Long story short, the quick fix Inquirer columnist Randy David describes in his recent piece “Beyond the outrage” was tried before and it didn’t work. Calls for the president’s resignation or ouster and the installation of a national transition council or a civil-military junta aren’t options. That is, except for the leftist-militant groups which are actually all for it.
But given the political structure, can reforms be passed by the legislature and will the executive take the lead in doing so? That is the operative question. David writes…
If we hope to address corruption at its roots, we must confront the premodern features of our political system: dynastic networks, pork barrel politics, electoral clientelism, loyalty-based appointments, and informal hierarchies within the civil service. None of these can be dismantled overnight. Some require constitutional revision; others demand bureaucratic restructuring. All require civic engagement and a citizenry that refuses to retreat into despair.
The late former President Cory Aquino had all the support and goodwill in the year she led a “revolutionary government” but she wasn’t bold enough to introduce the needed reforms. Instead, it was political vendetta that she pursued — one that only served the interests of her relatives and allies and not that of the Filipino people. It was under the Cory administration that the term OIC or officer-in-charge was institutionalized and this is why there are more political appointees to the civil service than career bureaucrats for this reason.
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The president did approve the Philippine Civil Service Modernization Project, a four-year undertaking financed by the World Bank with a P4 billion loan that had as its goal the digitalization of the civil service and the review and updating of qualification standards for each position and the integration of competency based assessment. Even if the project had been completed, its implementation was another thing altogether as this would have had to eliminate ghost employees and minimize if not curb, other anomalies in the personnel services component of the budget which is also prone to corruption.
It is interesting to note that David’s late wife, Karmina Constantino David, was also appointed chairperson of the Civil Service Commission but she did nothing to reform the system during her tenure. And this is why I’m skeptical that the present administration will initiate the much needed restructuring of the government given the socio-political environment which has been in place since the time of the Spaniards.
There is no greater example of what’s wrong with the system than the announcement of Trade Secretary Maria Cristina Aldeguer-Roque that P500 is enough for one family’s noche buena for Christmas. Even a political appointee should know better given her educational background. But instead, she exhibited gross insensitivity to the plight of the public who suffer the most from the high prices of basic commodities.
- Token outrage and politically-motivated street rallies contribute very little to the reform agenda - December 1, 2025
- Renovate or detonate? Can a profoundly-corrupt society like the Philippines be fixed without first killing it at its roots? - October 23, 2025
- All just optics: September 21 Luneta rally won’t deliver results — only dishonest optics - September 22, 2025
₱500 is enough for the lower middle class.
₱300 is enough for the upper bottom class.
How much is enough for the upper class?
Is Cynthia Villar in the upper or lower class?? Make it make sense.
We have to kill the ladyboy attitude before we become a first world peoples
restoring the death penalty, and fast tracking of cases – that should solve the problem of corruption.
bring back the death penalty NOW !
and lets start the hangin’ with “fartin” martin
Another idea I have: Filipinos should just leave the Philippines when able, let those who want to stay rot with the rotten country.
actually, those who really want to stay have lands, properties, business interests, cushy high-ranking jobs, social status, prestige and power..
why leave when youre on top?
Are you saying, in short, No Data is a non-achieving loser?
i said what i said.
what you say, thats on you.
anti dynasty bill – a giant waste of time!
these fukkers will only use placeholder dummies and will only give jobs to shameless lawyers and court jesters.
it is much better to indoctrinate the young people in school in civics classes, on the evils of political douchebags and dynasties.
Rallies and demonstrations today take inspiration from the Edsa 1986 failed coup d’etat that got saved and remade into a street rally. They assume Marcos Sr. scooted Malacanang because he got scared of the people gathered on the streets. Truth is, he wasn’t afraid of them at all. What got him out of Malacanang was a phone call from US Senator Laxalt that told him to step down. So he did, and US helicopters whisked him and family over to Hawaii. Rallyists right now are in for a disappointment, as the “higher power” won’t pick up and have this Marcos whisked off to somewhere else.
And one thing that shows street parties don’t always work is that 1989 thing that didn’t really happen in a Red Place…
That’s the whole trouble with Filipino “activists” — that misplaced sense of self-importance that make them believe in the sanctity of their respective “causes”. If they invest the time to pull themselves out of their own asses, they’d have a better chance of seeing the reality you described above.
jose rizal was just homosexual protester