Philippine society is a real class act. Its top “thought leaders” are, yet again, buzzing around yet another flypaper “issue” around — get this — institutionalised corruption at such scale as to result in massive public suffering and tragedy.
What an outrage, right? But then this is, what, the Nth such outrage fad over the last several Philippine presidencies since that “revolution” in 1986 that “restored” Philippine “democracy”. Even a cheap street poll will reveal what many Filipinos already know about circuses like these. Nothing of consequence will come out of it.
Even this early, one can easily see that the roadmap ahead is already locked into the standard traditional pathway Filipino-style “justice” normally takes. A made-up trial (by publicity) followed by a fair pwede-na-yan resolution that ensures all the top crooks and oligarchs across the political spectrum that are likely members of the same tony golf and country clubs across the country continue to enjoy the status quo.
| SUPPORT INDEPENDENT SOCIAL COMMENTARY! Subscribe to our Substack community GRP Insider to receive by email our in-depth free weekly newsletter. Subscribe to our Substack newsletter, GRP Insider! Learn more |
Indeed, in a democracy, the government, its politicians, and its bureaucrats all reflect the character and quality of the people who participate in it. How do Filipinos participate in their “democracy”? By being “voters” is the prevailing thinking. And not much more than that. In short, Filipinos miss the important point of democratic governance — holding leaders and one’s self to account.
Down to the micro level, Filipinos are a profoundly corrupt people. At an early age, Filipino children are taught by their parents to be cheats and liars. Small surprise then that, at the macro level that our chi chi “thought leaders engage in political “debate”, lots of shrill indignation is expressed over cheating and lying at the executive levels of Philippine society.
As any IT pro would recommend, try turning the contraption off, count to ten, then turn it on again. How does one reset such a deeply messed-up society such as that of the Philippines’ following that tried-and-tested approach? As this most recent “anti-corruption” circus is showing, the boot disk needs to be changed from Windows to Linux. A convoluted operating system cannot be repaired. Things need to be simplified and bloat removed for true reform to take root.
- This latest Filipino-style ‘anti-corruption’ circus proves that the Philippines needs a serious reboot - November 16, 2025
- Filipinos literal sitting ducks as wind and floods from natural tropical typhoons amplified by years of neglect bear down - November 9, 2025
- Rally NA NAMAN??? - September 20, 2025