Actions speak louder than ads

Actions speak louder than ads

PROCOPIO S. BELTRAN JR

EVERY time I turn on my television set after office hours and read the Inquirer, I always see government press releases and propaganda—apparently meant to convince our citizens that the Arroyo administration is doing something to stop graft and corruption. This, of course, means that millions of pesos in taxpayers’ money is being wasted.

But these propaganda lines have no basis in fact. Here are some of them:

1. The Office of the Ombudsman always issues press releases about government officials and employees who have been suspended or removed from office because of unexplained wealth and graft and corruption. But has it forfeited the millions of pesos that the perpetrators illegally acquired? No! I suspect that the Office of the Ombudsman gets a share of the ill-gotten wealth which should be forfeited in favor of the government in summary proceedings.

2. In a TV commercial, one of the eight services the government renders to its citizens is health care. But when you go to public hospitals in Metro Manila and nearby provinces, you see two or three, or even four, indigent patients occupying one bed.

3. In education, when you go to public schools, you see 70 up to 90 high school or elementary students in a classroom. How can the students be properly educated?

4. The Land Transportation Office and the Land Transportation Franchising and Regulatory Board are encouraging passengers to report overloaded public utility vehicles as well as taxi drivers who refuse to take in passengers. But complaints regarding such violations are not acted upon, thus discouraging complainants.

5. In the war against illegal drugs, the Philippine Drug Enforcement Agency and other police agencies trumpet their achievements, like when they are able to confiscate drugs and such contrabands worth millions, if not billions of pesos. But do they destroy these items in accordance with Republic Act 9165 (Amended Anti-Drug Law)? Could it be that they themselves are “recycling” contrabands?

I say to the Arroyo administration: save the advertising money. Just do your job honestly, courageously and efficiently, and your accomplishments will speak for themselves.