City hall, capitol millionaires

“There are people who have money and people who are rich.” Coco Chanel

By Alex P. Vidal

We beg to disagree with the claims of some politicians that public service will only make them poor if they are already rich, or will make them poorer if they enter politics as poor.

We also don’t buy it hook, line and sinker that most of them run for public office during the elections because they are motivated by a robust philanthropic desire and commitment that “we sincerely want to serve the people and are willing to make sacrifices to ensure that our constituents get the kind of service that they deserve.”

The opposite is what is actually happening.

In fact, most of them became rich while in public office. The poor became rich and the rich became richer in their ranks. Their statements of assets and liabilities (SAL) show their wealth has increased by leaps and bounds while in public office.

Their sudden transformation from rags to riches has become eye-catching and head-turning.

BUSINESSES

Unless they have other businesses or huge sources of income other than their salary in government, it’s mind-boggling how many of them became millionaires overnight.

Many aspirants for public office, in fact, were adamant to pursue a career in politics for fear that they would only end up as milking cows of their poor constituents who will badger them with cash assistance for funeral, hospitalization, barangay basketball tournaments, among other forms of solicitations and financial requests.

They feared that their salary in government would be no match or not enough to sustain these gargantuan financial needs of their poor constituents on a daily basis, thus many of them shied away from public service.

We know a lot of elected and appointed officials in government whose lifestyles have changed dramatically while enjoying the pelf and privileges that go with their positions in both local and national offices.

EXPENSIVE

Their expensive and sophisticated lifestyles and hobbies are far cry from the ones when they were not yet in government. Even the way they laugh in public has alarmingly changed, the tone of their voices is now smeared with arrogance, pomposity and conceit.

Their egos bloated, power and money have intoxicated many of them. Their feet are no longer planted on the ground that even ordinary members of the hoi polloi can no longer reach them or sit alongside with them for a brief tete-a-tete.

And they call themselves “public servants.”

There is a famous saying that if we want to know a person, let’s give him power. Once they have tasted fame and glory and their whims and caprices have been satisfactorily taken care of, they will cling to political power like leeches.

They will become regular clients in every electoral exercise mesmerizing gullible voters and taking them for a ride. Old habits die hard. Power corrupts and absolute power corrupts absolutely, so goes a popular adage.