‘Demand honesty from gov’t officials’
Alejano
CEBU CITY, Philippines — Honesty should be a value that Filipinos should demand from both incumbent and aspiring government officials, according to two senatorial candidates on Monday, March 11, 2019 during the “Klarohay Ta! Mega Cebu Candidates Forum” at the University of San Carlos Downtown Campus.
Both Gary Alejano of Otso Diretso and Conrado Generoso of the Katipunan ng Kamalayang Kayumanggi agreed that honesty is expected of anyone working or aspiring to work in the government sector.
“Honesty should be a requirement. It should be demanded by the people,” said Alejano, a former Marine captain and also the Magdalo Party-list representative.
Alejano said public officials should strive for honesty in their various dealings and transactions.
“Kun di masaligan sa gamay, paano ka mapagkakatiwalaan sa malaking bagay?” he said in mixed Visayan and Filipino languages.
He said honesty is a crucial value that leaders must possess because leaders can influence people and enable them to make decisions and take actions.
“How can you serve people properly (if you are not honest)? This is the public sphere and we should bring the best in us in the public sphere. If you bring kabastusan (profanity), you are contaminating the public sphere,” he said.
Generoso emphasized the value of the line — honesty is the best policy — and how it seemed to have disappeared from the Filipino culture.
He said taxi drivers, who return items left in their units, are often rewarded and the stories of “honesty” lands as headlines and top stories on print and social media platforms.
Generoso said this should not be the case because honesty should be a natural behavior.
He said the pork barrel is a source of dishonesty.
Pork barrel is the congressional allocations such as financial subsidies to local government units, the Priority Development Assistance Funds, and the Department of Public Works and Highway lump sum allocations for infrastructure projects.
Generoso said dishonesty diminishes the trust that the people have toward the government and their fellow Filipinos./dcb
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