He who has less in life should have more in law. – President Ramon Magsaysay

A las, after President Magsaysay died in a plane crash in Cebu on March 17, 1957, many of his successors in the presidential palace changed apparently the said adage to “He who has less in life should have more in-laws,” especially a sister-in-law or a brother-in-law in Malacañang.

As stated in this exposé, Not Getting Mad at, But Getting Even With, Tita Cory, some in-laws of then President Cory Aquino benefited handsomely from their ties of affinity to her. And of course, the in-laws of President Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo would put to shame perhaps all the other presidential in-laws combined from March 1957.

And worse, one Philippine President, who is running again for the presidency and who was jailed for plunder, had reportedly nine groups of in-laws, as his critics accuse him of having nine First Ladies, oops, one First Lady and eight other ladies in-waiting.

There is a simple way that the “Kamaganak, Inc.” can be rendered impotent or powerless.

The ReVOTElution of Hope for Sorsogon

T his writer would have started a tradition had the Commissions on Elections (COMELEC) accepted his certificate of candidacy that was sent by registered mail from Los Angeles, California. To view again the well-publicized effort to run for the governorship of Sorsogon Province, please click on these links to the articles written by Joseph G. Lariosa, the dean of Filipino correspondents in the United States:

No Filing of CoC by Mail, Comelec Regional Officer Rules

OFW Files Consulate-notarized Certificate of Candidacy for Sorsogon Governor by Mail

In answer to the queries from some Overseas Sorsoganons on how my proposed governorship would have observed accountability, transparency, integrity and credibility (the so-called ATIC slogan that I coined), I e-mailed back these ideas, among other suggestions that I advocated:

1.0           The public official must list down the names of his (or her) spouse, parents, children, siblings and their spouses (in-laws) and in turn their immediate relatives. If the official does not provide the list, then it is the duty of the local press or civic associations like the “Sorsogon Crusade for Good Government” (or locally known as the “Crusada”) to provide the list.

2.0           Require the official to provide verifiable assets-and-liabilities statement and place all his shares of stocks in any private corporation, cooperative or credit union in trust with a Trust Department of a commercial bank or asset-management company. This is the way it is being done by American elected or appointed officials.

3.0           Put all the financial transactions of the provincial government (or of any government office) online and display in the official website scanned copies of all government vouchers and checks.

Using just the said three suggested practices would make ineffective the “Kamaganak, Inc.” or at least render it impotent. How? High-schools and college students, if given computer facilities, can make lots of discoveries, especially of financial improprieties. Even Overseas Sorsoganons can use the search capabilities of the Internet, especially if all the financial transactions and government records are published online, and forward their findings to the general public. And finally, the press – once it sees that even students can unmask the identities of corrupt relatives or dishonest in-laws of the government official – will be more proactive in its traditional role as the Fourth Estate. # # #