Revitalizing Democracy

While Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo’s administration was associated with elusiveness, clandestine schemes and exclusionary governance, President Aquino’s government has started out with positive steps in enhancing our democracy.

Last week, abs-cbnnews.com reported Finance Secretary Cesar Purisima’s announcement that the Department of Finance is working on a website that would allow citizens to tip off authorities about crimes such as smuggling and tax evasion, as well as apprehend corrupt officials. Sec. Purisima noted that the site would be integrated with Facebook and Twitter and also reachable via SMS. The same report noted President Aquino’s "endorsement of the internet in his anti-graft campaign" and acknowledgment of eyewitnesses who have access to the internet who “will undoubtedly help” in the government’s drive against corruption.

Even now, as this project is in the pipeline, I am already considering the reports that I would be submitting. Report No. 1 would be about the Customs collector who imposed VAT and customs duties on my importation of books (notwithstanding that books are exempt from customs duties, as well as VAT under Sec.109 (R) of the NIRC); and if his misplaced imposition were not enough, I suppose his having summoned me to the Customs Office near NAIA “para ma-areglo yung babayaran” (an offer which, I must underscore, I never took) would be sufficient to establish his being erring, if not outright being corrupt. Report No. 2 would be about an establishment that vehemently refused to issue an official receipt, despite my pronounced demands. Moreover, given Sec. Purisima’s statement that other departments are likely to set up similar facilities of their own, I am, quite excitedly, looking forward to preparing reports concerning my other unsavory experiences with matters that concern other government agencies.

Of course, as I write this, I am not unmindful of the skeptical stance I took in last week’s blog. I am keenly aware of how one measure is not enough to overhaul the state of Philippine governance. But just the same, I am also aware of how vital every step is in ensuring greater citizen participation. Too often, it’s been said that the internet is a means to empowerment – that it builds capacity – to my mind thus, this means of harnessing the internet to enable us to rid ourselves of the bane of corruption is more than a welcome development. Besides, after nine years of a presidency that spat on the ideals of people power – people power to which it owed its very existence – mechanisms that revitalize, if not enhance, democracy are a much needed breathe of fresh air.