By DANNY O. SAGUN

A BIG CROWD turned up for the anti-corruption rally last Friday in Urdaneta City to the delight of Ombudsman Merciditas Gutierrez who brought all her deputies and staff. She was ecstatic and profuse with gratitude to Mayor Amadito Perez, noting his ability to assemble a huge crowd of some 10,000, thus eclipsing an earlier rally of some 8,000 in Cebu.

Perez can count on two big public schools in his city - the national high school and the city-operated university - for a big turnout. Those two schools alone can already produce more than 10,000 warm bodies.

Public school teachers also came in full force aside from representatives
of government agencies, regional and provincial offices. The crowd easily swelled to thousands so that many participants of the parade which started at the market area did not make it to the Urdaneta Sports Complex where a program was held.

Why hold that rally or roadshow as termed by the organizers?

Apparently, it was meant to drum up support from the people who are all too often indifferent to abuses except when they are already directly hurt. Mayor Perez himself noted this in his welcome remarks - that we are only good at denouncing venalities. When it is time to make a formal complaint, Filipinos already shun away from it.

Gutierrez rallied the youths who made up most of the crowd to be very active in the campaign against corruption.
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Naturally, many in the audience could not easily grasp what the graftbuster meant. They wonder how they can go against an influential official, for example a mayor, who in a way has helped them before. It is very difficult to gather evidence, even veteran lawyers and law enforcers. How can a simple man help gather evidence?

At the press con later, local mediamen also seemed to be at a loss on how the anti-corruption works effectively and efficiently. Their questions showed their obvious disbelief especially on how the Ombudsman handles such sensitive issues as the ZTE broadband controversy and the Bolante case, and the report that the Philippines tops countries which are most corrupt in Asia.

(Wo)man enough to face such issues, Gutierrez said the ZTE case is open to media with a live TV coverage at that. She inhibited herself from the Bolante case and that she left the investigation to her deputies. The country is doing well in addressing corruption issues making the Philippines eligible for the Compact program of the USAID.
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Well said. What she could not easily erase from the minds of the doubting Thomases however was her old association with the First Gentleman.

Please look at our performance too, she intoned, asking media to be fair by highlighting too in their reports the positive side of things.

What got our attention though was the revelation that there are pending 20,000 graft cases, 2,000 of which involve high ranking officials.

We wonder if that number can be disposed before her term ends considering her admission that many had been there before she took over. And many more cases are being filed.

Can we devise a system that will make it very difficult to engage in corrupt activities? Remove the opportunity, that is. How? We do not know.

Corruption may no longer be a problem when we achieved a status like that of the highly developed countries.