Corruption Gets Worse Under the Duterte Regime
Bureaucratic corruption remains well-entrenched under the Duterte regime despite all the rhetoric and tough-talk of the president. Past few days saw a barrage of corruption allegations against the administration, once again disproving the regime’s anti-corruption drive.
Transparency International gave the Philippines its lowest rating since 2012, ranking the Philippines as 113th out of 180 countries.
Some of the outrageous cases of corruption involve:
- Police and military facilitating the entry of of $370 million in dirty money into the country. That’s around P18.7 billion from criminal syndicates circulating in our economy.
- Immigration officials engaged in systematic bribery to allow the entry of Chinese POGO workers.
- Alleged involvement of 357 police officials in illegal drugs, all under investigation but were given the option of early retirement.
- The regular fraudulent rebel surrenders presented by the AFP to the public which involves coerced peasant masses who are made to appear as NPA combatants. Each fake surrenderee has a corresponding cash package under the government’s E-CLIP.
- The routine planting of evidence to justify Tokhang-style killings of suspected drug dealers and even activists. A recent video has surfaced showing what appears to be a police official trying plant drugs on the Greenhills hostage-taker while the latter was being subdued.
People, these corrupt security forces are the same people engaged in the drug war and the government’s counter-insurgency drive. They are the same people who will implement the #PHStateTerror law with its vague and overbroad provisions that are prone to abuse.
Fascism and corruption have become hallmarks of those who have vowed to serve and protect the people. Fascism and corruption have become hallmarks of the moribund Duterte regime.#
