A HUNGER FOR POWER AND A THIRST FOR WEALTH: ESTABLISHING A LINK BETWEEN EARLY POLITICAL CORRUPTION AND THE PORK BARREL SYSTEM

The NBN-ZTE scandal which involves allegation of corruption about the proposed national broadband project between the government and China’s ZTE Corporation drew too much attention worldwide (“Arroyo suspends telecom deal with Chinese firm”, 2007). During the Senate hearing, we have heard about their use of the term “moderate greed” as a paradox (“NBN-ZTE Executive Summary”, 2009). Moderating the question of how far will you go and how much is too much is an open question that needs self-assessment and agreement in the definition of what excessive and greed is all about. At the present, the Philippine government is facing another issue of corruption through the abuse of the pork barrel system. This paper aims to discuss the issue of political corruption in the Philippine government by giving an overview of the pork barrel system, a political act of appropriating lump-sum budget for local projects which brings money to a representative’s district (Drudge, 2008). The research also aims to cover how it can be a tool for corruption and cite the underlying failures in the roots of early Philippine politics. A famous philosopher, George Santayana, once said, “Those who cannot remember the past are condemned to repeat it” (Santayana, 1905). This signifies that the present is a mere representation of the past.? The purpose of this study is not to criticize the issues but to identify the flaws that are obnoxiously or intentionally ignored in this present time.