Who has never bribed a cop? Is that a necessary evil?

**mbeige** · July 30th, 2006 10:50 PM

Originally Posted by midinite

Got a question. I have only lived in the U.S. as a kid and been there on holidays. Would you, out of curiousity also question an American Law Enforcement Officer? Just wondering.

Or are you more vehement with Filipino Law Enforcement Officers?

No double standard? I have seen it on occassion with returnees who lambast the people in the country of origin. Not just here, but in other countries of underdeveloped stature with locals who have emigrated to the developed world. Be it Asian, African or even Latin America ( I grew up there)

Just an honest question. Not meant to attack anyone in particular.

Anyone?

In the US, there are speed cameras, police cars that can and will outrun you, committing a traffic violation will be recorded in your license and you pay a hefty fine. The police cars are installed with an onboard video camera and the officer has a microphone on his left collar, recording everything that happens on a patrol stop.

Would I question the officer? If I think I am being pulled over for no reason, yes. Then I would explain politely why I don't think he is right, but if he insists, then I will go to court to file a complaint against the officer. There's said to be a trick to go around the system...

**squala** · July 31st, 2006 02:51 AM

In the Philippines, whether you bribe an apprehending officer or not, he gets his cut anyway. The system here is quite simple. You're always in the losing end. If you bribe him, you lose money. If you don't bribe him, you lose even more money. Either way, he earns from you.

**slamtaz** · July 31st, 2006 08:24 AM

Originally Posted by squala

In the Philippines, whether you bribe an apprehending officer or not, he gets his cut anyway. The system here is quite simple. You're always in the losing end. If you bribe him, you lose money. If you don't bribe him, you lose even more money. Either way, he earns from you.

if you put it this way, i guess it's true that he gets his cut anyway but might as well make him earn his "cut" legally so that we can help minimize, if not prevent, corruption in our own little ways... and i think that we actually don't lose even more money if we don't bribe because we're rightfully being penalized, as a consequence, of a violation committed and to me, that's simply complying with the law.

ika nga ni =>

Originally Posted by Horsepower

When the bribing stops, the corruption can too.

**e2fee** · July 31st, 2006 01:09 PM

Originally Posted by squala

In the Philippines, whether you bribe an apprehending officer or not, he gets his cut anyway. The system here is quite simple. You're always in the losing end. If you bribe him, you lose money. If you don't bribe him, you lose even more money. Either way, he earns from you.

If you bribe, he gets the money. If you don't bribe, the money, in theory, goes to a 'common fund' a.k.a. the government, which, in theory, is for the 'common good'.

In practice, I suppose 'government' could mean just another very small set of favored people, which will probably not include the enforcer.

So, it is probably not the case that the enforcer earns either way; only the first way.

**swordsman** · July 31st, 2006 01:56 PM

Originally Posted by Horsepower

When the bribing stops, the corruption can too.

For me, it's a hand in hand effort between the government agencies and the motorists. If it takes you like forever to claim your license, or to wait for a hearing on a contested violation...bribing a cop is really tempting. It would really take a highly-principled individual to not have 2nd thoughts.

If it would be just the MMDA way of not confiscating your license and being able to pay the fine at Metrobank at your convenience, then this issue of bribing cops would easily go away.

However, as experienced by James Deakin himself(in his past article), getting your driver's license from Makati City hall is a pain in the a$$. It would really test your patience and principle the next time it happens.

So in this unique situation in the Philippines, it looks like a chicken and egg scenario. You couldn't just blame the motorists, since the system is partly to be blamed as well.

**Radical!** · July 31st, 2006 04:51 PM

In my 23 years of driving I never bribed a cop :angel3:. But I paid someone P500 to get my license (dukot) from LTO East Ave when I was apprehended (unlawfully) a few years back.

**baiskee** · July 31st, 2006 05:05 PM

nope...and never. meron din nagpahinto sa akin, pero nung nakaramdam sya na di ko papatulan yung mga parinig nya..sinulatan na lang ng WARNING yung OR ng license ko. :D