Money is the root of all evil.
We've heard that adage time and time again. We, in the Philippines, know that for a fact. Year after year, our government is plagued with intrigues and controversies. The beginning of a new regime brings with it a new set of troubles that does nothing more than tear our country's image into tatters, making each and every citizen slowly lose hope that someday it will get better; that we shall all arise from this a better nation than what we were before. We can dream, but in our hearts we know that it's a long shot.
These anomalous issues that are popping up all have one thing in common - money. To be more exact: tax payers' money. A professor of mine at college once said, tax laws in the Philippines are very good. Yeah, you might say that. The amount of taxes we pay is enough to strangle every ordinary citizen. Whereas before we are living on a tight budget, now we have to tighten it a bit more after paying our respective tax dues. And to top it all of, prices of basic goods such as rice, bread, canned goods, pork, beef, and etc. are rising. Is there no end to this?
My point is this - we pay the government with taxes which, quite frankly, are so high that we barely have enough left to spend for our own basic needs. If that's the case, then the country's budget is a ridiculously large amount that our government can use for the betterment of this nation. But where has all that money gone? Our country's sure as hell not getting any better.
There are still roads that are not fully cemented. Sure, what's so different about that? Maybe that project just hasn't been approved yet. Yeah, right! There are roads that are cemented, it then ends into a rough and rocky path, and then another cemented stretch begins anew…. Question: Why not just finish the whole damned stretch of road? Is the budget allotted only enough for segments? It's a joke that's what it is. We are slowly becoming one of the laughingstocks in the world, if we are not it yet already.
The latest issue that has surfaced these past few days is the almost Php800,000 unaccounted funds which was supposedly for the Swine Program of Quedancor. Where then did this money go? There's no paper trail. Very fishy, isn't it? Was it used to fatten pigs, or was it used to fatten a pig's bank account? If the money was indeed distributed to farmers to help them, there should be some documentation but sadly there has been none. I'm sure the people involved in this scandal are still inventing pitiful excuses. Ugh, I'm quite disgusted!
I know for a fact that the money we pay for taxes is being used to purchase new furniture for our government offices throughout the country. That's okay if our money was being used right, generating returns on smart investments made by the government. But somehow I doubt that. As what was reported by a news program just recently, there had been several projects that the government had undertaken which were complete failures and cost us a shit load of money. There were equipments bought but were never used, phone lines installed but no dial tone, and as I mentioned above: roads cemented but not continuously.
In relation with what I mentioned above, furniture purchased with tax payers' money should be for the sole use of the government office which did the purchasing. That same money should not be used to purchase items for personal gain! But, that is exactly what happened. Along with office tables and chairs, there was a sofa set included which was for the home of one official. What the…?! Here we are, living in a state that's almost near poverty and they have the gall to spend our money for their personal use?! What do they think we are, rich?! Damn it, this always gets on my nerves so I apologize. But to those who practice this, I have this to say to you: have you no shame at all?! You live a life of luxury while the people, whose money you use to spend for the things you want, are working their asses off just so they could have enough money left (after taxes) to feed their families!
Decency is a virtue that dies once a person enters into politics, or be in a position of power. Just look at the ZTE scandal, greedy bastards got their hands on a lot of money. Even the previous equipments purchased by our very intelligent government for the betterment of farmers/common people, I'm sure some persons (those that have a hand in determining the projects' or biddings' results) have made some money off of it as well.
Hey, I can bitch about a lot of things that's wrong with this government or the previous ones. Thing is, getting a new president to “lead” this nation still wouldn't put a stop to all of this. They can try, but they won't get far. This thing has gone so deep that it would take nothing short of a miracle to pull the country through. Face it folks! Money makes you do things you didn't think you were capable of in the first place. It's like an addictive drug, once you've had a taste you'd never want to get rid of it. You'll keep on wanting more and more, in large quantities. You'll scheme, manipulate, and try just about every trick in the book to acquire more.
Money or the desire for it is becoming a growing disease. Soon enough, there'll be a massive outbreak. It will take over the world. I just hope I won't fall prey to it.
