We Were All Robbed

The past few days have been more disturbing for me. I cannot fathom how these unscrupulous individuals still manage to do politicking despite the huge disaster in Cebu. Any sane person with good values would prioritize that instead of what they're doing now.

We all got robbed. All of us are taxpayers in one way or another. Your income is taxed, your property is taxed, your inheritance is taxed, and even that soda you bought at 7-Eleven is taxed. 

That bad feeling at the pit of my stomach returned. It's what I felt when I discovered how my Mom's old helper had been robbing her for a long time. And like those who robbed all of us , she's also still on the run. 

Justice is just truly out of reach for us and at this point the best thing we could also do is pray. 

Our Lady of the Most Holy Rosary, pray for us.

#BeKind #StaySafe

Corruption is Systemic

The blow-up of the flood control issue made me think about the thesis we did back in college. We assessed the mobilizational effectiveness of the Sangguniang Kabataan.

The first batch of officers of the Sangguniang Kabataan were elected in 1992. That was the first time I voted and I was actually invited to run in my barangay. My Dad said yes, my Mom said no. Of course, we followed my Mom since she never allowed my Dad to run either. Anyway, I eventually ended up do a thesis about the SK with Jingo and Alan.

We toiled for many months and scoured all the barangays across Paranaque to determine whether the SK is able to effectively mobilize the youth. With only 66% of the registered youth who voted, getting them to participate in activities was much lower. It's essentially not that effective. 

All our interviews were taped and transcribed. The officers though shared off the record instances when they were being roped in to participate in corruption. They were asked to approve expenditures with jacked up prices. At a young age they were already being groomed to be corrupt. (The SK is allotted 10% of the barangay budget.)

The first batch of SK officers were all very hopeful and optimistic for a brighter future. I had hoped one day one of them would eventually become mayor of our city. I honestly have not encountered any of them (chairs and councilors) in any of the elections. I remember one of the SK chairs of the city was elected as the national head. I was hopeful he'd eventually go up the ranks.*

Anyway, the flood control issue is just the tip of the iceberg. I am so envious of Pasig City since Mayor Vico Sotto has been working hard to make his city clean. Corruption is systemic and it needs all of us to work together to get rid of it.

*I'll try to look up the names of the SK officers from my city and see if any of the 1992 batch are still in government.

**My parents did save me from a lot of heartache. I did dream of becoming mayor by age 30, but it wasn't the path I was meant to follow. 

***Oh, just to flex (minsan lang naman), our thesis earned a gold medal for best thesis. A copy is available at the DLSU library. Of course, I still have a digital and print out of it (survived Ondoy!). After, re-reading the conclusion I'm asking myself where did my academic voice go? 😅

Update: you may read the conclusion of our thesis on the SK here.

(Please remember, we wrote this 30+ years ago. I haven't opened it until this week.)

#BeKind #StaySafe