Talk of the Town: A lesson on the politics of ‘utang na loob’

What is so obvious among the gallery of senators is that Risa was the only one grilling Sara. The rest were so quiet even though they knew Sara was wrong to ask for budgets to fund projects the OVP was not responsible of. It was obvious that Sara wanted to use gov’t money for her own political interest in the guise of helping people. Patronage politics and scratching each other’s back is indeed the norm nowadays.

Banquo

Public servants’ first and foremost debt of gratitude is to ensure that the people are properly served thru good government. That is their oath of office. Utang ng loob to those who helped them get elected is secondary as long as it does not harm the country. The problem here is that financial and political supporters who helped get these politicians elected expect priority service due to “utang ng loob.”

Philip C.

See Also

On parental guilt

The VP wasn’t invoking “utang na loob.” She was pointing out that the senator has no integrity (as to seek help from a rival political party) and is only after her own interest. So the implication is the senator’s inquiries aren’t about proper budget allocation but again motivated by political agenda. It does not take away the fact though that the senator’s questions per se are valid. But we all know how our senate hearings have been weaponized and only the naive attend these hearings with the sole intention of giving truthful answers. Yet meanwhile, our country seems to be getting closer and closer to a war. If this isn’t something that would unite us, I don’t know what will.

Value your votes. Make the change on the ballot box.

OFW_Investor