Ex-Bohol Gov. De la serna: Is running for elective post a desire for public service?

TAGBILARAN CITY, Philippines — Only fools believe that an aspirant for the position of city mayor or governor would spend millions of pesos just to get elected for purely public service, according to lawyer Victor de la Serna, former governor of Bohol.

“It is hard to believe that for the mere intent of public service, you spend P50 million to P100 million just to earn a monthly salary of P25,000 for mayor or P30,000 for governor. Even if you include the intelligence fund at your disposal, it’s not enough to return the investment you made during elections,” said de la Serna, who is not running for any elective post this 2013 elections.

“So, why spend your hard-earned money for the position? Like a gamble, the reason for that is when one wins, he could immediately recover all the expenses in the first year of incumbency,” he told The Freeman.

De la Serna said an incumbent city mayor controls 50 percent of the P350 million budget, while an incumbent governor of Bohol, it’s 50 percent of P850 million. “You control this money for three years. You can practically steal all and prepare for the next election.”

The root cause of this, de la Serna said, is the opportunity for re-election. “If the elected official is aware that he is only good for one term, and that none of his relatives could run after his term, it will lessen corruption. Re-election can encourage stealing public funds,” he said.

The city’s budget is P350 million a year and 50 percent of it, or P175 million, is for the salaries of employees, while the rest is susceptible to corruption, he said.

“It can all be stolen. Even if you spend P100 million for the election, in the first year of incumbency you get all of it back. Maybe P75 million can be shared to the people in the form of projects and services but the P100 million can disappear in corruption. You ask around how much is the overprice in purchases of the LGU. It’s 60 to 70 percent. The people’s money can all be gone just to pay off the overprice,” said de la Serna.

The former governor further said that the intelligence fund can come first at P10 million a year, and all the rest equivalent to P90 million can be spent on projects that are hardly felt by the people.

“So we can see that it’s not the tradition of public service, and neither the desire to serve the people, but because of the money that goes with the position. It’s like winning a huge business empire that will make you an instant tycoon,” he said.

“In one-year incumbency, you get all your money back. So, it is an indication that if one candidate spends that much for election, he is expected to get all that back,” de la Serna pointed out.

The moment one captures public office, he automatically becomes the owner of an instant business empire worth hundreds of million pesos. “On the other hand, you need a criminal mind in order to make money,” he warned.  — (FREEMAN)