COMBATING THE CULTURE OF CORRUPTION --- CULTURALLY

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1 COMBATING THE CULTURE OF CORRUPTION --- CULTURALLY Fr. Albert E. Alejo, SJ, PhD Citizens-Customs Action Network (CITIZCAN) Jesuit Ehem! Anticorruption Program

2 Asian Wisdom To put the world right in order, first put the nation in order; to put the nation in order, first put the family in order; to put the family in order, we must first cultivate our personal life; we must first set our hearts right. ----Confucius

3 Address the Culture of Corruption---Culturally Winning the active participation of culture brokers---educational institutions, religious groups, family life ministries, alumni associations, people s movements, and communications practitioners may turn out to be the missing factor in the fight against corruption and the promotion of public and private integrity.

4 I. PERSONAL JOURNEY IN ANTICORRUPTION AND INTEGRITY PROMOTION

5 A decade of celebration and challenges to

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7 II. CORRUPTION AND CULTURAL LIFE

8 You are culturally a Filipino when you respond to the sound Pssst! you have two kinds of kitchen: one is called dirty kitchen. you have a high tolerance for corruption and a short memory of dictatorship.

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10 Corruption and Culture

11 Why have they become so brazen and arrogant? Untouchable?

12 Quarter of a billion-peso relocatable X-ray machine at ACY --- IDLE.

13 COCCAINE IN EMPTY VANSc DAVAO CITY, Dec. 11 Joint police and Philippine Drug Enforcement Agency (PDEA) operatives seized more than 15 kilos of highgrade cocaine, worth more than P110 milllion, from reefer vans parked at Maersk Shipping Lines' van yard along Barangay Sasa, this city.

14 Corruption even in Disaster

15 Corruption and Violence Corruption is violence. Corruption kills. It destroys the environment. If destroys institutions. It destroys hope. Corruption makes people angry. Corrupt people refuse to accept that actions have consequences. My actions affect other people. And my bad decisions for the sake of my immediate benefit may destroy others dream in the future. Corruption snatches away hope. That is why corruption breeds conflict and war.

16 How Serious is Corruption in the Philippines? BUT NOTHING CAN BE MORE SERIOUS THAN THE PEOPLE S ACCEPTANCE AND RESIGNATION THAT CORRUPTION IS ALREADY PART OF THE FILIPINO WAY OF LIFE!!!

17 III. CORRUPTION AND EDUCATIONAL INSTITUTIONS

18 The Challenge of Corruption in Philippine Education

19 Education and Corruption Business Church Goverment Non-Government EDUCATIONAL INSTITUTIONS Leaders Corruption in education affects more people than corruption in most other sectors and it affects the development potential of the whole country CORRUPTION

20 Employment Possible Areas of Corruption in the School Establishment of School Approval Requests & Liquidations Financial Administration Appropriations Library Curriculum Taxation Educational Activities Textbooks Uniform Examinations Students Report Card Disciplinary Actions Task Allocation Teacher & Staff Personnel Matters Work Time

21 Integrity Challenge to Schools and Student Leaders Review of school procurement process Alumni program: Alma Mater Check and Check mate Stronger anti-cheating policy Sportsmanship and citizenship Review of contests and awards system Review of recollections and exposures Review of our charity work, fiesta values

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23 IV. CORRUPTION AND FAMILY LIFE

24 Corruption started with the cheating of the first couple.. Ehem!

25 Familism as blessing when the whole family support results in stable relationship, healthy sense of identity, moral uprightness, financial safety net, basic form of social organization. The home is a school for sacrifice. Working abroad, sending remittances back home, sending relatives to school, donating to charity work, building churches, helping victims of calamities and war. (adopted from JL)

26 Familism as a curse When the family thinks only of its members. Blood is thicker than water. When the whole clan becomes a mechanism for urging, supporting and defending the corrupt. When the clan loses critical thinking, and prevents independent decision-making, as in voting. When the family becomes a sanctuary for the looters in society and collaborators in crime. (adopted from JL)

27 Family during whistleblowing. Many concerns: how to include the members in the sharing of information; in making the decision to blow the whistle. How to handle the emotional stress, fear. How to provide security to self and members of the family. How to

28 Family before the whistleblowing Family preparation: truth sharing, even by installment. Training in truth telling. Training in the use of words, and the fulfilling of promises. Training in the respect for documents, receipts, reports, payments, numbers. Training in the acceptance of faults, and celebration of true achievements.

29 IV. CORRUPTION AND RELIGION

30 The Church s response to address the problem

31 PASTORAL STATEMENTS Thou Shalt Not Steal (1989) Pastoral exhortation on Philippine Politics (1997) Let Integrity Flow Like A Stream (2003) Pastoral Statement on the present Political Situation (2003)

32 But, the Church is part of the problem There's a whole history to show that the Church, though part of the solution, is also part of the problem -- probably more the second than the first. It's a Church that is itself cleaved into rich and poor, in part involuntarily -- some parishes are poorer than others As with the society itself, the pocket of wealth and opulence at the top is matched by breathtaking deprivation below, a spectacular divide that doesn't suggest it holds on to values conducive to honesty, or indeed Christianity. Conrado de Quiros

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34 Archbp Tagle: How come? Q. Corruption is widespread in the Philippines How is it that there is all this corruption in the most Catholic in Asia? country A. It is a question that we ask ourselves too, and it causes us a lot of discomfort, to say the least. It is like a dagger pointed at our hearts, our Catholic hearts. How come this lifestyle of corruption seems to be widespread and also accepted?

35 Church Soul Searching So we in the Church are also undergoing a lot of soul-searching. Where did we fail? What is happening to our catechesis? What is happening to Catholic education? How come that many of them are products of Catholic schools but when they get into the political system, and government service, service disappears and becomes selfserving? What has happened to the formation of conscience? 02/16/ Feb 2012)

36 National Congresss of the Clergy SURVEY OF SPIRITUALITY AND LIFESTYLE OF THE CLERGY 1. Indecent lifestyle 2. Factors that weaken the Church History and Grace (UST Press)

37 Indecent Lifestyle Material attachment and extravagance (1363) 46.8% Sexual relations with women/homosexual liaison and activities (751) 25.9% Habitual recourse to worldly good time, drinking, etc. (309) 10.6% Closeness to the rich and powerful/identification with the ruling elite (266) 9.1% Air of superiority, bossiness and with circle of favorites (214) 7.4%

38 Factors that Weaken the Institutional Church Lack of transparency/honesty in the management of Church resources (1495) 51.4% Arrogance and abuse of power (404) 13.9% Clerical intrigues and politics that destroy their presbyteral unity (934) 32.1%

39 CBCP statement (2003) Today we point an accusing finger at ourselves We are aware, too, that in other areas of Church life as in parish financial management, some Church members and leaders, through loose and dishonest stewardship, stray from the path of righteousness and integrity CBCP Let Integrity Flow Like a Stream (2003)

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42 V. COMBATING CORRUPTION NEEDS A WHOLE SOCIETY APPROACH: CITIZENS PARTICIPATION

43 It s time for communal action!

44 Making a Stand in Hope Bisrockers (Bisaya rockers) for social transformation: the youth are already part of the present

45 Making a Stand in Hope Youth Lifestyle Check Tipsters Manual Consultation.

46 Develop Volunteerism

47 Reforming the Bureau of Customs through Partnership with Civil Society, the Youth and the Academe

48 Citizens Can See. Can Judge. Can Act. CITIZCAN Citizens Customs Action Network

49 Theo 251: Themes Related to Christian Social Ethics CORRUPTION AND VIOLENCE AND THE FORMATION OF SOCIAL CONSCIENCE First Semester, August to December Thursdays 2-4:40 pm/ Fr. Albert E. Alejo, SJ, PhD

50 The corrupt politicians, the corrupt businessmen and the corrupt clergy are to be found everywhere- and we have to tell the truth. --Pope Francis The aim of this course is to help participants--- including the professor---to grow in social spirituality that impels us to stop all forms of corruption at all levels (Pope Francis). Here, we use political, economic, and cultural analyses, as well as theological reflection, to grapple with this intractable form of structural sin. We expose its links with poverty and armed conflict, with drugs deal and human trafficking, with environmental degradation and even religious demoralization.

51 But in light of Church teachings, Biblical rereadings and Christian witnessing, we awaken to God s call to personal conversion that invites us to the joy in the life of integrity despite its dangers. This spurs us to design new ministries like pastoral care for whistleblowers, parenting for integrity, checking schools deals with publishers, monitoring accountability in disaster relief, auditing parish finances, and giving integrity retreats to business, church, and public leaders.