The Corrupt Have Inherited This Good Earth
The most potent symbol of government corruption in our time are the Marcoses. This family looted the Philippines and stashed money by the hundreds of millions in secret bank accounts, real-estate holdings, blue-chip investments, etc all over the world, particularly in US and Europe. The spectacle of peasants roaming around in the Malacanang Palace after the Marcos downfall, gawking among other luxuries at the 3,000 pairs of shoes owned by Imelda Marcos, still remains vivid as an example of their outrageous excess. Engaged in a drawn-out legal battle with the Philippines Government which is trying to recover the money (almost US$ 1 billion) in Swiss banks, Imelda is shamelessly holding out to retain a percentage of the illegally acquired wealth as the price for returning it without further legal contest, airing a likely story that this accumulation of wealth is because of the fabulous treasure hidden by the Japanese during World War 2 and purportedly found by late President Ferdinand Marcos. Under trial in New York a few years ago, the Steel Butterfly (as Imelda Marcos is known), dramatically collapsed in open court, playing on the sympathy of the Jury (and the public) and successfully being acquitted of alleged wrong doings. The “bad health” of this wonderful actress persisted till it was clear that many Filipinos, forgetting that blatant corruption was the reason for the Marcos ouster, voted her into office as Senator. She has since made a miraculous recovery to her boisterous self again. Throughout the last decade, despite her well-deserved reputation for corruption, Madam Marcos and her family kept on denying any wrongdoing, safe in the knowledge that if you keep lying confidently, people will begin to believe your lies. She remained in good social graces in the world’s exclusive elite social circles, no one among the rich and beautiful really giving a damn that this woman and her family were directly responsible for the poverty and present misery being endured by millions of Filipinos. Madam Marcos sends a very clear green signal to Third World leaders having qualms about looting the public till, it is socially acceptable to be corrupt, you just have to keep on denying any accusations poker-faced. We have surpassed the Marcos example in Pakistan. In fact the Marcos Syndrome (as we may like to call corruption among Third World leaders) would seem to be kindergarten stuff compared to the advanced techniques developed by us in this country.
The standard practice of making millions illegally is to get kickbacks in civil and military projects because of one’s official position. This was endemic in the number of authoritarian regimes opposed to communism in the region who were the recipients of vast amounts of direct economic and military aid from the World Bank, Asian Development Bank (ADB), etc as well as country-to-country aids and grants, involving huge deals for projects in energy, telecommunication, transportation, health, arms and equipment, etc. The sales agents of the various companies, among them many Multinationals (MNCs), were extremely active in getting their products and services sold. Since they were also particularly interested to keep on selling their products for years they also campaigned against the goods being manufactured in-country, thus serving to keep commissions recurring. Countries like Pakistan have taken four decades to develop heavy industries but even then do not produce automobiles but simply assemble them (we are on a deletion programme that never sees anything deleted). The biggest known case of kickbacks in the Philippines was the Westinghouse deal for a nuclear power station when Westinghouse was taken to task by the US Government for running afoul of US Corrupt Practices Act i.e. laws strictly eliminating bribery. Companies know how to circumvent such laws, the normal modus operandi now is to give very heavy retainers as monthly service charges to “Consultants”. The Marcoses stole away a lot of “commission” on various projects in which others acted as frontmen. On their part the companies padded the prices so as not to cut into their profits. Populist Third World leaders vow their adoring and gullible masses about their commitment to the masses while bilking their countries of billions of US dollars. Developed countries have very good intelligence agencies looking after their strategic and commercial interests but in the larger interest of their own commercial gains, these countries, normally very high on moral issues, deliberately chose to look the other way. However, siphoning commissions is now old hat, new and advanced techniques are employed by the unscrupulous, the obtaining of commissions is peanuts compared to what can be got through these other means mainly money acquired through rendering “services”.
The most known example of making money by “services” is that attributed to ex-Senator Zahid Sarfraz with respect to re-conditioned and old cars during his tenure as Commerce Minister. The Government of Pakistan (GoP) first banned the import of such vehicles, then allowed their entry, the instructions were changed a number of times. A huge amount of money was being made in speculation as the car prices increased/decreased, whether the good Senator pocketed money himself is a matter of conjecture. Nowhere has this precedent of amassing wealth by changing the rules been put to more profitable use than in Pakistan, this modus operandi being finessed to perfection in the past several years. The rules of the game are constantly changed to force a vendor/supplier/contractor to pay ransom, viz (1) import of sugar is banned, then relaxed, export is banned then relaxed. Whoever is affected by the banning pays money to get the ban relieved, whoever is affected by the relaxation pays money to again get the ban imposed. Since money is in cash, no documents exist to expose the misdemeanour. In fact if the person who can pull the strings is not a government servant, then no crime has been committed since he is not misusing his office (2) a common method of rendering “services” is to suspend a contract, whose suspension will cause huge losses to the contractor, who will only be too happy to pay money to get this suspension revoked. Can anyone unravel the mystery behind the reason why the Mian Nawaz Sharif sponsored Lahore-Islamabad motorway was first reduced by the successor government from six lanes to four and then increased to six again? Not that Daewoo will be any poorer for any money paid as ransom, they will get back the extra money spent (and more) through escalation clauses. In the end it is our poor country that will end up with more debts to pass onto the future generation. What happens in urban areas to permit illegal high rise buildings in contravention to urban laws is another scandal in Sindh where nearly all the Chief Ministers have been involved in changing the rules. So many examples exist of the providing of “services” in every sphere of government that it defies enumeration within the confines of an article. The only way out of this rot is to have an independent Ombudsman over-see the working of each Ministry to determine why the rules may have been changed. There is a school of thought that thinks that by providing of such “services” nothing illegal is really being done, that is a most naive assumption. Providing of such “services” where rules and regulations are changed for personal profit is both a scam and blackmail.
The proceeds of the blackmail is translated into inordinate wealth, which is then flouted for all to see. Unfortunately our social elite fall over themselves to ingratiate themselves with such criminals. Providing “services” leads to price increases, after all those who pay the bribes are hardly going to have the payments cut into their profits, they will pad the price further. With the price increases, inflation sets in. Because most of the money is transferred out of the country it puts pressure on the money supply situation with respect to foreign currency, resulting in creeping devaluation. The net outflow of capital from the country, in one conservative estimate is more the US$ 5 billion, has contributed to the price spiral affecting the common man. While the rich are affected to some degree, the effect on the masses is devastating. By wining and dining those who are directly responsible for the miseries of our masses, our elite are as much guilty as accessories as those who are the actual criminals. Would our social elite sit down to dinner with masked dacoits? The answer is no, but then why are those who loot the public till many times over in broad daylight accepted with such enthusiasm in social circles? This is a glaring contradiction that must be resolved. The military hierarchy pride themselves on their sense of propriety and integrity, but they know very well through their sources as to what is going on, how can they compromise on moral issues? We are only fooling ourselves that we are doing our constitutional duty by ignoring or being indifferent to what’s going on under our noses. While this by itself is a ridiculous situation let us at least have the decency of socially boycotting those who are engaged in looting the public till. At the very least this will act as disincentive for others who may emulate them.
Unfortunately society has been so infiltrated by such corrupt practices that we are in danger of being taken over by the corrupt, they have inherited this good earth and except for one or two Messiahs now making their presence felt there is nothing much we can do about it. Or can we?
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