What would you change if you could?
Posted on March 3, 2007
Filed Under Commentary |
What would you change in the Philippines if you could? And how?
I’m looking for opinions and suggestions about certain social issues. Particularly poverty, human trafficking, drugs, health care, corruption.
I don’t want just opinions I want to hear Ideas. I don’t care how simple they are or complicated I’m just curious about the feedback I will get with these suggestions.
I will not post rude comments so please if you don’t have anything constructive to say…don’t say anything.
Thanks.
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My feeling is it’s graft, bribes and corruption.
Corruption goes all the way from the top down. Everything and anything can be done through graft, bribes and corruption.
If you want to insure a vehicle, get a student into college, obtain public information from city hall, avoid a traffic ticket, avoid a trial and possible fine or jail time, avoid paying taxes, get a seat on a sold-out boat…you name it…just bribe someone.
When the Tax man comes, if you bribe him, he will lower your assessment, and you will pay less or no taxes. The Government doesn’t get the revenue, but the Tax collector, who earns about four or five thousand a year, has a huge house and a new BMW and a driver, maid and cook.
Everybody does it, and it’s not only allowed…it’s expected.
The most grievous and recent case concerned local high school girls.
It seems a local photographer ran a brisk business in pornography and prostitution. Poor girls from the countryside would come to the local photographer, he would take their picture with a cell-phone and send the pictures to his ‘customers’. If a customer was interested in the girl, the customer would order pictures. The girl, usually 14 to 17 years old, would pose toppless or nude in the photographers studio.
The customer paid P500 for a series of pictures ($10) and the girl would get half. She could then buy a cell-phone on time, or a phone load.
The plot unraveled when a poor girl from the countryside was seen in town with a brand new cell phone and a pocket full of money.
When the local USA residents heard of this, they launched an investigation. It seems the practice had been going on for six years, and had progressed to some of the girls actually meeting the customers for sex. One of the encounters was actually videotaped and the tape circulated thru town.
The American residents hired a lawyer and a local civic activist to push for a criminal investigation.
The Photographer was charged with pimping and pandering, and some nine girls came forward and signed complaints of rape against the ‘customers’. The Photographer skipped town.
When the case finally came to court, all nine of the girls dropped the charges, and signed statements disavowing any charges of the customers and the photographer.
The Mayor’s family paid each family P50,000 (about $1,000) each, to drop the charges. The case never went to court, and the Photographer went back to his store and his business.
The Mayor’s family came up with $10,000. That’s half a million pesos. In the Philippines that is a hell of a lot of money.
The thing that really bothered me was this had been going on for six years. In a town that small, with all the local gossip, something like this is well known, and could not have remained secret for six years.
There is nothing in that town, that the Mayor does not know about.
Nothing!
The Mayor will run for re-election next month, and after paying P1,000 per vote, ($20) will win the election.
Corruption, and allowing corruption to flourish will destroy the Philippines.