Worse than rats

It is often whispered in conversations over coffee among the bureaucrats that frequent the coffee shops in Morato, Quezon City that Chinese state companies are willing to loan millions of dollars in exchange for kickbacks to Chinese officials, which Chinese officials are also willing to share with their Filipino counterparts. The present controversy concerning the scandalous NBN-ZTE deal only confirms that the hush talk has a basis in fact.

The amazing thing is in this situation, you can never doubt that even in their corrupt practices, the Chinese remain good patriots to their country. On one hand, the Chinese officials can sleep well at night for what is being given back to them as commissions would be repaid to their mother country, principal plus interest, by the Philippine government. So China never really loses anything.

On the other hand, their Filipino bureaucrats show that they are worse than rats, for not only do the Filipino bureaucrats put their country further into debt, they also make it pay for the kickbacks that they and their Chinese counterparts share. Talk about screwing your own kind. They don't care if the debt is a burden that not only their fellow Filipinos would carry, but also debts that would be paid by their own children, grand children, and great grandchildren.

With these officials running the Philippine government, Rizal must be turning in his grave.