Public office is a public trust, not a cookie jar

By Alex P. Vidal

“No man should be in public office who can’t make more money in private life.”—Thomas Dewey

NO one will admit that he wants to be part of government chiefly because, if given the opportunity, he will enrich himself—especially if he holds a powerful elective and even appointive position.

They are always “motivated by a strong desire to serve the people and improve their lives.”

They always “hate graft and corruption in government and we will eradicate it and help the poor” if elected or appointed.

Any position in government can be a source of temptation.

Many honest characters who enter the government service sometimes end up as rapacious grafters if not plunderers.

As the saying goes, no one walks a saint in public service.

From sheep to wolves; from worms to snakes; from goats to elephants; from fish to crocodiles and sharks.

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But most candidates in the election, in order to convince the voters, always pride themselves to be paragons of public service; that they are sincere and “willing to make an ultimate sacrifice for the people.”

They will keep their cards close to their chest and will not reveal their malevolent hidden agenda.

Once they are in power, they forget the fundamental reason why they are there in the first place.

They steal left and right like there is no next lunar eclipse and demand 10 to 15 percent from shady contractors and suppliers.

From thousands, they are tempted to go higher in their money-making schemes at the expense of the taxpayers.

Once the opportunity presents itself, they will stop at nothing until they steal millions.

Let us remind them that a public office is a public trust, not a cookie jar.

That they cannot escape from the karmic justice.

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IF there is a Poison Ivy, an allergenic Asian and Eastern North American flowering plant in the genus Toxicodendron, there’s also a “Poison Isko.”

The former is a plant, the latter is a politician—a traditional one pretending to be a political rock star.

“Poison Isko” used to be an icon in the local government because of his head-turning and trailblazing track record as mayor of the country’s capital city.

But this was before he shocked his admirers when he launched his presidential bid.

People thought he was the Real McCoy in Manila City; that he will never abandon Manila after he has started to bring it back to its old glory step by step no matter how tempting was the prodding from the false prophets who had mesmerized him with misleading and obnoxious adulations that caused his head to swell.

As a result, he has been labeled as a poisonous object in next year’s presidential election.

He will “poison” the candidacy not of Vice President Leni Robredo, but of Bongbong Marcos because he admires Bongbong’s father, the late dictator President Ferdinand Marcos, and he had announced it for all the world to know.

(The author, who is now based in New York City, used to be the editor of two dailies in Iloilo—Ed)