20/09/2025
๐๐ฎ๐๐ฅ๐ข๐ ๐๐๐ซ๐ฏ๐ข๐๐ ๐จ๐ซ ๐๐ฎ๐๐ฅ๐ข๐ ๐๐๐๐ฆ๐ฆ๐ข๐ง๐ ?
Maria cradled her five-year-old son on a worn-out bench in a crowded government hospital. He had a high fever, difficulty breathing, and needed urgent care. But the nurse told her there were no more beds. No more medicine. No more doctors on duty โ only volunteers. She was told to wait. After eight hours, her son died in her arms. Not because help was impossible, but because the system that is meant to save him had already been stolen โ by people who were never held accountable.
This is what corruption looks like. It doesnโt always wear a suit or sit behind a desk. Sometimes, it hides in an empty syringe, a missing ambulance, or a broken promise. It hides in the tears of a mother who lost her child โ not to fate, but to a failed system where the money meant to save lives was spent on someoneโs fifth luxury car or overseas โtraining.โ
Corruption is like a slow poison. It spreads quietly, eating away at systems, people, and hope. It can happen in big places like government offices or the quiet hallways of schools and hospitalsโlingering. It happens in the big grand government buildings, where public servants enjoy luxury instead of doing their jobs for the people. They spend money on fancy offices, expensive luxury cars, and trips, while schools donโt have enough books and hospitals donโt have enough beds. The money that should help the sick, teach the young, and build a better future is wasted on selfishness and pride. The damage isnโt always seen right away โ but its effects are felt everywhere.
The Philippines scored 33 out of 100 in the 2024 Corruption Perceptions Index, ranking 114th out of 180 countries. Thatโs not just a number. Thatโs proof that our leaders are failing us โ not because they canโt, but because they wonโt. Because many of them are too busy stealing instead of serving. This country is bleeding, and they are drinking the blood.
We lose โฑ700 billion a year to corruption. Thatโs not just stolen money โ thatโs stolen futures. That could have given millions of kids a better education. That could have saved hospitals, fixed roads, built homes. But no โ instead, we have ghost projects, overpriced materials, and fake suppliers. And the same officials keep getting re-elected, as if betrayal was just another job requirement.
They think we donโt see it. But we do. We see the potholes that never get fixed, the classrooms that crumble, the floodwaters that rise every year because the flood control project was only half-built before the budget mysteriously ran dry. They always say, โThereโs no money,โ but their bank accounts tell a different storyโso do their luxury watches, yachts, gated homes, and Instagram vacations.
One thing is clear: you are not public servants. You are thieves. Stealing opportunities from every corner of this country. You may sleep in soft beds, ride luxury cars, and hide behind security guards โ but remember this: you are building your comfort on the suffering of the people. You stole not just money โ you stole meals from hungry mouths, roofs from broken homes, medicine from dying patients, and dignity from every honest Filipino who works hard and gets nothing in return. You may fool some people for now. You may escape justice for a while. But one day โ you will be exposed, and you will be held accountable.
We must stop treating corruption as something we โjust live with.โ Itโs not culture โ itโs a crime. And crimes must be punished. We need real transparency, real jail time, and real courage from our courts and watchdogs. But more importantly, we need Filipinos to say: โTama na.โ Letโs stop voting for thieves. Letโs stop praising officials for doing the bare minimum while they hide millions in kickbacks.
The truth is the Philippines is not a poor country. We are a rich nation stolen by corrupt leaders.
Let every story like Mariaโs be a call to action. Let our anger be loud, our demands clear, and our fight unrelenting. Because the only thing scarier than corruption is a nation that accepts it.
Article by Psyche Gyrish Granpio
Art by Joshua Combes
