When public officials are elected, their constituents entrust them with several things—their money, their safety, and so on. After all, the adage goes, “With great power comes great responsibility.” Despite this, a number of officials disrespect the public’s trust from time to time, whether it be as trivial as a hypocritical remark or an unfulfilled promise, or as crucial as a blatant abuse of one’s authority and privileges.
For example, President Rodrigo Duterte himself had plans for his term that were never realized. He promised to behave if elected, to abolish contractualization, and to end crime in three to six months. In 2017, Ilocos Norte Governor Imee Marcos allegedly misused tobacco funds, which totaled up to Php 66.45 million, in order to purchase motor vehicles listed in various documents. To add insult to injury, Duterte joked about pushing the province’s Commission on Audit auditor down the stairs, so that he would not be able to report or investigate any of her transactions.
The Philippines ranked 111th out of 180 countries on Transparency International’s Corruption Perceptions Index (CPI) in 2017. This is the lowest the country’s score has been in five years, with a score of 34 out of 100. Implications of the low CPI scores include lower protection rates for the press, an institution that uses checks and balances to ensure liability. In the same year, media watchdog Reporters Without Borders declared the Philippines the deadliest country for journalists in Asia, with four journalists killed.
The most heartbreaking part of all of this is that such instances of irresponsibility have caused faith in the authorities to dwindle. Earlier this September, Duterte’s approval ratings plummeted to their lowest at 75%. More Filipinos believe the economy under the current administration will deteriorate in the next 12 months, and politicians have become the least trusted professionals when it comes to respecting the human rights of Philippine citizens.
Public officials are obligated to be accountable to the people, yet not all of our government leaders manage to carry this responsibility. Trust ratings and survey results show that a good fraction of Filipinos believe the current political state of affairs could be better. We know we deserve leaders who think twice about how their words and actions affect the public, and who know how to hold themselves accountable for their wrongdoings. Despite this, are we taking any measures to ensure that things turn out differently in the future?
As Ateneans, some of us may have heard the call to create communities for social change. We are called to be men and women for others, to be in solidarity with one another, and to remedy social sin with social solutions. It is not enough that we resign to simply hoping the leaders we elect change for the better. Rather, we must ensure accountability on our ends as well, and in our own communities.
Holding oneself accountable doesn’t have to be grand. We can learn to take full responsibility of the mistakes we make, whether or not they affect the people in our communities. We can teach ourselves to think critically when social issues spark controversy, and to avoid parroting the opinions of everyone else. We can participate in political events in our circles, and vote wisely after examining candidates’ platforms during election season. Taking small steps toward ensuring our voices are heard first entails proving we are worth listening to.
Accountability plays an integral part in gaining and maintaining public trust. However, we as constituents should do our part in holding our officials accountable as well. Ensuring the government is transparent where it needs to be is not only the public officials’ responsibility to bear. We must recognize the part we play in securing a government that holds itself liable for how it serves the people. If we want to see change in our administration, so too must we change ourselves.
