Senate of the Philippines during the Blue Ribbon Committee hearing on anomalous flood control projects | Photo via Wikimedia Commons
The proliferation of drugs and the resulting drug epidemic is often the handiwork of drug lords who would go to great lengths to make a profit at the expense of people’s health and sometimes their lives. These drugs are usually smuggled from foreign countries like China or North Korea, and in North America from Mexico or Colombia, courtesy of the drug cartel. The traffic in drugs is often an organized operation and involves a worldwide network.
Corruption, as we are witnessing in the Philippines, has an equally pernicious impact and consequences on the Philippine economy and the lives and livelihoods of many Filipinos. Like drug addiction, corruption undermines national security and has detrimental consequences in the government’s ability to finance vital public services and respond to natural disasters. Take “flood control,” as an example, which has been an unmitigated perennial problem.
More than sixty-five years have passed since I used to wade in knee-deep floodwater while walking home after a downpour in different parts of Manila. As a teenager, I remember seeing in the news how much of the rice fields north of Manila were underwater during typhoons. Not only has the government failed to eradicate the problem, but it has become worse.
Like drug addiction, corruption kills. While drug dealers peddle their deadly wares, the corruption kingpins are trading on lies and deceptions, using fabricated documents or outright bogus projects. We are familiar with how drug addiction ruins people’s health, finances, and life, and corruptions have similar devastating effects on the public, such as deaths from unmitigated flooding, spread of diseases, ruined crops, and properties on a large scale. Often, entire families are killed or rendered homeless or reduced to poverty.
“In the case of illegal drugs, we can partly blame the foreign actors or the drug cartels. Whereas, with political or government corruptions, it’s a homegrown syndicate operating under institutions that are rotten to the core. Under the glare of money and the power it bestows, they act with impunity …”
Drug traffickers and dealers operate outside of the law, while corruption syndicates have the veneer of government or public service or professional and legitimate business. They operate under a similar modus operandi, laundering blood money through seemingly legitimate means. They flaunt their ill-gotten wealth in luxury, i.e., large mansions, expensive cars, personal effects, and a lavish lifestyle.
What’s driving this unscrupulous behavior among these lawless kingpins in a country steeped in Christian faith and values? In trading with both illegal drugs and corruption, the leading actors are often educated people, such as politicians, criminal justice officials, government servants, and professionals. They occupy positions that carry public trust and yet act with impunity against the interests of the people they are supposed to serve and protect. How does one explain the excesses and insatiable appetite for accumulating wealth and engaging in corrupt practices that often involve an entire clan?
In the case of illegal drugs, we can partly blame the foreign actors or the drug cartels. Whereas, with political or government corruptions, it’s a homegrown syndicate operating under institutions that are rotten to the core. Under the glare of money and the power it bestows, they act with impunity, like a drug addict who has lost the ability for self-control. What happened to “love thy neighbor, serve and feed the poor, thou shalt not steal or kill?” Indeed, the Christian principles were never etched deep in thy heart.
ABOUT THE AUTHOR Dr. Fernando B. Perfas is an addiction specialist who has written several books and articles on the subject. He currently provides training and consulting services to various government and non-government drug treatment agencies regarding drug treatment and prevention approaches. He can be reached at fbperfas@gmail.com.
