Anti-Corruption Month Bill is a Waste of Time; Instead, Support the Decriminalization of Libel or Reduce fines of Lèse Majesté Laws

Trivialities

There is one Congress of the Philippines and what do we see in the news? Lawmakers wasting their time on trivialities instead of taking action.

Declaring October as Anti-Corruption Month? Why just October? Why not, "♪ Enero, Febrero, Marso, Abril, Mayo, Hunyo, Hulyo, Agosto, Setyembre, Oktobre, Nobyembre, Disyembre, Lubi-Lubi ♪!"

Why not all 12 months?! You really make me laugh.

Has it become a typical pastime of lawmakers to declare months as this and that? Do you not have other important matters to attend to? Leave those blasted declarations to the Executive Branch and pass bills of crucial importance such as Agrarian Reform, Judicial Compensation Reform, Presidential Succession, Taxation Reform, and amendments to the Labor and Omnibus Election Code (to name a few)!

Why do you waste precious deliberation time on such petty matter?

Baloney

The premise that declaring October as an Anti-Corruption Month, and mandating "all heads of government agencies and instrumentalities to conduct activities that promote public awareness" will help the Filipino people become "informed and vigilant" citizens is absolute baloney.

Let me be clear on this: the bill will mandate government officials who refuse to acknowledge, apathetic to, and involved in corruption to act as fountains of virtue? More so, the same group of people will create programs to INSTRUCT the citizenry on how not to be corrupt?

Ha! Ha! Ha! Ha! Ha!

Are you out of your mind?

IT IS BETTER TO ASK ROBBERS AND THIEVES TO TEACH THEIR VICTIMS NOT TO STEAL THAN PASS SUCH LAW, DIMWIT!

Why It does not Work that Way
The passage of such trivial laws testifies to the ineptness of some of the members of the government institution in which the Philippine Constitution granted considerable power and authority.

More so, it reveals the flaw of a political tradition that extols virtuous rule, a way of political thinking which have governed their lives since before they were born.

To a people under such condition, politicians with the best moral background are best to rule. Once politicians turn "corrupt," the people seek the next "good" politician to lead the nation.

Well, a republican democracy that does not work that way. The principle of checks and balances through the separation of powers only works if the fundamental premise revolves around the belief that all politicians are ambitious and self-seeking.

Ergo, a politican's incessant desire for fame and status ought to be contained by public censure; their hunger for wealth and fear of losing the ability to "have more" must be by discouraged by the putrid smells and crampness of Philippine jails; and their thirst to maintain and seek power regardless of the consequence must be quenched by the fear of losing it.

And only citizens that participate on our democratic processes, who demands that their voices be heard, who ensures that each and every politician is held accountable for his action can make these things happen.

Individuals whose mouthpiece and usual thought are, cooperation is key, criticism makes it worse and this politician can be good usually carry the disease of being more of a CONSUMER OR CUSTOMER BUT NOT A CITIZEN.

They (those consumers & customers) carry the disease of transferring all political responsibilities in the hands of politicians (a precursor to and tendency of aristocracy). Trusting in the supposed "goodness" of politicians they elected, they surrender their membership in the public realm, making them individuals incapable of assuming the burden and duty of citizenship.

Those individuals are no better than slaves whose lives are governed by the pleasure that the fruits of their labor produce and the things that their hands have made: a constant cycle of never-ending toil and happiness based upon their material creation.

Support the Decriminalization of Libel or Reduce fines of Lèse Majesté Laws

If one is really serious in attempting to reign in corruption, then one must allow the highest realization of accountability.

Dear lawmaker, if indeed you really wish the reduction of corruption, if not its elimination, then promote transparency by removing barriers imposed by lèse majesté, a concept devoid of democratic foundations, and hiding in the guise of and protected by libel laws.

Tyrants, ancient, medieval, and modern, abuse its use to justify their repressive acts to the detriment of liberty, freedom of expression and speech.

As James Madison, one of the architects of the concept of Checks and Balances through the Separation of Powers Principle, the political theory in which the federal government of the United States is based, surmised, the greatest threat to government abuse and indiscretion (i.e., corruption) is an effective system in which each government branch can mind each other's business.

But who shall mind the branches of government, beyond each other? And the entire government, who shall hold it accountable?

That prerogative remains, my dear lawmakers, as always, in the hands of and forever belongs to the Filipino people, your Sovereign.

Having no difference from stripping citizens of their inherent right to scrutinize government acts, libel laws discourage accountability in the form of speech acts by citizens (however politically correct they may be) such as internet & newspaper articles, blogs, etc.

Politicians should not be afraid of any kind of media if it is not based on facts, unless Philippine politicians think that the Filipino people are idiots and cannot distinguish lies from truth.

By actively doing nothing to amend Philippine lèse majesté laws, you protect government officials who commit graft and corruption, and become one of the corrupt. By turning a blind eye on the effects of this draconian law to freedom of speech, you become part of the problem, not of the solution.

Do not think we are not watching. Sovereign power belongs to the people. It would do you, politicians, well to remember that.
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