Our Hindered Progress

Written by Ryan Kerwin Po

Everyone is a witness of the Philippines' worsening condition. The main cause of this is the corruption in the government and in our country. Everyone is affected by corruption. We must do something to stop corruption so that we can improve the condition of our country and its people.

Bribery

Bribery is a kind of corruption and it often happens in the roads and in the court. People, who are caught disobeying traffic rules, usually bribe police officers to get out of trouble and save time. People bribe the judge that to be able to win the case and avoid imprisonment. Many officials in the government are tempted to accept the money that is used to bribe them. People should learn to accept their mistakes and face the consequences of their actions.

Blackmail

Another kind of corruption is blackmailing, which is like the opposite of bribery. Powerful officials use people's secrets, jobs, or even their lives to blackmail them. Politicians blackmail others if they don't want the people to know their dirty secrets or crimes. Blackmailing is bad because it puts the victim in a situation that will force them to do something they don't want.

Taxes

Everyone pays taxes. People pay a big portion of their salary to the government. Taxes should be used for the development of the country but instead, it is stolen by corrupt political officials in the government and used for their own purposes. This is the reason why many people do not pay the right tax and get accused of tax evasion. They don't trust the government with the money that they worked hard for.

Poverty

One of the main causes of corruption is poverty. A lot people in our country are suffering from poverty. There are many informal settlers and jobless Filipinos in the streets. The money that was supposed to be used for them was just stolen by corrupt officials. If the government used the taxes for the country and its people, then poverty would have lessened.

Corruption is a very serious problem in the Philippines. We should find a way to solve this problem. If we want to stop corruption, we should start with ourselves first. We should be honest and sincere with our actions and decisions. Everything that we do affects the country and its people either in a good way or in a bad way.