“Incorrect documentation is often worse than no documentation” – Bertrand Meyer
Only callous individuals and greedy profit-oriented organizations only have the gall to take deceitful acts. Absolutely it is a “no-no” for any organization established in the name and service of marginalized, impoverished, and deprived Negrenses.
One unacceptable practice an organization does is to fabricate or falsify documents in order to comply with its requirements and continue to do “business-as-usual” activities, yet downright deceiving its clientele. This is the case of the imposture alternative trading institution I wrote about in this space last week.
Unconscientious malpractice tolerated and promoted by its leaders for more than three decades and doing nothing that normalizes malpractice to sustain operations at the expense of small producers and consumers is a disservice and betrayal at its best.
TABLEWORK SUPPLY CHAIN
For the longest time a product’s supply chain has been bastardized. Its production level does not have an iota of natural and organic practice yet labeled as organic and healthy and calling the product certified fair trade, but its facilities are incapable of producing such required products smacks the principle of any authentic certified fair trade product.
What pours salt to the open wound is that the small producers and its own employees are used as “doctors” in fabricating “official documents” only to comply with the requirements of the consumers, especially those from abroad – Europe and Korea in particular.
From the communities of the small producers, to the office of this institution, and finally in the processing facilities all parties involved in the supply chain, have mustered the craft of tablework fabrication of documents in masse and in volumes. This tablework mastery has three irreparable impacts among all parties involved.
First, using small producers as accessories and instilling in them that doing this is necessary for survival. This completely undermines their capacity and explicitly disregards their major role.
Secondly, using its own employees implies a “blackmail strategy” because not doing this poses a threat to their employment.
And lastly, the leadership of this institution utterly disregards the necessity of upgrading and improving its facilities as persistently refuses to recognize this as a major threat in its existence as it will expose itself by opening its own pandora’s box.
All these have one common denominator – normalizing the unacceptable practices of betrayal ironically defying its own mission as an alternative trader of the people’s products.
MASTER OF DOUBLESPEAK
It is unthinkable that this “alternative” trading institution, established to contribute to the alleviation of poverty in the countryside, has put the poor Negrense, especially the small agrarian reform beneficiaries’ struggle against poverty towards liberty in shambles.
Using them as “accessories” in its malpractice without recognizing their ideas, wisdom and experience deprives them of certain opportunities that may come their way because of this institution’s shameful and disgraceful practices. Identifying them with this institution erodes their credibility as small producers not only locally but possibly internationally. This may tarnish the local and national government’s image and reputation abroad as well.
This is an institution that speaks of “genuine people’s development” (sic) but majority of the small producer partners they once had have declared termination of partnership from them. A master of doublespeak that old leader loudly mouths, “the small producers are the reason of our existence” (sic) yet belittles their wisdom gained from decades of experience and struggle.
This is an institution that trades its products it calls a “poor man’s sugar” in the name of the marginalized Negrense packed and covered by the faces of small producers only to solicit support by buying its fake product.
‘RISKED EMPLOYMENT AND EXISTENCE’
The script written and spoken by the leaders of this institution is that its current state is caused by those individuals and leaders of small producers who severed ways from them. The leaders and certain individuals are to blame for its consequences as they continue to pursue fairness and transparency against its “normalized malpractice”. The management of this institution talk and act as if they are victims of their current circumstances and that its employees will lose their job should the process of ferreting out the truth evolves and elevates.
But I say it again, this is a cheap trick. Its circumstances are borne out of their own shameful and disgraceful action or inaction. Worse, by a stroke and twist of fate these leaders will leave a “legacy” to their employees by their own crooked perspective – a very necessary evil, “falsify to comply” in order to survive.*
