I.

This house supports the abolition of the PDAF

Closing Government
Expected Argument:
The PDAF does not need to be abolished. It just needs to be reformed so that the
irregularities and corruption may be avoided by adding mechanisms that would ensure
transparency, stricter procedures and right accountability in the use of the PDAF. (e.g.
publish the COA reports).

II.

Counter Argument:
Even if the PDAF is reformed, there are still other ways that can be made for it to
be abused. Since the culture of corruption is deeply rooted in our government especially
among our government officials it would be too nave, if not foolish, if we overlook this
reality in Philippine politics.

III.

Analysis:
Our government is manned by people and people are easily influenced. You may
have a better procedure and better mechanisms but you also have the same people with
corruptible character that enforces this system. Our government officials are already
known for being corrupt. Experience tells us they are corruptible. History tells us that
they are corruptible. Two former presidents have already been charged with corruption.
The only reason our jails are not filled with corrupt officials is because they are not
caught. Why, you say? Simple. Because these corrupt officials are very creative. They
always find ways to satisfy their greed, which includes lying to the people and stealing
their money. Simply reforming the PDAF would not do any good if the people are not
willing to change. Think of it this way, you want to rehabilitate a drug addict. Do you
think it would be wise to lock him up in a room full of drugs? Do you think he would be
able to withstand the temptation of taking the drugs where in fact, it would be within his
reach to take the drugs? We all know that it would be more likely for the drug abuser to
take the drugs because this is the reality that we must face. The drugs in this analogy
would be the corruption. Do you think that it would be wise to give people with
corruptible characters these funds? Even the bureau of customs, one of the most corrupt
agencies, commissioner Ruffy Biazon has said: One concept done by other countries is a
complete overhaul [of their customs departments] through abolition. We might have to do
that. It has been a known fact that the government of the Philippines is and has been one
of the most corrupt in the world. The transparency international organization even states
that the corruption perception index of the Philippines is a score of 3.4 out of 10 wherein
0 means very corrupt and 10 means very clean. Since corruption is very rampant in the
government the best solution would be to abolish the PDAF.

IV.

Examples:
Political patronage is one of the examples the government officials may do. It is
the practice or custom observed by a political official of filling government positions with
qualified employees of his or her own choosing (The Free Dictionary). If this does
happen in our government, corrupt officials may fill the positions around him with people
who are also corruptible. This will just spread corruption through our government and
make it easier for the government officials to steal and not be caught.

Another example of this is the Bureau of customs. We all know that the bureau of
customs is one of the most corrupt departments here in our country. Even if we reform the
system of which they are using, the people working there are so used to corruption that it
would be very difficult for them to change. Whether or not their system would be
reformed, there would always be corruption if the corruptible people are not going to
change.
V.

Sources:
Aries Rufo (2013). Customs, corruption: A hopeless case?. [ONLINE] Available at:
http://www.rappler.com/nation/34838-customs-corruption-hopeless-case. [Last Accessed
14 September 2013].
Farlex (None). Political Patronage. [ONLINE] Available at: http://legaldictionary.thefreedictionary.com/Political+patronage. [Last Accessed 15 September
2013].
Kathleen A. Martin (2013). How to stop corruption in the Bureau of Customs. [ONLINE]
Available at: http://www.abs-cbnnews.com/business/05/23/13/how-stop-corruptionbureau-customs. [Last Accessed 14 September 2013].
Michelle V. Remo (2013). bureau of customs abolition planned. [ONLINE] Available at:
http://newsinfo.inquirer.net/390089/bureau-of-customs-abolition-planned. [Last Accessed
12 September 2013].
Transparency International (2012). Corruption Perceptions Index 2012. [ONLINE]
Available at:
http://cpi.transparency.org/cpi2012/resultshttp://cpi.transparency.org/cpi2012/results/.
[Last Accessed 13 September 2013].