Keep Your Hands Clean!

Aquino III Donors Can Truly Contribute to Greatness


President-elect Benigno Aquino III released the list of donors to his campaign as required by election law. Here are among his contributors and the amounts ( in pesos) they donated:

Antonio Cojuangco 100 million
Chung Bu Hong 20 million
Martin I. Lorenzo 20 million
Fulgencio Factoran 20 million
Leonardo Javier Jr. 14 million
Cesar Purisima 10 million
Jose R. Aliling 10 million
Alex Tanwangco 10 million
Jose Mari Gamboa 10 million
David Lim 10 million
Elena Lim 10 million
Abeto Uy 10 million
Felix Ang 10 million
Felipe Diego 10 million
Felix Chung 10 million
Jose A. Larrauri 10 million
Gerardo Esquivel 10 million

Did they contribute to the campaign for altruistic reasons? Did they part with some of their wealth to help elect the right candidate? Have they truly boarded the Aquino III anti-corruption bandwagon? Money talks, it is said, and by contributing to the campaign they have certainly “talked the talk”, but will they “walk the walk” by staying true to the Aquino III vow to have a clean and corruption free government for the next six years?

I raise these questions because the common assumption is that they donated these funds and expect a quid pro quo that could pay them back ten or even a hundred fold. The Marcos cronies and family reaped billions of dollars worth of plunder by using their influence in the 1970’s thru 1986 when the dictator was overthrown. The Macapagal-Arroyos had nine years of a luxurious drive on board the gravy train and some quarters are claiming that they looted even more than the Marcoses ( hard to believe but the rumor continues to float). So the expectation among many is, why would these friends and family of Aquino III be any different?

In light of our history, it certainly is a fair question. Yet, what I see here is a clear seminal moment for our country and nation. Here is a great and unusual opportunity to break the old mold and begin shaping a new one. These friends who contributed to the President-elect can reverse the trend; they can debunk the dreary expectations of “business as usual”; they can indeed be the ground breaking pioneers of a new tomorrow by staying “clean” for the next 6 years.

They can profoundly change the trajectory of our country by not using their “influence” with the new administration to enrich themselves or their friends and families further. If they are currently in business they should continue running those businesses without engaging in any shady deals. If there are contracts they bid on they should do so on a fair playing field. If they win a contract for construction, as an example, the funds should all go to creating a quality product that will redound to the government’s, and by extension to the people’s, benefit. They should not engage in any shortcuts nor avoid nor thwart safety and quality inspections; they should not succumb to the lure to use cheap, low quality parts or supplies; they can, slowly but surely, begin to help the government win the people’s trust and in the process infuse it with a much needed breath of integrity. They should insist on exceeding the government’s and the people’s expectations.

If the President-elect’s close friends and relatives cannot and will not “benefit” from their access to the corridors of power, one can hope to expect that no one else will.This will in turn strengthen the new administration’s hand in pursuing the corrupt acts of others. It will surely increase the likelihood that our people will begin to trust their government. It is definitely a long, hard and challenging road to take, yet, as that venerable old Chinese proverb puts it, “…the journey of a thousand miles begins with a single step”.

In one of my earlier columns “Breaking the Cycle of Corruption” I averred that this can happen when we do not become active participants in the process. These friends of Aquino III can take a strong and visible leadership role in breaking the back of corruption, and if they do, their money which helped elect a new president, will have indeed been very well spent.