By Estanislao Albano, Jr.
According to yet another kanto boy reasoning from Malacanang, people specially government officials can become rich enough to be immune to corruption. Just last week, the President Rodrigo Duterte tried to shield Special Assistant to the President Christopher Lawrence “Bong” Go from allegations the he meddled in the P15-B Philippine Navy frigate procurement deal by asserting that Go could not possibly have intervened in the case because he already owns a yacht and is a billionaire and that it is no secret that their family’s printing press located in Davao City is the biggest in country outside of Manila.
That’s not the first time Duterte employed that non sequitur to defend someone in his inner circle. Last October when there were rumours that Transportation Secretary Arthur Tugade who goes back with him to law school in San Beda College will go next to those he already fired for one shenanigan or the other, he was quoted in the papers as saying: “May mga allegations, magpunta doon, na corrupt. Sabi ko, he doesn’t have time for that. He doesn’t even know how to count his money.” He claimed that Tugade is already a billionaire and way too bright to get involved in corruption.
If Duterte truly believes in the logic, why did he go after tycoon Lucio Tan for tax evasion when the businessman has a net worth of 1.83 USD making the combined wealth of Tugade and Go like a drop in the bucket? In this case, there was no room for doubt that Tan was guilty as charged because he reportedly settled his tax debts with government for P6B. So how could Duterte now say that billionaires are immune from the temptation to get and keep what rightfully belongs to the government?
And yes, the late strongman Ferdinand Marcos, Sr. continued to steal long after he became a billionaire. According to the Presidential Commission on Good Government, at least P25B ill-gotten wealth stashed by Marcos, Sr. in Swiss banks has already been recovered as of February 2016 and that there are more alleged ill-gotten wealth of the family and their friends presently subject to litigation. Clearly, Marcos’ greed for money belonging to the Filipino people knew no bounds.
Enough of this non sequitur and nonsensical reasoning of President Duterte that there comes a time when people are satiated with their wealth and become impervious to the lure of graft and corruption. While the contention may be good enough for his legions of supporters who hang at every word he says, it does not pass the test of sound reasoning.
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