EDITORIAL - No giving up

He is so exasperated with endemic, widespread corruption in this country, President Duterte sighed the other day, that he is considering stepping down. Crooks, he lamented, have resisted reform efforts and shrugged off the government’s pursuit of the corrupt.

In any crime, impunity reigns when there is no punishment. From the time of the Marcos dictatorship, the leviathans in the Philippine sea of corruption have managed to get away with mind-boggling plunder, and to this day continue to enjoy their loot.

The only lesson imparted by the sensational corruption cases in the recent past is that if you’re going to steal public funds in this country, you better steal big, because then you can afford the best justice that money can buy. It’s the same, it seems, in the war on drugs: penny-ante neighborhood drug pushers end up dead while those who smuggle tons of shabu into the country go scot-free.

If the big fish keep wriggling free, why should the minnows fear capture? Even when caught, justice is negotiable and the rule of law is a joke in this country.

After democracy was restored in 1986, the need for capacity building and strengthening institutions has been barely addressed by a succession of administrations. Bureaucrats designed layers of red tape into processes for delivering basic services to encourage the payment of grease money. Political power is abused to collect fat commissions from contractors, with the crooks believing they are untouchable.

The justice system is one of the weakest links in the campaign against corruption. While reforms in the judiciary are largely outside the jurisdiction of the executive, the President can do his part in strengthening the rule of law by basing his appointments and promotions in the judiciary on merit rather than old school ties and political payback. The same goes for the prosecution service and the Office of the Solicitor General, which are under the executive branch.

Before the President makes good on his threat to give up and quit, there are still certain things he can do to institutionalize measures against corruption. Graft cannot be completely eliminated, but efficient deterrence is possible. A President cannot afford to give up in this fight.