Many government officials are corrupt.
Nothing new there.
How about this.
1. If you were in their position, would you be any different?
2. If I were in their position, would I be any different?
3. Have you ever ridden public transport without paying? Would you do it, if given a chance?
4. Have you ever accepted a bribe of some sort? Any kind of bribe.
5. Have you ever cheated on taxes? Would you, if given a chance?
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Here is some data that would help answer these hard questions.
Social Weather Stations asked 1200 adult Filipinos in 2001 the following questions. See the answers for yourself.
Pay particular attention to the SOMETIMES answers.
1. Is it justifiable to avoid paying a fare on public transport?
346 out of every 1000 Filipinos: NEVER justifiable.
48 would think it is ALWAYS justifiable.
606 would think it is SOMETIMES justifiable.
2. Is it justifiable to accept a bribe?
395 out of every 1000 Filipinos: NEVER justifiable.
37 would think it is ALWAYS justifiable.
568 would think it is SOMETIMES justifiable.
3. Is it justifiable to cheat on taxes?
409 out of every 1000 Filipinos: NEVER justifiable.
28 would think it is ALWAYS justifiable.
566 would think it is SOMETIMES justifiable.
Ang akin pong punto, o ibig ipahiwatig, sa pamamagitan ng mga estadistika (na galing sa Social Weather Stations) ay:
"Ang mga ugat ng kurakot ay nasa sa atin na rin. The roots of corruption are in our very own selves."
Ibig sabihin po nito: malaki ang hamon sa atin. We have a lot of work to do to change the country. We have to change ourselves first.
Sa kasalukuyan:
Sa isip ng 346 (bawat 1000) na Pilipino, masama ang mandaya.
Sa kabilang dako, ang sabi ng 48 (bawat 1000): ayos lang ang mandaya.
E ang nalalabi?
Sabi ng 606 (bawat 1000) ayos lang ang mandaya paminsan-minsan.
Tawagin nating Pangkat A (hindi ayos sa kanila ang mandaya) ang 346.
Tawagin nating Pangkat B ang 48 (ayos lang sa kanila ang mandaya).
Ang Pangkat C ay ang 606, na ayon sa kanila ayos lang ang mandaya
paminsan-minsan.
Hindi po problema ang Pangkat A o Pangkat B. Sa kanila, malinaw ang mabuti at ang masama.
Ang problema po ang Pangkat C. Ito pa naman ang karamihan.
Problema ang pangkat na ito, dahil kikilos ang mga ito hindi dahil sa pansariling paninindigan, kundi dahil sa pagkakataon. Gagawa ng mabuti kung may nagmamasid. Gagawa ng kurakot kung walang nagbabantay o malamang na hindi sila mahuhuli.
Kung ang 606 bawat 1000 na Pilipino ay ganito, malayo pa ang aking lalakbayin, bago tayo aasenso.
Isang dahilan kung bakit umunlad ang Kanluraning Europa at ang Hapon ay dahil ang karamihan ng mga tao roon ay mayroong pansariling disiplina. Susunod sa batas, mayroon o walang nagbabantay. Hindi kailangan ng pulis.
Kahit na po ba ang lider (o mga lider) natin ay galing sa Pangkat A.
E kung ang karamihan naman ng tao ay nasa Pangkat C, ano po ang mangyayari?
Ano ang magagawa natin?
Magbuhat ngayon, kailangan na tayong magbago.
Kung sanang ang bawat tao ay susunod sa batas, lalong uunlad ang pagsulong ng bansa. Hindi na kailangang suhulan ang pulis o opisyal ng
gobierno. Kasi hindi sila tatanggap ng suhol. Gagampanan nila ang tungkulin nang kusa. Panaginip? O pangarap?
Kahit makakita tayo ng madaya, huwag nating gayahin. Sana'y kumalat at maging laganap ang honesty (ano ba ang honesty sa Tagalog?).
Hindi kailangang 100 % ay maging honest. Kapag umabot na tayo sa 50 - 60 %, mararamdaman na natin ang mabuting resulta. Kung ang bawat isa
sa atin sa Pangkat A ay hihikayatin ang mga tao sa paligid, na para sa kapakanan ng bayan, huwag tayong mandaya, magkakabunga ang ating mga
pagsisikap.
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Here is the link to the data:
APPENDIX
http://www.worldvaluessurvey.org/
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Is it justifiable to avoid paying a fare on public transport?
346 out of every 1000 Filipinos would think it is never justifiable.
48 would think it is always justifiable.
606 would think it is sometimes justifiable.
Total Male Female
Never justifiable 34.6 33.1 36.2
2 14.8 15.1 14.5
3 10.2 9.2 11.3
4 6.9 6.9 6.9
5 11.5 12.5 10.6
6 6.1 6.4 5.9
7 4.1 4.1 4.0
8 4.0 4.4 3.5
9 3.0 3.5 2.5
Always justifiable 4.8 4.8 4.8
Total 1196 598 598
Mean 3.52 3.63 3.41
Standard Deviation 2.724 2.761 2.684
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Is it justifiable to accept a bribe?
395 out of every 1000 Filipinos would think it is never justifiable.
37 would think it is always justifiable.
568 would think it is sometimes justifiable.
Total Male Female
Never justifiable 39.5 38.5 40.6
2 13.9 13.4 14.3
3 9.9 8.7 11.0
4 8.7 10.2 7.3
5 10.3 10.1 10.5
6 4.7 4.5 4.9
7 4.0 5.1 2.8
8 3.0 3.4 2.7
9 2.2 2.2 2.1
Always justifiable 3.7 3.8 3.7
Total 1182 592 590
Mean 3.21 3.31 3.11
Standard Deviation 2.574 2.616 2.528
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Is it justifiable to cheat on taxes?
409 out of every 1000 Filipinos would think it is never justifiable.
28 would think it is always justifiable.
566 would think it is sometimes justifiable.
Total Male Female
Never justifiable 40.9 37.9 43.9
2 12.7 12.9 12.5
3 10.7 9.4 12.0
4 8.0 8.5 7.5
5 11.0 11.1 10.8
6 4.8 6.0 3.6
7 3.5 4.7 2.4
8 3.2 4.1 2.3
9 2.7 2.4 3.0
Always justifiable 2.5 2.9 2.1
Total 1183 594 589
Mean 3.14 3.34 2.93
Standard Deviation 2.504 2.589 2.401