"Poor country." " Developing nation." "Third world." "Republic with poverty rate higher and more persistent than any country in Southeast Asia."
Those words that economists use to describe our beloved Philippines are devastating. But facts are facts. And so we acknowledge our sorry state of affairs.
Imagine my shock when I read one issue of last month’s newspaper. It came with a seven-full-page listing of our lawmakers’ salaries and expenses. My advertising mind immediately totaled the cost of the pages—more than P5 million in ad rates. Reading the items, audited and signed by one Isaiash C. Reynoso (OIC – supervising Auditor), I almost had a seizure!
But if this is how our lawmakers spend the taxpayers’ money, why, we’re awash with cash! I wished it were an April Fool's Day joke.
There are 243 representatives and 24 senators, and not one of them receive an annual salary below P1 million! Their other expenses?
• Foreign travel
• Local Travel
• Contractual consultants
• Representation
• Chairmanship allowance
• Public Affairs fund
• Central office staff
• Equipment, Furniture, and fixtures
• Extraordinary and Miscellaneous expenses
• Meetings and conferences
• Supplies and materials
• Rental of motor vehicles and equipment
I am bad with figures; I can’t crunch numbers accurately, but common sense tells me that these run into billions of pesos.
And for what? Only for crafting laws that many of them, especially those who have lost their conscience on the road to perdition, violate anyway (and get away with it).
With all that cash, I can’t imagine why 44% (World Bank figure) of our population live in shanties without toilets, make-shift homes packed with adults and children suffering from incest, rape, malnutrition, and unhealthy environment. Well, those are why we are still classified as a poor country.
Words fail me.
May the Lord of all grace fill our heart with compassion, and rid our life of greed for cash.
“For the love of money is the root of all kinds of evil. And some people, craving money, have wandered from the true faith and pierced themselves with many sorrows.” (1 Timothy 6:10 NLT)
Photo credits: top photo; bottom photo
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