On this anniversary of Ninoy’s assassination, it is worthwhile to dwell once again on his assertion that the Filipino is worth dying for.
There has been discussion of late whether we should revise the spelling of Pilipinas to Filipinas. As if the spelling of a word should change also its constructs of meaning. Theoretically, it should. Though one must wonder: Is that change at all meaningful considering our current state, and all these problems that beset us now?
There’s not much discussion required for the concept of dying. Death is still death as it has always been. There must still be a few among our leaders capable of risking death for us. But judging from the news, the greater majority of these would rather pay attention to keeping their hold on power no matter what it takes. What it takes is often just the simple act of amassing wealth no matter how corrupt the means. The means can be just the simple act of picking up a sack of money from somewhere. It is the culture, they must tell themselves. This is simply how things are done. There is the pork barrel. Why rock the boat?
And so it is the concept of worth which is of the greatest pertinence. What is P20 billion worth? Traceable bank accounts are certainly not worth as much as hard currency placed in sacks that anyone can load into a car and take home. In that latter form, the money is worth many times more because, then, it may be spent for every sort of expenditure including the buying of votes, the buying of any office a politician might want for himself, his wife, or any kin. The money leaves behind no trail. Before all these, it was a perfect crime. As soon as it drifts away from the news it will be a perfect crime once again. And look, most of our political leaders are looking the other way already.
But there is the argument that in good hands, pork can be quite beneficial if only because it liberalizes the process of funding deserving projects. Projects marginalized by conventional budgetary processes can be given higher priority precisely by those people who can make the best rational decision over these from the field, our congressional representatives.
Years ago, Sen. Serge Osmeña put P1.5 million of his Priority Development Assistance Fund to buy computers for what was then the new product design program of the University of the Philippines-Cebu. Indeed, the money came quickly surprisingly. By the time the first generation students of the program started their course, computers were already available for them. Months after that, the good senator paid the college a “surprise” visit without too much fanfare to see for himself whether the money was put to good use. He gave the chairperson of the program at that time his personal assessment that we could have bought a few more computers. He was not suggesting any wrongdoing for our part, he was quick to explain. He was merely stressing the point that money can always be leveraged to yield more than its worth at face-value. There is always the issue of efficient spending to consider. And he was of course correct in this sense. The young chairperson was well-educated by the whole experience. He was reminded of the true value of public money. This value is equal to the value of honesty and trust.
And yet if the same chairperson is asked now whether or not the “pork barrel” should be abolished, he would say “yes”, though sadly. And he could still swing either way on the theory that there is nothing wrong with the form of government that we have. It is the people we put into it. And he would immediately note the irony of it.
He had been struck with a great respect for the good senator who actually spent time to monitor what would now seem a small amount in the light of the P20 billion pork barrel scam. But as the full story of the pork barrel now reveals, a personal unannounced visit is the only means by which any senator, congressman, or anyone else can monitor the funds. In the hands of the greedy and dishonest, pork is public money easily stolen and lost. Pork barrel money is worth only as much as the true worth of the politician who is entrusted with it, this true worth is measured by honesty and trust.
It is a good thing then to think that when Ninoy claimed “The Filipino is worth dying for”, he was not talking about most Filipino politicians. Whatever their worth, by the measure of the pork barrel scam, they fell 20 billion short, whether one measures in money or by honesty and trust.