to our children to fight corruption today.
But doing so will not be easy. Evil has a way of protecting its own. In our present society it is practically futile if not suicidal to go against a corrupt official on your own. The covenant which we will be signing today will serve as an assurance that we will confront the despicable corrupt elements of government as a collective whole.
Let us remember that one raindrop cannot do much. But a torrential downpour can be destructive. And as we commit ourselves today, we ensure that we become part of a mighty deluge intending to wash out graft and corruption from our government.
Our forthcoming battles will assuredly be long and arduous, but with our combined might we will deliver dent after dent until we crush the evil of graft and corruption.
In closing let me quote George Elliot, who said “it is never too late to become who you might have been.”
If corruption had
not crippled us, we’d have a very different country today. But with LINIS
GOBYERNO we will be helping our nation back on the path to glory. Good day and
Magandang Umaga sa inyong lahat.
The covenant signing is the portion of the activity where Linis Gobyerno together with multisectoral groups (from the government sectors to religious, business and non-government organizations), vowed to support the fight against graft and corruption. It was participated in by 43 groups as follows:
1.
Apostolic Vicariate of Baguio-Benguet
represented by Bishop Ernesto Salgado
2.
Association of Metro Baguio Christian Ministers (AMBCM)
3. Baguio Association of NGO’s Multisectoral Council, represented by its Chairman, Prof. Federico Balanag
4.
Baguio City local government represented by
Hon. Mayor Mauricio Domogan
5.
Baguio City Prosecutor’s Office
6.
Baguio City Police Office
7.
Provincial Government of Benguet
8. Benguet Police Office
9.
Bureau of Customs- of the Cordillera Administrative
Region (CAR)
10.
Bureau of Jail Management and Penology (BJMP)-CAR
11.
Civil Service Commission (CSC)-CAR
12.
Cooperative Development Authority (CDA)-CAR
13.
Department of Agriculture (DA)-CAR
14.
Department of Agrarian Reform ( DAR)-CAR
15.
Department of Education, Culture, and Sports (DECS)-CAR
16.
Department of Health (DOH)-CAR,
17.
Department of Interior and Local Government (DILG)-CAR,
18. Department of Public Work and Highways (DPWH)-CAR, represented by its Regional Director Manuel Agyao
19. Department of Social Welfare and Devlopment (DSWD)-CAR, represented by Mr. Ronilo R. Flores
20. Department of Trade and Industry (DTI)-CAR,
represented by Mr. Charles Castañeda
21.
Narcotics Command (NARCOM)-CAR, represented by
22.
Government Service Insurance System (GSIS)-CAR represented by
23.
National Bureau of Investigation (NBI)-CAR
24.
National Economic Development Authority (NEDA)-CAR represented by
25.
NLAB (National Association for the Blind), represented by
26.
Phil. Postal Corp.-CAR
27. Professional Regulation Commission (PRC)-Baguio
28.
Philippine Information Agency (PIA)-CAR
29.
Public Attorney's Office (PAO)-CAR
30.Office
of the Executive Judge, Regional Trial Court, La Trinidad, Benguet
31.
Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC)-Baguio
32. Social Securities System (SSS) North Luzon Cluster, represented by Ms. Norma P. Velasco
33.
Technical Education and Skills Development
Authority (TESDA)-CAR
34.
Traffic Management Group (TMG)-CAR
35.
Department of Interior and Local Government (DILG)-Region I
36.
Department of Labor and Employment
(DOLE)-Region I
37.
National Bureau of Investigation (NBI)-Region I
38.
La Union Provincial Police Office
39.
Police Regional Office - Region I
40.
Regional State Prosecutor’s Office
41.
Traffic Management Group (TMG)-Region I
42.
Public Attorney's Office (PAO)-Region I
43. National Food Authority (NFA) Baguio-Benguet, represented by Mr. Juanito David
One in the fight against graft
Thirty
years ago, the Philippines was one of the leading countries in Asia. The
Filipinos, back then lived a comfortable life, no squatters, no one dying of
hunger. Back then, the Philippines was leading in the literacy rate among her
neighbors.
But
that was then.
Now,
our poor country is way behind, a struggling third world country, that seems to
be unable to get up.
But
we are not supposed to be going thru this terrible poverty - if not for the
looters of our country’s wealth, if not for the corrupt leaders that we have
had and we now have.
The
poverty that Juan dela Cruz is currently experiencing can be traced to the
endemic and rampant graft and corrupt practices in government - that is so
contagious, it spreads easily and readily to whoever it gets close to. It is
eating up people in the government to the detriment of the masses. Graft and
corruption begins from the top post in government down to the lowest.
Worse,
the Filipino people, the victim of this despicable act, feel helpless about it,
and would rather “go with the flow” than go against it, despite their
knowledge of its illegality. Despite their acknowledge of its effect to their
children and their children’s children. But very few dare to confront this
despicable disease head on. Again, the misplaced “value” of “pakikisama”
to one’s “kakilala”, to one’s “kumpadre”, “kaibigan”,
“kamag-anak” prevails. The power of these graft and corrupt officials are so
overwhelming so that touching them may be a futile move.
But
it is not too late, we Filipinos, joining hand-in-hand can so something. We have
proven the people’s power during the EDSA Revolt. We will prove it again now,
until we succeed in cleaning the government, wiping out the dirt that is among
the major cause of poverty. Fighting graft and corruption in not easy - it
entails
time, resources, courage, perseverance, and dedication. Some have tried on their
own, but their enthusiasm slowly died down - nobody is supporting them, they are
even being branded as “stupid” at times.
Thus,
the Linis Gobyerno was launched last July 26. We believe that through our
collective efforts and resources, through the support we give each other, the
fire and enthusiasm in us in the fight against this crime will not wane.
It
was heartwarming that some of the government heads of offices have committed
their willingness and cooperation in the fight against graft and corruption. It
is a good start, and it adds to our hopes that graft and corruption will soon be
minimized. To them, thank you and congratulations.
It
is encouraging too, that more and more people are indicating their support to
the group in whatever way they can - for them, this group was conceptualized.
Note:
This is the Editorial of The Junction Regional newspaper on its July 30,
2000 issue, which Linis Gobyerno adopted for its launching souvenir program.
A
culture of Morality in the Government
By:
Leonora Paraan - San Agustin
Linis Gobyerno, Inc. was launched to a capacity crowd at Hotel Renecca, Kisad Road,
Baguio last Wednesday, July 26th with Aniano Desierto, the No. 1 Ombudsman as
the guest speaker. However, Honorable Ombudsman Desierto could not make it so
the Deputy Ombudsman for Luzon Jesus Guerrero took his place. The capacity crowd were mostly government
employees who were invited to attend. The function hall of the Hotel Reneca
overflowed with representatives from government offices within Region I and CAR,
heads of multisectoral groups, PNP, media and some religious leaders. The
launching was unique because of the Covenant signing where the officers of Linis
Gobyerno and selected heads of government offices affixed their signatures to
become partners and proponents of a local CPU which stands for Corruption
Prevention Unit.
This
is symbolic of the general desire of Baguio people to at least minimize
corruption in the City Hall. Corruption is endemic and many of us have accepted
this way of life with fatalistic resignation that we cannot do anything about
it. But that is the attitude of slaves! We are not slaves. We are masters of our
own fate, independent thinkers, and believers in the God who gives justice and
equality to all, even the corrupters. Man, being what he is, however, is prone
to corruption. The exigencies of daily existence gives him big bruises in the
heart that cannot be healed with band aid, but he believes can be healed with
material goods - hence the desire for money and eventual corruption.
There
is therefore need for public vigilance. We can have all sorts of laws and all
kinds of watchdogs built into the governance of people but no one can protect
people from falling into the insidious system of corruption except the people
themselves - hence these little groups like Linis Gobyerno Inc. Corruption is to
deeply rooted, too widely expanded that we have to start in many many small
units like this to fight corruption where it has started.
The
Bishop in his homily last Sunday cited small groups like this Linis Gobyerno
Inc. in the effort of the church to minimize corruption - by developing a
culture of morality among its parishioners - by starting in the individual and
his family’s Christian values. The Bishop stressed that there is so much
arrant abuse of power and position not only in the government but also in other
endeavors that it behooves the Christian to be strong in his faith of Christian
moral values.
For
the Bishop and Linis Gobyerno CPU, this would be a Sisyphean mission but we have
to start somewhere. It will be difficult, frustrating and maybe thankless but we
need these efforts. We need people to join and start Linis Gobyerno CPUs and
hope that someway, somewhere the beneficial ideas of morality in public service
will germinate. Many of us pray that it is not ningas cogon na naman. Whether it
is the government or the private sector that started is not the basis off its
worth but rather the need of the times. The fact that corruption as a way of
life is no longer tenable because slowly and surely people are waking up to the
fact that a city’s salvation is in the hands of its own people.
Note:
This
article of Ms. San Agustin was published at the Baguio City Digest (August 6,
2000 issue) where she is a columnist.
This article was also adopted by Linis Gobyerno in its launching souvenir
program.