Follow-Up Comments on the Abolition of the Pork Barrel System

Published below is a reply to a series of comments posted on Facebook by Jose Lorenzo Castillo about my thoughts on the Abolition of the Philippine Pork Barrel System.  I post this here since it is very long to be conveniently read on a Facebook comment.  Posting this on a blog also makes the contents more accessible for future reference via the blog archives.

----------------------------------------------------

Image from www.inquirer.net.  Supreme Court Slays PDAF.

Sorry for this delayed response.  As I wrote earlier your comments require more time to reply to since they are a lot and are very much worth considering.  

Summarized below are main points I culled from points I definitely agree with.  These also include my short and humble thoughts:

1. Our Constitution and laws are in the English language… it is their (Americans, etc.) primary and only language so ordinary people in their country can understand the laws and the Constitution  --  I agree that our Constitution and laws should be in a language understood by the common Filipino.  One positive development I see is the use of the Filipino language by our President Pnoy whenever he addresses the people.  In televised Senate hearings in aid of legislation some Senators also intentionally speak in Filipino.  These are steps toward the right direction.
2. Patience is virtue but it has become to us a vice.  -- Agree.  We do need to have a sense of urgency.
    
3. Wage an unforgiving battle, first, to win the support, trust, and confidence of the suffering masses… then confront the tyrants.  -- Yes, unforgiving, consistent battle to win the support of the masses because no amount of ranting on our part will amount to anything until we reach a critical mass.
4. The battle must begin from the middle then proceed to the bottom to the top.  -- Agree, start from the "enlightened" middle since they don't have as much to lose as those at the top but they don't have so little as those "below".  I am just mindful that there are those from the "top" and from the "bottom" who are equally as enlightened, patriotic, resourceful and already currently doing positive things.
5. Believe we must, but belief is of no use if bereft of action and the erudition of incisive thought -- Agree.  For my part I believe in the God who has given us both wisdom to understand and to act positively in response to Him and to situations around us.
6. Thundering voices of protest from many of our laboring class -- Yes, even those who constantly wage mass protests have not really won the hearts of the masses they claim to represent.
7. Controlling few see to it that the status quo is kept at a standstill -- Agree, that is why we need to continue to help rock the boat and refuse to give up.
8. (I) only cry in helplessness. -- Yes, as individuals we are helpless, but as a people and with God I believe we can be a powerful minority who can create critical mass.
9. We should study history. -- Yes, that is why I am also a lover, advocate, student and attendee of meaningful forums on both world and Philippine history.  As they say, "He who does not know history is bound to repeat it."
10. PDAF is outlawed (now) … but… there are many ways to skin a cat -- Yes, that is why we should be prepared to keep sending forces in every battle ground of the war.  People motivated by greed and other evil plans will keep finding ways to frustrate justice but that is no reason for us to wage battles and rejoice when some of these battles are won.
11. Leveling the playing field. -- Yes we should work and pray for the leveling of the playing field.  That is why we are thankful for this information revolution where we now have the power to be heard and to interact with each other.  Wide access to information and communication can help to greatly level the playing field.
12. Over 20 years in government service mainly involved in the review, analysis, and management of organizations, systems and procedures, and control systems with the view of improving them, patching up loopholes, and putting in place airtight control systems to forestall loss of money and other resources, which may arise from simple oversight to gross dishonesty -- I can imagine how you feel.  That must be so disappointing and discouraging.  Thank you for keeping on.  I am glad that people like you are still on the ship.  We need all possible hands on deck.  There are a lot of other good people in the private sector, in the military, in government who are still on the ship.  We need to support them even as we continue to do our part.

Just one comment on "The action of the people is the action of God".  -- Yes, I believe in vox populi, vox dei but it may not be correct at all times, otherwise Hitler finds justification for the holocaust.   It could not have happened without that country's population agreeing with, or at the very least, condoning it.  The majority may not always be right.

I believe in government because without it we find ourselves under the lawless "state of nature" or "state of war".  Structures, laws and Constitutions will always be powered by external compulsion but the real problem is internal -- in the hearts and minds of men and women.

"The real problem is in the hearts and minds of men.  It is not a problem of physics but of ethics.  It is easier to denature plutonium than to denature the evil from the spirit of man."

                                                                                              -- Albert Einstein

In the end, I think everything still boils down to personal convictions in the form of ethics.  As you have emphatically stated people can still creatively invent new ways to preserve their power.  Not a single world system is airtight.  As in your experience, we can create structures, provide safety nets and counter-measures but people can always circumvent them. 

Read related post on the Abolition of the Pork Barrel System

---------------------------------------------

"In arrogance the wicked hotly pursue the poor; let them be caught in the schemes that they have devised.
For the wicked boasts of the desires of his soul, and the one greedy for gain curses and renounces the Lord.

O LORD, you hear the desire of the afflicted; you will strengthen their heart; you will incline your ear to do justice to the fatherless and the oppressed, so that man who is of the earth may strike terror no more.

-- Psalm 10:2-3, 17-18 (ESV)

.