Fatal addiction
Fatal addiction
Updated 01:00am (Mla time) Oct 16, 2004
Inquirer News Service
Editor's Note: Published on page A14 of the October 16, 2004 issue of the Philippine Daily Inquirer
TO GET a vivid picture of life in these parts, imagine the multimillion-peso cash deposits in the names of Major General Carlos Garcia, his wife and their three sons, their fleet of vehicles, as well as property in the United States, including a condominium unit in New York and a house in Ohio. Then imagine a couple straining to maneuver a pushcart through the traffic, their bodies gaunt, their clothing tattered, the pushcart, actually their home, loaded with a passel of grimy children and what amount to their worldly goods. Think of the shopping expeditions of Garcia's wife (apparently a regular, many-splendored exercise, else what are the five drivers for?), then consider the painstakingly methodical sweep that scavengers perform on the daily haul of garbage to be able to eat.
The act of imagining is supremely easy to do, the ways of the new rich being on tawdry display through their many mansions, and the ways of the impoverished being a sad, sullen part of the daily panorama. The polarity is nothing new, in fact ever present, a veritable part of the warp and woof of the Philippine social fabric -- but now much sharper, more cutting.
The revelations coming fast and furious on the lifestyles of the rich in the Armed Forces of the Philippines (AFP) are made more infuriating in light of official findings on the hunger assaulting a great number of Filipino households, to speak nothing of the alarming state of the economy. The "gifts" and "gratitude money" coming Garcia's way in the course of his performing his former functions as AFP comptroller, as so candidly disclosed by his wife Clarita to US customs authorities, give the lie to President Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo’s administration's declared stance against corruption, and make of it a shallow, even laughable pretense. And the continuing horse opera of the congressional inquiry on corruption in the military, specifically the unexplained wealth of the two-star general who can't even be compelled to show up, hardly promises a solution.
No, it does not seem like the problem will see resolution in the near future. The "fatal addiction" to money that ex-military rebel Rex Robles talked about while disclosing the allegedly widespread corruption in the military appears as intense as ever, if one is to go by Garcia's case. It's probably true what they say -- that some people just can't have enough of the good stuff once it's there. The addiction is complete and overwhelming. According to the conventional wisdom governing this addiction, there's no sense in turning off the tap when the goodness insists on overflowing. Two, three houses? How trifling. Get a condominium at the Trump Park Avenue. Forty bank accounts? That's only in the Philippines. A stash of $100,000? Only part of what Clarita Garcia said was cash received "for travel and expenses from businesses that are awarded contracts for military hardware."
But no solo trip
BUT for all that (including the astoundingly hick attempt of the Garcia boys to smuggle a huge amount of dollars into the United States in 10 envelopes stuffed in their shoes and their jacket pockets, as though they had never heard of money transfers), observers attentive to the ways of addiction would point out that this general could not have been acting alone. It could not have been a solo trip.
In the course of enrichment, it is only logical for the wise receiver of "gratitude money" to include others on the take, whether superior or subordinate, the better to make the "process" more efficient, preclude discovery, and ensure silence where silence counts.
In which case, Garcia may be of significant value. While recovering from his suddenly serious ailments and sleepless nights, he may be persuaded to talk about the apparent systemic malady in the AFP, the iceberg of which his case is said to constitute only the tip. (Imagine how far-reaching it goes. Again, imagining would not be too difficult to do, certain mansions in such elite enclaves as the Corinthian Gardens and Ayala Alabang subdivisions being such dead giveaways.)
Updated 01:00am (Mla time) Oct 16, 2004
Inquirer News Service
Editor's Note: Published on page A14 of the October 16, 2004 issue of the Philippine Daily Inquirer
TO GET a vivid picture of life in these parts, imagine the multimillion-peso cash deposits in the names of Major General Carlos Garcia, his wife and their three sons, their fleet of vehicles, as well as property in the United States, including a condominium unit in New York and a house in Ohio. Then imagine a couple straining to maneuver a pushcart through the traffic, their bodies gaunt, their clothing tattered, the pushcart, actually their home, loaded with a passel of grimy children and what amount to their worldly goods. Think of the shopping expeditions of Garcia's wife (apparently a regular, many-splendored exercise, else what are the five drivers for?), then consider the painstakingly methodical sweep that scavengers perform on the daily haul of garbage to be able to eat.
The act of imagining is supremely easy to do, the ways of the new rich being on tawdry display through their many mansions, and the ways of the impoverished being a sad, sullen part of the daily panorama. The polarity is nothing new, in fact ever present, a veritable part of the warp and woof of the Philippine social fabric -- but now much sharper, more cutting.
The revelations coming fast and furious on the lifestyles of the rich in the Armed Forces of the Philippines (AFP) are made more infuriating in light of official findings on the hunger assaulting a great number of Filipino households, to speak nothing of the alarming state of the economy. The "gifts" and "gratitude money" coming Garcia's way in the course of his performing his former functions as AFP comptroller, as so candidly disclosed by his wife Clarita to US customs authorities, give the lie to President Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo’s administration's declared stance against corruption, and make of it a shallow, even laughable pretense. And the continuing horse opera of the congressional inquiry on corruption in the military, specifically the unexplained wealth of the two-star general who can't even be compelled to show up, hardly promises a solution.
No, it does not seem like the problem will see resolution in the near future. The "fatal addiction" to money that ex-military rebel Rex Robles talked about while disclosing the allegedly widespread corruption in the military appears as intense as ever, if one is to go by Garcia's case. It's probably true what they say -- that some people just can't have enough of the good stuff once it's there. The addiction is complete and overwhelming. According to the conventional wisdom governing this addiction, there's no sense in turning off the tap when the goodness insists on overflowing. Two, three houses? How trifling. Get a condominium at the Trump Park Avenue. Forty bank accounts? That's only in the Philippines. A stash of $100,000? Only part of what Clarita Garcia said was cash received "for travel and expenses from businesses that are awarded contracts for military hardware."
But no solo trip
BUT for all that (including the astoundingly hick attempt of the Garcia boys to smuggle a huge amount of dollars into the United States in 10 envelopes stuffed in their shoes and their jacket pockets, as though they had never heard of money transfers), observers attentive to the ways of addiction would point out that this general could not have been acting alone. It could not have been a solo trip.
In the course of enrichment, it is only logical for the wise receiver of "gratitude money" to include others on the take, whether superior or subordinate, the better to make the "process" more efficient, preclude discovery, and ensure silence where silence counts.
In which case, Garcia may be of significant value. While recovering from his suddenly serious ailments and sleepless nights, he may be persuaded to talk about the apparent systemic malady in the AFP, the iceberg of which his case is said to constitute only the tip. (Imagine how far-reaching it goes. Again, imagining would not be too difficult to do, certain mansions in such elite enclaves as the Corinthian Gardens and Ayala Alabang subdivisions being such dead giveaways.)
posted by Dante at 1:00 AM
0 Comments:
Post a Comment
<< Home