SOMETIMES I wonder why there are hardly any memoirs written by former government officials, especially those who used to occupy the higher echelons. 

Memoirs are typically about the life and times of the author, and they depict personal knowledge of how things were during his time in and out of office. My personal interest in memoirs is what they say about the corruption their author had seen or heard or, perhaps, if the author is frank, bold and honest, even participated in during his heyday.      

But there are a lot of arguments why these kinds of memoirs will have a hard time getting written and published. Memoirs, especially those that discuss corruption in office involving other personalities in a no-holds-barred fashion, seem to require that the author, at the time of publication, is already deceased and may no longer be criminally and civilly charged with libel and damages, although, of course, his publisher and all those who caused the postmortem publication may still be exposed to the threats of suit. 

Still, I would like for such publication to come about,  and not only for their historical and cultural value.  It should additionally be a privileged learning experience, knowing how corrupt activities within the author’s personal knowledge had emerged and evolved, what its operational techniques or modus operandi were that enabled the activities to, among others, be well-hidden and well-protected for a long time, including its system of punishment and rewards, and what officials or personalities were usually involved in and out of the author’s immediate office.

The outside personalities referred to are normally the corrupt officials’ padrino or godfathers who are ready to defend and protect him if the latter got into any sort of trouble by reason of his corrupt activities. So they are usually themselves persons possessed of political power who command a following or constituency, and, certainly, a network of supporters, or they are businessmen who can use their money and influence to muddle any issue or control any fallout that may have been caused by the scandal involving their corrupt point men.

Other reasons that militate against the making and publication of such memoirs include the Filipino’s penchant for not resurrecting the past, especially if the persons involved are already deceased. Filipinos, generally, are respectful of the dead, regarding them as those who have simply gone or have departed ahead for the next life, and so have little or no wish at all to contribute in any way to blacken their memories. Besides, Filipinos tend to leave the judging of any such person who has died to God Himself, who sees everything and looks more to the heart than the external act that is the corrupt deed.

Still another reason memoirs are generally not written is that sensitive or delicate information may unleash forces which the author would not be able to control. The power to control is, as a rule, critical to men of stature and position, and they would not dwell on anything over which they cannot do much of anything or, worse, which might turn against them or their lingering interests in the end. 

Furthermore, revelations in the memoirs may produce consequences that may prove to be way beyond what the author had himself imagined. This is terrifying even to think about, and the instinctive thing to do is to forget about writing the revelation, no matter how helpful the same could be in a proper case.

Then there is also the possibility that instead of helping clarify mysteries from the past, the memoir’s author may himself be accused of covering up his guilt and casting the blame on others. Or of revisionism, with the view to dressing up the past with a veneer favorable to himself, so that when history comes to judge, they would have their protective shield. But woe to these kinds of men, because they die knowing they deliberately sowed a perpetual lie.

Still and all, how I’d really wish that former high public officials and other famous public figures and personalities wrote their memoirs. Those of us still in public office may be persuaded to follow their example and, together, we may finally be able to contribute to the proper understanding of the puzzle that is ourselves.