“Lights, Camera, Corruption!”: The Art of the Political Cinema

“Lights, Camera, Corruption!”: The Art of the Political Cinema by Nicole Gagula

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Over the years, we have been witnesses of political ‘Soap Operas’ –in simpler terms the dramas in the political arena which play with human sympathy and questionable plot twists. With the likes of the former President Gloria Macapagal Arroyo, who the world has seen automatically in a neck brace after corruption accusations, the same old story. It is as if besides law and economics, our politicians also majored in acting and filmmaking. Today, we are fed with the same plot –a politician getting away with corruption with health and medical reasons. And today, we are once again asked –will we choose to stream the same narrative?

On August 26, PhilHealth president Ricardo Morales officially left his office amidst the ongoing trials of the department’s corruption allegations. Morales filed a resignation as per his doctor’s suggestion that the trials would only toughen the former’s battle with cancer. Thus, the resignation spiked various reactions and opinions from the public giving rise to the question –should politicians be spared of punishment and receive sympathy from the people if they are suffering from health problems?

PhilHealth is a government agency that provides universal healthcare coverage to its members which are funded by the public’s money. The entity has millions of Filipino members coming from the different sectors of the society who are subjected to the benefits and programs by the corporation. Since its establishment in 1995, the government-owned corporation claimed that 98% of the population are members of the healthcare system. In statistics, PhilHealth is faring well on its performance and public service, but the dubious records on its financial statements would beg to differ. As all government bodies are prone to corruption allegations and accusations, PhilHealth was placed on a hot seat after a whistleblower exposed the 15 billion worth of corruption scheme of the said agency. During the Senate hearing on August 14, it was revealed that the ‘syndicate’ falsified its financial statements by manipulating the number of COVID19 patients to receive more funding from the government, and purposely record false prices of medical equipment. The ‘syndicate’ clearly took advantage of the pandemic to steal from the people, that despite the blow that the country is suffering from the outbreak, the people behind this scheme had the guts to commit such immoral deeds. Thus, the public’s rage was expected and reasonable. On the other hand, President Duterte publicly expressed his sympathy with Morales and even wished for his ‘speedy recovery’. It was not even surprising when the president accepted Morales’ resignation despite the raps that PhilHealth is currently facing. This eventually led to an amplified public rage manifested on various social media platforms, which landed the terms ‘PhilHealth’ and ‘Morales’ on the trending section of both Facebook and Twitter for a number of days.

With this current issue, it is justifiable for the public to have reacted in a tough and critical manner. Politicians are public servants, this same notion also makes them a property of the public. Refusing to disclose health concerns is deemed unethical as the public has the right to know if a certain government official can still perform his job and serve the people. Furthermore, it is never brand new in the public’s eyes when it comes to the same political soap opera of a “politician-got-sick-therefore-forgiven” plot. The people can sympathize with you, but at the same time hold you accountable. The government should establish legal procedures for cases wherein the accused politicians are suffering from health and medical problems. As such that whenever the same old and recycled narrative is presented to the public, the justice system will effectuate better means in countering this problem. The 15 billion loot from the public’s pockets and exploiting one’s medical concern to get a free pass from accountability are grossly unethical, showing symptoms of the incurable disease of the Philippine government –corruption. Labeling the issue as a matter of ‘sympathy’ and ‘concern’ is a blunt disregard of justice, accountability, and transparency. It’s a mockery to the Filipino people who endured poverty but still found ways to pay for their PhilHealth membership hoping that they will be able to access better healthcare service. Moreover, a public servant vows to always place the public’s best interest first before theirs. Serving honestly is not an act of heroism, because that is the bare minimum, this is what you signed up for. In the social spectrum, sympathizing with cancer-stricken individuals is a humane act, but this idea is skewed when put in the context of judicial and political arenas. Morales may have been suffering from lymph nodes cancer, but in light of the current issue, isn’t there a more lethal ‘cancer’ that he needs to tend to? Conveniently, he has access to quality healthcare for his illness while there are thousands, perhaps millions of poor Filipinos who died deprived of the same healthcare service that he has the privilege to afford. A lot of Filipino people starved to death because of corruption, a lot of Filipino children are robbed of opportunities for a better life because of corruption, and a lot of Filipinos have suffered because of the insatiable greed of those above. And perhaps what infuriated the Filipino people more is the fact that the President can sympathize with Morales but falter to do the same with those below the pyramid.

It’s used, it’s recycled, the same story will never sell in the public’s eye. Today, more people are more aware and more critical. Today, more people know they deserve better public service. Today, more people are thirsty for justice and transparency. Thus, today and onwards, the government will never be able to run from us, every coin stolen by the corrupted government agencies equates to an opportunity less for a Filipino. It is only right that for the same amount of opportunities the syndicate has deprived the people of, they should be punished tenfold for it. No more dramas, no more gaslighting, we know what we deserve, we are not apologizing for demanding accountability. It is time for us –the public, to finally shout “cut!” and put an end to the century-long narratives of manipulation, dishonesty, and corruption of the clowns in the political arena. Instead of a closing curtain, the bar rails should be shut closed locking up the stars of the show.