Corrupting the minors

“Corruption is not a victimless crime.” – Malou Mangahas, Philippine Center for Investigative Journalism

SURE, it may not be as dramatic and graphic as this administration’s bloodlust under the pretext of waging a war on illegal drugs but corruption is just as appalling, debase, and vile.

It is subtle. It is because what corruption kills is opportunity. For every peso stolen from the state coffers, it is an important medical check-up not pushed through or an academic path not trudged.

On the side of the corrupted, there is impunity and entitlement that they feel borne out of a weak or even broken moral compass.

When I heard about the “ghost pupils” at our public elementary school here in Consolacion, I was enraged. The fact that a government assistance program–a program which supposedly encourages impoverished families to send their children to school–has been corrupted is cunningly vile.

That was only half of it. The other half of that ball of anger is on the seemingly default response of government of covering it up to the point of pinning the blame on the school principal.

By the way, I believe education is a right and not a privilege. It is a state obligation.

We discovered this debase scheme about a fortnight ago. Since then, the welfare department has since “corrected” the erroneous list of pupil-beneficiaries. However, an investigation on the breadth and depth of the civil workers involved has yet to be launched.

The school principal discovered the 107 “ghost pupils” listed as beneficiaries in the course of verifying the welfare department’s list of pupil-beneficiaries for the months of February and March which is set to be released next month.

The welfare department regional field office’s default response was that the school principal made a mistake in verifying the list. Its program’s focal person said the principal checked their list without the presence of the “pupils” teachers. Well, who would know better who is enrolled in a school or not than the school principal?

The list was crafty. It had surnames that are cunningly familiar to anybody who has lived in Consolacion in the last 15 years. However, the first names were unfamiliar.

I made my own calculations. It seems that I have been making calculations lately. It doesn’t even help the fact that I hate math, but back to the point I was making… Had the erroneous list been “verified” without the school principal’s transparency and honesty, the taxpayers would have given away to a lucky ring of government ulcers with P171,200 next month. The amount is derived from the educational grant of P300 and health allowance of P500 each pupil-beneficiary gets for the months of February and March then multiply that to the number of “ghost pupils” at Consolacion Elementary School.

That is only for one public elementary school. In the course of our discovery, we found out that this same scheme is being done in other public schools in the city as well. So if you have a neighbor who ostensibly works at the welfare department who suddenly has brand new appliances, chances are, those are katas ng pantawid. I have seen such neighbor, mind you. Suddenly, they were able to buy flat screen TVs, washing machines, and even a taxi.

Lately, this administration has been espousing a no-nonsense war against corruption–this administration is so into “wars”–by booting out supposedly corrupt officials. The “purge” has started with the interior secretary.

I say this administration should, nay must, also include its career bureaucrats in the regions. That is if it is serious in rooting out this equally reprehensible behavior.

Until then, the colorful words of this administration will remain as such–mere words. Pfft.