COLUMN | The Normalcy of Corruption

Kristan Gile — "Beyond the Norms"

In Greek myth, Sisyphus, once king of Ephyra, was punished by the gods for evading death multiple times. Sisyphus, with his guile, chained Thanatos, the personification of death, so he can evade his own death. When finally Thanatos was unchained, Sisyphus lied to Hades and Persephone—gods and goddess of the underworld—that his wife did not give him a proper funeral. With that premise, the couple deities allowed Sisyphus to go back to the mortal world to punish his wife, not knowing that these things were already planned by the king from Ephyra.

Sisyphus severely angered the gods with his blasphemous tactics. Ultimately, he ran out of ways to evade the inevitable. Death finally came to him. Thanatos got him from his years of hiding in his old age. When the gods finally decided of his fate in the afterlife, they gave him what he had always dreamed—immortality. He was punished to rolling a huge boulder on a steep hill in Tartarus. When the boulder finally hits the peak of the hill, it will fall down again and Sisyphus will roll the boulder again and again, condemned for eternity. 

What I learn heavily as an English major is that literature is best to make people understand things that are most abstract and far from what we experience in reality. When I personally introspect what could have been a metaphor for corruption, I immediately remember Sisyphus, the king from Ephyra. This is not only to describe corruption as a recurring malady in our society. But to also describe the corrupt who continue to evade justice and accountability. However, like Sisyphus, I am certain that sooner or later they will meet a dead end. They will surely meet their punishment for stealing public funds while people are struggling to live. 

This past week, the country received one of the biggest news. Martin Romualdez, former speaker of the House and the president’s cousin, is finally arrested for the case of plunder vis-a-vis flood control fiasco. It has been almost two years since the president himself revealed the flood control corruption. Aside from the contractors, many of them still do not have official cases filed, politicians were arrested like congressmen and senators who colluded in order to secure kickbacks from the appropriations. The latest to be arrested was the president’s cousin who after months of calls for accountability, Ombudsman Jesus Crispin Remulla finally secured an arrest warrant to indict him. 

What is baffling with these powerful people being arrested is that they receive shameful privileges. Like Sisyphus, they evade so plentiful times the sword of Themis. Romualdez immediately was confined in a hospital claiming that he was sick. Law enforcement officers even served the warrant to him while he was lying in a hospital bed. The detainee’s uniform was not even worn properly by the former speaker. Then an irony came when pictures of the vital signs monitor became trending in social media, showing that the former speaker does have normal blood pressure, heart rate, and oxygen rate. Clearly, the “imprisoned” was faking it. This is not something novel in our political scene. Many of them used “illnesses” to afford privileges just to not graze the bars of the prison jail. 

Corruption is becoming normal in our society. That is not only the problem that we’re facing. It is due to this normalcy that we are receiving a farcical performance from corrupt officials. It is due to our identity politics that we have failed to guard our democratic institutions and checks and balances. Will all of these corrupt practices be revealed if the Marcos-Duterte alliance never broke up? Of course not. For sure, both of these fat political dynasties will keep their dirty linens and skeletons in the closet safe. The Filipino people were only able to get the puzzle pieces after the rift of greed between Bongbong Marcos Jr. and Sara Duterte finally blew out of proportion. 

The normalcy of corruption is not solely due to our feelings of hopelessness. It is mainly for the reason that we are divided in the middle of warring corrupt factions who only think of their political survival. As these warring factions feuds, people who support them feuds also. As people feuds, no one is left there to think of the social institutions that must stand and protect against anomalies and corrupt practices. Like what Mahatma Gandhi said, if all of us would see eye to eye, then the world would go blind. However, it doesn’t mean that we tolerate such maladies in our country. What it means is to regain our foresight and attention to what really matters.

Vice President Sara Duterte, in the last few weeks, filed bail for her grave threats case. On her way to file, the media got a glimpse of her saying that “she does not feel safe.” Then the vice president continued to give us a farce again citing that she was threatened and does not trust her security personnel. She filed a bail on a weekend and afforded her legal right that most rallyists and activists are deprived of. She is privileged to receive due process while the victims of war on drugs met their unfateful death without consideration of their rights. The law should be fair. It should keep its blindfold to judge reasonably. However, in our country with such normalcy, the likes of Duterte, Marcos, and others receive special treatment when it comes to their alleged cases. 

Corruption and the rotten form of politics in the Philippines is like Sisyphus’ boulder. It keeps rolling and rolling. Perhaps, it will never be eradicated for it is condemned for eternity. However, it should not be treated as normal. No matter how abstract corruption is, it will rob lives and kill dreams. The role of our democratic institutions and checks and balances is not to yield to corruption or to powerful corrupt people. Its goal is to ensure that justice prevails in the end.