IF ONLY people have their decency intact, there is no more need for penal laws. If only the politicians are decent enough, there should be no more need for protest, impeachment, or revolution. If the electorate still retains a modicum of decency, there should have been no way corrupt leaders get elected.

The woes we are suffering right now trace their origin in the forgotten word known as decency.

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You have a vice-mayor who struts around as if he is the mayor. This despite his more than 100 or so absences from the sessions of the City Council which by law he is mandated to preside. When asked to account for his absences, he taunts his critics to file the case against him.

Where is decency here?

You too have a mayor who on air espouses environmental protection but does a lip service, perhaps even nothing at all, in running after the predators of the environment. Under his watch 300 or smaller miners scour the riverbanks and mountainside along Iponan and Cagayan de Oro rivers. Under his watch too, Perfect World Metal Mining Corp. is allowed to flatten the earth in Dansolihon.

Where is decency here?

You too have the higher-ups of the police force who have their hands deep into the ôvideo karreraö scam, a form of gambling that victimizes the young, and in the illegal cockfights that are mushrooming in the barangays of our city.

Where is decency here?

You too have some prosecutors and judges who repay their debts of gratitude to their political patrons upon a mere telephone call of the latter. Perhaps, our prosecutors and judges are placed in an inherently indecent situation: They receive honoraria from the local executives, and their appointments come with a blessing from the politicians.

Where is decency here?

You too have members of the Cty Cuncil who, despite their supposed legal background, suspended a barangay chairman on mere action of the Blue Ribbon Committee. You have clearly a case of prostituting knowledge in the altar of political expediency.

Where is decency here?

You too have members of the media who receive monthly payola from the politicians. Worse, you have media practitioners who are protectors of the gambling lords and other syndicates in exchange for few dimes. You too have the AC-DC media men, members of the ôenvelopmentalö journalism who attack a prominent figure only to extort money.

Where is decency here?

You too have a president of the Republic in whose face; the complete opposite of the word decency is written all-over. Hers is governance which started by cheating her way in the elections, bought herself from impeachment proceedings, amassed wealth for her members of the family in record time, and dirtied her hands in scandals which rivaled if not surpassed Marcos in sheer depravity.

Where is decency here?

You too, I mean, me, people around me, and people around you, all of us, where is our sense of decency?

During elections, how much was the prize of your vote? Was it worth P100, or a promise of appointment in the juicy position of the government?

How many times have we bribed our way from simple traffic infractions? And bypassed others in a long queue as we undercut procedures under the table?

When you witness crimes, how many times did you stand-up to point the finger at the perpetrators? Did you realize how many criminals go scot-free due to lack of witnesses, because you, like Romulo Neri, refused to open your mouth?

Decency, come to think about it, is it not the root cause of our ills? [Email comments to tiburciopalasan@plasanlaw.com]