Corruption is unraveling the Philippines

THE ONSLAUGHT of corruption allegations against President Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo, her husband, son and son-in-law, that surfaced in the past few weeks looks like a well-orchestrated campaign to topple the Arroyo administration.

Not only have the allegations of "jueteng" illegal numbers game protection payoffs being made to Congressman Mikey Arroyo and Representative Iggy Arroyo surfaced just when President Arroyo¹s approval ratings have hit rock bottom, but they have all conveniently come together.

This is not to say that they are not true. Richard Garcia on Tuesday was the first jueteng bagman, who testified at a Senate inquiry into illegal gambling, to point an accusatory finger at Mikey and Iggy. On Wednesday, Sandra Cam confessed on television that she too had personally delivered monthly payments of P1 million a month to Mikey and Iggy in Congress.

President Arroyo has ordered the Justice Department to fully investigate the allegations and has vowed to punish even those close to her if they are found guilty.

While the President's promises to fully investigate the corruption allegations are all well and good, one must note that jueteng has exploded exponentially under Arroyo's watch. This is ironic, because it was allegations of payoffs from jueteng that brought down former president Joseph Estrada in 2001, and which still keep him imprisoned as corruption charges against him are being investigated.

One thing is for sure: If Mikey and Iggy are found guilty of accepting jueteng payoffs, the President cannot deny that she knew about it. No one would believe her. It is unconceivable that the President would not know what her husband, son and son-in-law were up to.

Coupled with the allegations of bribery came the release this week of a supposed taped phone conversation between the President and a Commission on Elections official allegedly discussing the election returns last year as the votes were being counted. Malacañang immediately hit back by releasing what it claimed to be a recording of the real conversation.

I have heard both conversations on television, and I must say that the one released by the opposition sounded like the real one to me. The official speaking to the President in that recording sounded intelligent and believable. The official in the Malacañang version sounded stupid and not like someone who would ever speak directly to the President about election returns.

Of course, there was a lot of interference and background noise in each of the taped conversations, which is to be expected especially in cell phone conversations. But the problem with the supposed "official" version of the conversation is that the pitch of the election official's voice is totally different from the President's, making it sound like it was recorded separately and then spliced together with the President's remarks.

While President Arroyo is battling hard to retain her image of incorruptibility, it seems that those closest to her could very well in the end bring her down.

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THE ACTIVIST group Migrante has been working overtime sending out angry press releases attacking the effectiveness of the Philippine embassy in Riyadh, and of Philippine Ambassador Bahnarim Guinomla, in protecting Filipinos working in the Kingdom.

While I usually support groups like Migrante in highlighting specific cases where overseas Filipino workers (OFWs) are being abused, I feel that the recent spate of outrage is too much and could be counterproductive.

The most recent case that Migrante has latched onto is that of Reynaldo Cortez, a Filipino in Riyadh who is currently on death row for killing a Pakistani taxi driver in 2002 after the driver allegedly made sexual advances on him.
As usual, Migrante started a shrill and hysterical campaign in the Philippines to get a pardon for Cortez, saying that he faces imminent execution. This in turn produced dramatic footage of Cortez¹s mother and other family members crying on television pleading for his life.

What Migrante failed to mention is that the embassy in Riyadh had been working on the case for several years already, and that a consular team had even been sent to Pakistan to try and negotiate the payment of blood money to the family of the taxi driver so that the death sentence could be commuted.

Of course, these facts do not make dramatic television footage of the type that Migrante seems to like. Instead of always attacking Philippine government officials, especially embassy officials in Riyadh, I think it would certainly help the welfare of OFWs in distress if both parties decided to cooperate more rather be at each other's throats.

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THE RECENT comments by the Philippine ambassador to Israel, Antonio Modena, about how the Israeli immigration police mistreat foreign workers, especially Filipinos, were right on target.

A Filipino friend of mine recently transited through Israel for a few days, en route to a new job teaching English in central Europe, and he told me that he was treated like a criminal before boarding the flight to Israel, and again was treated with immense suspicion at Tel Aviv airport.

Not only that, but his luggage was lost, and when it turned up a few days later it had been ripped open and was literally ruined by Israeli customs.

While Ambassador Modena has already apologized to the Israeli government for comparing the treatment of foreigners in Israel to how Jews were treated by Nazis in Europe during World War II, I still think that the envoy was right in denouncing this nasty treatment of foreign guest workers.

It is a well-known fact that foreigners perform many of the menial jobs that Israelis themselves refuse to do such as working on farms or being domestic helpers. Instead of mistreating these workers, Israelis should thank them for having the courage to risk being blown up just to make a living.

Comments or questions? E-mail me at rasheed@arabnews.com.