BY:DONALD SEVILLA
THE CORRUPT HAVE THEIR WAYS
Dealing with the bureaucracy of just about any government agency tests your patience. While minimum standards for transacting business are set to be complied with, differences in its interpretation and implementation could draw the line between ease and frustration .
That goverment bureaucrats are notorious for dragging their feet and dilly-dallying in handling transactions is a known fact which many of us are familiar with.
Despite the law (ARTA-Anti Red Tape Act) being passed, unscrupulous bureaucrats always find ways to delay things.
They are such masters in the art of deliberately causing delays to happen which is just natural for them.
Using dilatory tactics to force clients to come across or negotiate to make things easier is the trademark of the corrupt.
Hugging the headlines lately was news of a Luzon town mayor caught red-handed in an NBI entrapment operation for allegedly asking mllions of pesos in bribe money from an entity intending to establish a business in his municipality.
To most of us, such act would be the height of shame and embarrassment, but not to corrupt public officials.
The bigger the take, the greater the illusion of power and untouchability. That our elected officials have become contractors and contractors have become elected officials, speak volumes of our convoluted mindset which blur the lines of accountability and transparency.
” Delicadeza ” is now a thing of the past and shamelessness and apathy seem to be the norm. Yet we need not look far and beyond our own backyard to know if this is true.
Who among our public servants fit this to a tee? What were they before they entered government service? Poor, average or rich?
Your guess is as good as mine. How shameless have we become!