A Review of Pork and other Perks: Corruption and Governance in the Philippinesby Sheila S. Coronel (Editor) Quezon City: Philippine Center for Investigative Journalism, Evelio B. Javier Foundation and the Institute for Popular Democracy 1998. 293 pages. Reviewed by: Gianna Gayle H. Amul 2003-46431 MA Political Science Political Science 252 Dr. Olivia C. Caoili University of the Philippines, Diliman 4 October 2007 An exposé is a more powerful tool for the media when accompanied by analysis. Pork and other Perks, as a work of investigative journalists, not only defined the future of investigative journalism in the Philippines but also described the perplexities of the dynamics of corruption and governance in the Philippines. Corruption has been a usual phenomenon that a majority of the Filipinos had eventually become apathetic to the whole system of government. Power is corrupted when it “breeds an appetite of domination and insensitivity to the sufferings of others” in the sense that there is a “failure to carry out „proper‟ or public responsibilities because of the pursuit of private gain (Heywood, 2002:365).” In public administration theory, corruption in the Philippines is defined according to the “public interest” meaning the “public official‟s action, decision or behavior is judged on the basis of whether the power or authority is used to promote the public interest or the personal gain of the public official (de Guzman in Bautista, et al,2003: 7).” Varela, in her attempt to highlight the relevance of the culture perspective in organization theory to Philippine public administration, examined the “culture of graft and corruption” among the different faces of Filipino administrative culture (in Bautista et al, 2003:463). She underscored the roots of graft and corruption from the period of Spanish colonialism when public offices were “disposed of by appointment and by purchase”, to the “pressures on the political and administrative system” arising from the grant of independence and the subsequent Civil Service Act of 1959 which “contributed to the vulnerability of the civil service to graft and corruption,” to its peak during Marcos‟ martial law regime resulting to a “systematic plunder of the country,” to the cynicism regarding the Aquino administration‟s attempt to institutionalize an anti-graft and corruption value in fear of a “ningas-cogon” attitude, and eventually, a neglect of ethics and public accountability (Varela in Bautista, et al, 2003: 464-466). 1 Pork and other Perks: Corruption and Governance in the Philippines offers nine case studies of individual authors that explored controversial stories of corruption as well as insights into the dynamics of Philippine politics from the legislature and the executive to the bureaucracy. The introduction by Joel Rocamora, the executive director of the Institute for Popular Democracy presented a guide in looking into corruption in the Philippines with views on metastatic corruption, the income and expenditure side of corruption in the bureaucracy, the inevitable costs of corruption, the perspective of underdevelopment and corruption, the history of corruption in the Philippines and the sources of corruption in the country‟s popular culture, legal system and political institutions (9-31). The first two sections, Pork and The Public Purse, focused on how pervasive can corruption become in the legislature. In a latter work published by the Philippine Center for Investigative Journalism, The Rulemakers: How the Wealthy and Well-Born Dominate Congress, the last two parts were devoted to “the perks of lawmaking (Coronel et al, 2004: 118-171)” and the means and ends legislators go through “for the love of pork (Coronel et al, 2004: 172-215).” The first section on Pork by Earl Parreño, a member of the Board of Trustees of the Institute for Political and Electoral Reforms, explored the who, the what, the where and the how of pork barrel funds in Congress. In the form of the Countrywide Development Fund (CDF), the Public Works Fund, the School Building Fund and the Congressional Initiative Allocations (CIA), pork barrel is considered by legislator to be a “way of correcting the failure of the budgets of national agencies to provide for the needs of the lawmakers‟ constituencies (35).” One of the most important contributions of Parreño to the literature on corruption in the Philippines is his flowchart showing how pork flows and how much goes to whom as well as the payment schedules (38). It is evident in the discussion that much of the funds go into the pockets of 2 legislators, suppliers and contractors, local government officials and the implementing agencies, and not to the projects which were supposed to benefit the public. The succeeding section entitled The Public Purse by Eric Gutierrez, an active contributor to the Institute of Popular Democracy‟s gamut of analysis and investigative works, captured the essence of the cogs and wheels behind the budget appropriations act. From his discussion, the reader can understand the underlying forces behind the making and manipulation of the public purse or the national budget from the role of the House of Representatives as the “sole originator of all appropriation laws (64)” through the tremendous power of the most-coveted House Committee on Appropriations (68-73), from the steering capability of the President through the budget message, the Budget of Expenditures and Sources of Financing, the government Staffing Program and the National Expenditure Program (74-75) and from the roles of the Department of Budget and Management as implementing agency and the Commission on Audit as “the constitutional agency tasked to keep track of government expenses(75).” Ellen Tordesillas, a journalist who contributes to Malaya and Abante, and Sheila Coronel, the founder of the Philippine Center for Investigative Journalism collaborated to investigate the story of one of the most controversial scams in Philippine history, the Amari scandal. Scam identified not only the key actors in the Amari scandal which included a number of brokers, the Montanos, a number of Thai and Filipino businessmen and officials of the Public Estates Authority and the Office of the Government Corporate Counsel but also uncovered a swindle of enormous proportions that involved almost three billion pesos in bribes and commissions (82111). In Monopoly, Sheila Coronel, 2003 Magsaysay Awardee for Journalism, Literature and the Creative Communication Arts, probed into the Philippine Long Distance Company‟s almost 3 seven decade- long monopoly of telecommunications in the Philippines. Coronel examined the power of the “tradition of spoils and patronage (145)” that managed to keep Ramon U. Cojuangco‟s family, through the in‟s and out‟s of Congress and Malacañang, in the forefront of the telecommunications industry even until today amid liberalization and deregulation policies in government. Yvonne Chua, the award winning training director of the Philippine Center for Investigative Journalism teamed up with Luz Rimban, 2004 Benigno S. Aquino Jr. fellow for journalism and broadcast director of the Philippine Center for Investigative Journalism to expose the labyrinth of corruption in government- the Bureau of Immigration formerly known as the Commission on Immigration and Deportation (CID) in Gatekeeper. Their work highlighted Miriam Defensor-Santiago‟s intriguing stint as CID commissioner which earned her a Ramon Magsaysay Award for government service (152). Gatekeeper also traced the roots of corruption “permeating every rung in the bureau‟s hierarchy (153)” as seen in the structure and powers of the agency (156). Aside from highlighting the tendencies of the bureaucracy to be corrupt, it also stressed the legislature‟s negligence to carefully consider the reorganization of the bureau as well as the “insulation from political pressures” of commissioners in the bureau who most importantly must have a “strong moral fiber” to “clean” the bureau (178). Another glance into the lairs of corruption merits a hard look into the breadth and depth of the Department of Public Works and Highways (DPWH). In Highway Robbery, Marites Vitug, 1991 awardee of the International Women‟s Media Foundation‟s Courage in Journalism, probed into the politics of the highways as corrupted by legislators, bureaucrats and contractors. The problems involved in the delay of the completion of infrastructure projects were, as Vitug pointed out, not only technical but also political. Citing important infrastructure projects in 4 Mindanao and a number of erring contractors like Xiamen Special Economic Trade Co., Ltd and Liberty Construction and Development Corporation to highlight the inefficiency and corruption that emanates from the DPWH. The Infrastructure Monitoring and Advisory Group (IMAG) concept, created in 1996 to pose a solution to the problem of “inept management of road projects in Mindanao (210),” depended on the “effectiveness…of local official‟s leadership” because the IMAG was composed of local government officials, DPWH representatives, contractors, consultants and the private sector who were open for “cooperation…and complaints (211).” The IMAG was hopefully seen as a “structure that put devolution to life (210).” Another contentious episode in Philippine politics is elections which involved the “use of government funds for partisan politics (239)” as highlighted in Isagani de Castro‟s Campaign Kitty. De Castro, an elections journalist, traced a number of the most controversial use of public funds for election campaigns which can be attributed to former Presidents- Ferdinand Marcos, Corazon Aquino and Fidel Ramos. Marcos, as de Castro reported, used an outstanding PhP55 million from the Manila International Airport Authority‟s (MIAA) accounts which it supposedly owed the Philippine National Construction Company (PNCC), formerly the Construction Development Corp. of the Philippines (CDCP) to “help fund the massive electoral fraud in the 1986 polls (218).” De Castro, also pointed to the Bureau of Internal Revenue (BIR), the Bureau of Customs (BOC), the Philippine Amusement and Gaming Corporation (PAGCOR) and the Philippine Charity Sweepstakes Office (PCSO) as sources of campaign funds creatively channeled through settlement of deficiencies and campaign advertisements. During Aquino‟s term, the controversy behind the Php26 million local government funds for Cagayan was supported by funds from the National Reconciliation and Development Council (NRDC) which were allegedly used to fund Fidel Ramos‟ campaign. It prompted a Senate investigation. Ramos, 5 with ingenuity, was also able to use Php70 million of funds from the Office of the President‟s Countrywide Development Fund channeled through the Philippine Youth Health and Sports Development Foundation Inc., a non-accredited as well as non-existing non-governmental organization. In Ombudsman, Cecile Balgos, deputy editor of i Report- the Philippine Center for Investigative Journalism‟s quarterly magazine, explored the dynamics behind the inefficiency of the Office of the Ombudsman. She looked into the case of the 1996 Ozone Disco Tragedy and what the Ombudsman did and did not do to “define what justice is exactly in this case (246).” According to Balgos, the Office of the Ombudsman elicits not only “disappointment” but also “contempt- among many of those seeking redress for the wrong done them by public officials (248).” The Ombudsman is not famous for fighting graft and corruption but for the “long time (it takes) in mulling over the complaints it receives (248).” Balgos also probed into the terms of former Supreme Court Conrado Vasquez and Aniano Desierto as Ombudsman discovering more inefficiency than work done along the way. On a positive note, Lorna Kalaw-Tirol, the coauthor of Investigating Corruption: A Doit-Yourself Guide in 2002 with Sheila Coronel, probed the intricacies and hurdles of citizens‟ groups who in their own ways challenge the system and provide a means to fight corruption in government in Graftbusters. Among the success stories was of the Concerned Citizens of Abra for Good for Good Government (CCAGG) which participated in monitoring the progress of the Community Employment and Development Program (CEDP) of the Aquino administration. There was also the story of the National Irrigation Administration Employees Association which made it the “first entity to expose graft and corruption in the Aquino government” and which earned an award from the Civil Service Commission (284). Although no longer existing, Gising 6 Bayan Foundation Inc, led by the Arguelles brothers, accomplished a number of things in its sixyear active existence. It “conducted research on graft and corruption; initiated support programs and an information campaign; organized a network of anti-graft and corruption groups within government agencies and the private sector that would serve as watchdogs; filed charges in court if so warranted; and federated with other groups which shared its concern and vision (284).” Another story that merits attention is the struggle of the Fellowship of Christians in Government (FOCIG) which chose to use a “multi-pronged approach to the problem of graft and corruption(288)” involving the Church, parents and the Bible. Along these lines, the ecumenical organization Kilosbayan para sa Katotohanan, Katarungan, Paglilinis at Pagbabago o Kilosbayan of which former Senate President Jovito Salonga is a member, was also able to voice its concerns on the issue of the illegal disbursement of public funds during the 1992 presidential election. Pork and other Perks is in essence an investigation into the politics of corruption in the Philippines with an exemplary illustration of various cases that have caught the scrutiny of the public eye. The book fits perfectly into the decade long effort of the Philippine Center for Investigative Journalism and its partner institutions like the Institute for Popular Democracy and the Evelio B. Javier Foundation to “promote investigative reporting on current issues in Philippine society and on matters of large public interest (http://www.pcij.org/impact.html)” which included publications on politics and government like The Rulemakers: How the Wealthy and Well-born Dominate Congress (2004), Investigating Corruption: A Do-It-Yourself Guide (2002), Investigating Estrada: Millions, Mansions and Mistresses(2000), Betrayals of the Public Trust: Investigative Reports on Corruption (2000), Robbed: An Investigation of Corruption in Philippine Education(1999) and Boss: 5 Case Studies of Local Politics in the Philippines (1995). 7 The book made an important contribution to the literature of Philippine politics and government in its expose and analysis of corruption in its many forms. Its extensive coverage and attention to detail as works of journalists usually are gives the reader a thorough demonstration of how journalists at work in exposing corruption. Analysis of the cases involving a number of actors and institutions merits a lengthier book but the analysis provided imparts an ample exploration of the major themes surrounding the issue of corruption like pervasive political culture in the Philippines. One of the strengths of the methodology that was invested in Pork and other Perks is that it is essentially a work of a team of meticulous journalists who hounded key personalities for interviews, in uncovering important official documents and newspaper articles as well as making an effort to include analysis of the cases that were tackled. One limitation however is that the above triangulation of methods and analysis should have involved scholars of Philippine politics or mainly the academe who are more familiar with the theories and the themes surrounding the issue of corruption and governance. As any work of investigative journalists would look and sound like, the writing style is similar to the stimulating aura of exposés of public service television shows but with a touch of sophistication that can be seen in the analysis. An important contribution of Pork and other Perks to political science can be attributed to an opening up of a new venue to which scholars of politics can participate in aside from research oriented studies. It also explored a collaboration of the media through investigative journalism and the study of corruption through political science as well as public administration. Students of politics and public administration will probably enjoy and benefit reading Pork and other Perks such that it offers a more dynamic perspective into corruption and politics. 8 Bibliography: Coronel, et al. 2004. The Rulemakers: How the Wealthy and Well-Born Dominate Congress. Pasig City: Anvil Publishing and the Philippine Center for Investigative Journalism De Guzman, R.P. 1986.”Is there a Philippine Public Administration?” Reprinted in Bautista, et al. 2003.An Introduction to Public Administration in the Philippines: A Reader. 2nd ed. Quezon City: National College of Public Administration and Governance, University of the Philippines Diliman Heywood, A. 2002. Politics. Houndmills, Basingstoke, Hampshire and New York: Palgrave Philippine Center for Investigative Journalism. 2002. Journalism with an Impact: The Online Site of the Philippine Center for Investigative Journalism. http://www.pcij.org/impact.html. 28 September 2007 Varela, A.P. 2003. “The Culture Perspective in Organization Theory: Relevance to Philippine Public Administration” in Bautista, et al..An Introduction to Public Administration in the Philippines: A Reader. 2nd ed. Quezon City: National College of Public Administration and Governance, University of the Philippines Diliman 9