CyberRon

Heed Hard

2012-01-02T13:36:00.000+08:00

The same issues keep cropping up, then and now. These are similar scandalous corruption issues that result in the shaky, tumultuous political events that have rocked the country for the past 15 years. History repeats itself, and we need to heed hard and learn harder from lessons of the past. If we do – by resolving past unresolved scandals and avoid new ones – the country can regain its 1999 status by 2013. If the Aquino government is serious and the momentum is gained for the next 3 years, we can overtake Indonesia, Thailand and Vietnam, and even match or surpass Malaysia and Brunei. The Corona impeachment is a litmus test for us to break the cycle of being a nation of scandals.

(click image to enlarge)

THE Berlin-based Transparency International (TI) recently released its latest global survey on Corruption Perception Index (CPI) and showed an improvement in the Philippine’s standing for 2011. Does this mean that the country is seeing some real hope in its fight against corruption?

The CPI is the only annual survey that sorts out perceived country corruption levels on a global scale. A CPI score near 10 is categorized as least corrupt, and a score near 1 is more corrupt. With a score of 2.6, the Philippines improved its rank at 129th place out of 182 countries, together with Armenia, Dominican Republic, Honduras and Syria. In 2010, the Philippines scored a lower 2.4 and placed in the 134th position out of 178 countries, joining Azerbaijan, Bangladesh, Honduras, Nigeria, Sierra Leone, Togo, Ukraine and Zimbabwe.

But while the Philippines improved in score and ranking, it still belongs to the 12th most corrupt countries in the world both in 2010 and 2011 (joining other countries in the same rank). In 2009, the country was part of the 13th most corrupt, with a score of 2.4 and 139th position out of 180 countries.

For 2011, New Zealand unsurprisingly came out as the least corrupt in the world with a 9.5 score, while Somalia and North Korea emerged as the most corrupt with a tied score of 1.0. In the 2010 survey, both New Zealand and Denmark topped as the least corrupt countries with a 9.3 score, and Somalia as the most corrupt in the world with a 1.1 score.

In the ASEAN front, the Philippines emerged as the 5th most corrupt next to Timor-Leste (2.4), Laos (2.2), Cambodia (2.1) and Myanmar (1.5). As usual, Singapore came out as the least corrupt with a 9.2 score, followed by Brunei (5.2), Malaysia (4.3), Thailand (3.4), Indonesia (3.0) and Vietnam (2.9). In 2010, the Philippines was the 3rd most corrupt country, next only to Cambodia and Laos (tied at 2.1) and Myanmar (1.4). Singapore was still on top at 9.3 score, followed by Brunei (5.5), Malaysia (4.4), Thailand (3.5), Indonesia (2.8), Vietnam (2.7) and Timor-Leste (2.5).

Interestingly, Malaysia used to tail Singapore but is now consigned one notch down due to the entry of Brunei. Because they are showing significant and consistent improvements, both Indonesia and Vietnam have already surpassed the Philippines in the CPI standing. The latter enjoyed advantage in higher score and rank than the former in the previous years. Myanmar is recently the consistently most corrupt in ASEAN, and one of the 2 second most corrupt countries in the world (together with Afghanistan) with a score of 1.5 in 2011.

A welcome relief

There might be some basis for seeing hope in the Philippine’s recent CPI standing. It gained a 2.6 score in 2011, two notches higher than the 2.4 score in 2010. In fact, the last time the country got the 2.6 score was in 2004. From 2005 to 2010, the country seesawed in 2.5-2.3-24 scores for the entire 6-year period of the GMA administration that is beset with the most number of mostly unresolved corruption scandals. Thus, it is not surprising to see the country’s lowest score of 2.3 in 2008; this can be a result of the accumulated public dissatisfaction over GMA’s credibility. This is also the lowest CPI score for the country for the past 15 years. By overlaying selected national corruption scandals, GMA had the lowest score as compared to the lowest of FVR (2.69 in 1996) and Erap’s short-lived term (2.8 in 2000). Interestingly, several SWS surveys showed that GMA got the lowest public approval ratings among the country’s top officials. Thus, the 2011 CPI score of 2.6 is a welcome relief.

Looking deeper by diachronic overlay of events, there seems to be a pattern of CPI behavior. The 2011’s 2.6 score occurred after the change of administration from GMA to Aquino as a result of the 2010 presidential elections. When GMA took over Erap in 2001, the country got a 2.9 score from the previous year’s 2.8. When Erap was elected after FVR’s term in 1998, the country’s CPI jumped to 3.6 in 1999 as compared to the previous year’s score of 3.3. Interestingly, the CPI score of 3.6 is the highest score so far that the country earned. During this year also, the Philippines was among the 20th most corrupt countries, with the rank of 54th out of 99 other countries. Erap must have benefited a lot from the economic rebound and political stabilization during the FVR’s term.

History repeats itself

The rise of CPI score in every change of presidency appears to react against scandals of the previous administration. This is fairly evident in the case of Erap (1998-1999), GMA (2000-2001), and Aquino (2010-2011). Because of the Jose Pidal and Hello Garci scandals from 2002-2004, GMA’s election in 2004 might have resulted in the decline of the country’s CPI in 2004-2005. This decline is the beginning of the country’s very low CPI scores spanning GMA’s entire term until 2010.

The 2011 CPI rise can reflect the growing public anger towards the many unresolved corruption scandals during GMA’s incumbency from 2004-2010, including the NBN-ZTE scandal, Fertilizer Fund scam, electoral sabotage charges, Garcia plunder case and plea bargain scandal (which sparked the impeachment of pro-GMA Ombudsman Merceditas Gutierrez – a first of its kind in the Philippines), the Maguindanao massacre and the controversial midnight appointments (which included and sparked the impeachment as well of the Supreme Court Chief Justice Renato Corona – a first of its kind also in the Philippines).

In a similar fashion, the CPI rise from 2000-2001 appears to be a reaction against the scandals that plagued the Erap presidency which led to his impeachment in 2001. In fact, the sharpest CPI decline for the Philippines – the widest drop margin of 8 points - happened in Erap’s term from 1999 (3.6) to 2000 (2.8). This could be a result of the accumulated public outcry against the scandals hounding his administration, most notably the midnight cabinet scandal, the presidential mistresses, the PCSO fund scam, BW Resources scandal, hot cars scandal and the Jose Velarde juetengate scandal among others.

FVR did not come out as completely clean, despite his good political and economic performance during his term. FVR was hounded and investigated in his role in the PEA-AMARI Manila Bay anomalous deal and the Centennial Expo scam. With the election to the presidency of the popular showbiz personality of then Vice President Erap, the country’s CPI standing might have reacted favorably from 3.3 in 1998 to 3.6 in 1999. This was of course spoiled by Erap’s scandals beginning in 2000 and his impeachment in 2001.

The Philippines became popular because of the EDSA People Power Revolution in 1986, as a result of massive public outrage against the abuses and corruption of the Marcos regime from 1965-1986. In 2001, the country went again into EDSA People Power revolutions (so called EDSA Dos and EDSA Tres) because of the same issues of malfeasance in government.

Erap was impeached and later arrested because of plunder. GMA was able to dodge the series of impeachment complaints against her but was still arrested recently because of electoral sabotage (she was to be charged with other violations as well). Two Philippine presidents were indicted and arrested in successive terms. Add to that the impeachment of the Ombudsman and the Supreme Court Chief Justice.

The same issues keep cropping up, then and now. These are similar scandalous corruption issues that result in the shaky, tumultuous political events that have rocked the country for the past 15 years. History repeats itself, and we need to heed hard and learn harder from lessons of the past.

The scourge of scandals

Corruption scandals have a way to divide the country. Even established institutions – civil society groups, professional associations, business, even the Church – oftentimes find themselves pitted against the pros and the cons. If they protract and left unresolved, the scandals also have a way to fuel cynicism among the citizenry. This is especially true among the corruption issues perceived to be committed or coddled by those in position of power in government.

When an incumbent administration does not show resoluteness in resolving corruption scandals, people’s trust erodes. When erosion of public trust swells, it results in widespread public apathy, fomenting mockery and distortions of formal bureaucratic processes in government. This is the reason why rule of law is challenged and bureaucratic procedures mistrusted and breached. When the very institutional mechanisms not only fail to prevent and rectify the social ills but also being used to shield these ills, people lose trust in these mechanisms. These scandals have reached their level of impunity because of the dangerous blind adherence to procedures and technicality. This is what former UP Law School Dean Raul Pangalanan refers as the problem of legal formalism at the expense of the substance of the law. Years ago, then Sen. Rodolfo Biazon called it being lost in the legal gobbledygook.

The Filipino people have grown very tired of the scandals of the past administrations, most especially that of GMA’s presidential rule from 2001-2010. It was of deep providence that the death of former President Cory Aquino catapulted then Sen. Benigno Aquino III into the presidency to replace GMA. This was clearly shown by the widespread sympathetic outpourings for Cory Aquino's death in 2009. Such outpourings could have turned – as columnist Conrado de Quiros then warned – into an explosion of fury against the opposite of Cory. And the opposite is not Marcos, FVR or Erap.

A slippery slope but with a glint of hope

The CPI score of 2.6 in 2011 from the previous year’s 2.4 gives some meaningful glint of hope. It marks the positive public reaction to the transfer of power from GMA to Aquino. The SWS surveys also showed consistent high approval ratings for Pres. Aquino.

The Corona impeachment is the litmus test of the president’s resolve and public support to fix the corruption scandals left by the GMA administration. By his resolve, President Aquino has exercised – even significantly risked - some leadership in putting to task the Supreme Court Chief Justice for protecting GMA. Ateneo’s School of Government Dean Tony La Viña describes the slippery slope that the Aquino administration is threading on. Calculated well and backed up by an immense public support – founded on a very deep thirst to resolve corruption issues – the Corona impeachment and resolution can provide a glint of hope to break the cycle of being a nation of scandals. Extraordinary circumstances indeed, call for extraordinary measures.

If the Aquino administration succeeds in the Corona case, it spells a good symbol of resoluteness to clean this government. It is not far-fetched that the Philippines will improve further in the CPI standing in the coming years.

If Pres. Aquino is very careful to avoid a scandal of his own administration and maintains his high approval rating, the Philippines can practically get back to the 1999 CPI level of 3.6. And when momentum is gained over time – where past scandals are resolved and no new scandals emerge – combined with consistent public approval for the entire Aquino’s term, it is not implausible to see the Philippine standing at the CPI level of 4 or 5, overtaking Indonesia, Thailand and Vietnam, even matching or surpassing Malaysia and Brunei.

Future administrations must heed hard history's lesson: scandals don’t pay! And the incumbent should seriously pave the way.

Kakistocracy

2011-04-20T10:58:00.023+08:00

Kakistocracy

The Rule of the Unprincipled, Unethical and Unqualified

(click image to enlarge)

ABSTRACT

The Philippines is perceived as one of the most corrupt countries in the world. The Corruption Perception Indexes (CPIs) of the Berlin-based Transparency International revealed the country’s corruption perception levels at the bottom rung since the 1990s. Unresolved national scandals beset various government administrations since the Martial Law period, thereby validating – and shaping as well – the widespread negative public perceptions.

But the country is not lagging behind in designing reforms to reduce corruption. In fact, the World Bank and other countries have recognized its world-class anticorruption initiatives in the public sector as well as in the various private sector and civil society organizations. Even the business groups, academe, the Church and broad-based citizens’ movements have joined the government’s efforts – either in collaboration or antagonism – in combating corruption in all fronts. However, as reform initiatives grow in sophistication, corruption likewise rears and gears into more insidious cleverness, thereby intensifying its gnawing influence in Philippine society. Thus the country perpetually staggers, like a big turtle with its small head of reforms wanting to forge ahead but is held back by the heavy shell of corruption.

Corruption is betrayal of public trust, and kakistocracy is the raging torrent gushing acts of betrayal. Thus, kakistocratic behavior makes corruption intractable and betrayal as an effective tool of the trade. Corruption persists because of the hegemony of kakistocratic leaders in all types of organizations in the Philippines.

High-level corruption and stories of grand malfeasance manifest in the many unresolved national scandals that rock the Philippine government. The stories of those involved - either as perpetrators or victims - are all told and written in media. But almost all of these stories only end up in dragging perfunctory investigations or being used for political commodity. They unfortunately fail to elevate into serious intellectual discourse that allow for theoretical abstraction and meaningful insights for reform.

This book digs deeper into the untold corruption stories from a lens of a betrayal theory for theoretical abstraction, as well as generate meaningful insights for anticorruption initiatives through a citizenship-based country strategy for the Philippines. For emancipation, a concept of citizenship as a countervailing power is juxtaposed to challenge corruption and betrayal.

Carrying on Ronnie Amorado’s framework of the dark side of social capital and perverse networks in corruption (Fixing Society, 2007), a betrayal theory will look at the various stakes and roles of actors, notions and elements of betrayal, techniques and modus operandi, as well as the pains and struggles of the betrayed through careful case documentation and analysis of their lived experiences.

As the research bleeds for the stories of the betrayed, it aims to seek justice by immortalizing their betrayal experiences for others to learn. Betrayal is a universal hurtful transgression that undermines people’s integrity and society’s probity. Betrayal is the antithesis of decency.

Malin Akerström (Betrayal and Betrayers: The Sociology of Treachery, 1991) shows the profound universality of betrayal: “Betrayal is a breach of trust, when information is shared beyond an agreed upon boundary of relations, whether that boundary is a pair of friends or a nation!”

Kakistocracy

2011-04-19T11:40:00.004+08:00

Kakistocracy

The Rule of the Unprincipled, Unethical and Unqualified

(click here for abstract and image)

FOREWORD

Dr. Michael Johnston
Charles A. Dana Professor of Political Science
Colgate University, Hamilton, NY;
2009 Grawemeyer Award
for Ideas Improving World Order;
2008 Ethisphere’s List of 100 Most Influential People

in Business Ethics

Entrenched, systemic corruption poses challenges that citizens of more fortunate societies often do not understand. Where accountability, governance institutions, and ethical frameworks are strong, corruption is the exception — not the rule. Usually it consists of discrete, clearly transgressive actions for which legal and political recourse is readily at hand. A bureaucrat who accepts a bribe or an elected official who abuses the powers of office in order to extract campaign contributions or personal gifts, breaks clear rules. While some dealings will go undetected, over time there is a significant probability of investigation, prosecution, and punishment for the guilty. Even where the activities in question do not so much break the law as exceed the limits of fair play — think campaign contributions that are too large, excessive patronage practices, or price-fixing among business cronies — a variety of public agencies and professional/trade associations set up to maintain open and equitable political and market processes can quickly impose a variety of sanctions. Backing it all up is a citizenry that expects fair play and accountability, and can demand action when things go wrong, as well as an elite culture in which rules and accountability are accepted facts of life. To be sure, even the best-governed societies fall short of these ideals from time to time; still, corrupt figures and abusers of power know they are taking significant risks, while citizens and honest business people have alternatives to corrupt ways of getting things done.

Not so, however, in systemically corrupt societies. There, the abuse of power is the norm, rules are vague or poorly enforced, and citizens can do little to demand punishment or reward accountability. In a Kakistocracy — a government by the worst — reporting abuses of power to authorities may amount to little more than informing one corrupt official about his rivals’ gains and techniques. Where elections are commonplace, promises of reform is the rule, yet little seems to change; indeed, campaigns and voting create new corruption in their own right. Courageous judges and journalists must fight a broader system in which bribery, intimidation, and violence protect the powerful and silence dissenters. Grassroots leaders seeking to mobilize their neighbors encounter resignation and distrust, often as understandable responses to deprivation and exploitation in everyday life. Many citizens will have little choice but to deal with venal and dishonest officials, and to do so from a position of vulnerability and weakness, while those involved in corrupt dealings all too frequently come to believe in their own impunity.

No place fits the latter description perfectly; corruption reflects a wide range of local influences everywhere it occurs. Still, because of its immense potential as well as its long-term governance problems, there is no better place than the Republic of the Philippines to begin to understand those contrasting realities. A strategic country and its large, energetic population has been very poorly served by its government over the decades; deep poverty and the waste of human potential are distressing realities in a society that by all rights ought to be one of the leaders of its region. In this book — a worthy successor to his well-known Fixing Society — Ronnie Amorado not only gives us the broad outlines of corruption and its consequences in Philippine society, but also develops a detailed understanding of the specific varieties of corrupt situations, individuals, and techniques that confront would-be reformers. His discussion shows us just how entrenched and complex corruption problems have become, and why they are not the sorts of clear exceptions to the norm that they might be in some other places. We also get a clear picture of why past efforts at reform have had indifferent results, and why the common view that corruption can be “tackled” or “fixed” with sufficient effort and good intentions overlooks persistent historical, institutional, and systemic difficulties. At the same time, Ronnie Amorado develops positive ideas and proposals — none of them simple or easy, but all rooted in the complicated realities of wealth, power, and corruption in the Philippines — that should be the subject of serious analysis and debate.

Every society on earth has corruption. No country has all the answers when it comes to good governance and reform. It is crucial to remember that corruption does not explain everything that is bad in any society. No more does it negate all that is good. There are, at the moment, reasons for hope and optimism in the Philippines — a country, after all, whose corruption realities have much in common with those of many other emerging societies. For that reason the efforts of a new administration, and the opportunities that may emerge for Filipinos themselves to step up their demands for better government, will be closely watched around the world. Those of us who care about those efforts, and who are looking for ways to support committed officials, businesspeople, and citizens as they continue their push for reform, will all benefit from a close and thoughtful reading of Ronnie Amorado’s work.

Kakistocracy

2011-04-18T11:50:00.015+08:00

Kakistocracy

The Rule of the Unprincipled, Unethical and Unqualified

(click here for abstract and image)

FOREWORD

Prof. Steven J. Lux
Executive Education Program
Maxwell School of Citizenship
Syracuse University, Syracuse, NY

If George Holmes Maxwell were alive today, he would be pleased to know the Maxwell School of Citizenship and Public Affairs hosted Ronnie Amorado as part of the School’s inaugural class of Humphrey Fellows for 2009 – 2010. So much of Ronnie Amorado’s investigation into the theory that explains corruption and the practice that perpetuates it mirrors the founder’s concerns with American politics in the 1920s. That is, it is not enough to imagine technical responses to things like corruption. As Ronnie Amorado points in shocking detail in this book, when it comes to issues like corruption there is a perpetual arms race between reform initiatives that grow in sophistication against the corruption that likewise grows more insidious and clever. Given such dynamics, solutions to public problems require more complex thinking. We must ask what motivates people to behave as they do even when it seems shockingly obvious that the behavior is destroying the foundation of society around them. George Maxwell, before, and Ronnie Amorado, today, implore us to bring to our analysis the conceptions of good citizenship as a means of addressing problems in public affairs.

When Ronnie Amorado first came to Syracuse, he may have expected too much from the Maxwell School. With the word “citizenship” deeply etched into the building’s stone facade for all to read, it is understandable to think that there should be a School imprimatur on the subject of citizenship. Indeed, George Maxwell’s first objective called for educating “intelligent patriots” by way of an institution dedicated to promoting “those principles, facts, and elements which, when combined, make up our rights and duties and our value and distinctiveness as US citizens.” In modern day America, however, the conceptions of citizenship are as complex as they are contested. When Ronnie Amorado entered our hallowed halls, he heard echoes of voices across the decades discussing, debating, and disagreeing about the fundamental understanding of citizenship and its worth. As such, before he could begin to conceptualize “citizenship as a countervailing force” to kakistocracy, Ronnie Amorado needed significant time just to make sense of the divergent views across the School and in the literature. Moreover, he also had to grapple with a debate about citizenship that is largely US-centric with little comparative perspective to other parts of the world.

Ronnie Amorado’s contributions to academia and the practice of combatting corruption are significant. First, he sheds light in excruciating detail, often uncomfortable, about the actual workings of corruption. His definitions of various types and patterns that emerge provide no wiggle room for someone who would describe their actions in uncertain terms. And, as he details his accounts, he provides a window into the world of corruption that allows us to entertain practical solutions to the problem. In this sense, he is a prime example of the good within an epistemic community of networked professionals from around the globe that brings their knowledge to bear on resolving issues such as corruption.

When George Maxwell offered up his money to found the Maxwell School, his sights were clearly set on the United States. Some eighty years later, we are blessed to have someone like Ronnie Amorado, a Filipino citizen, share his knowledge with the Maxwell community and to take from us what he needs to be the intelligent international patriot. It was an honor and a pleasure to host Ronnie Amorado to the inaugural class of Humphrey Fellows attending the Maxwell School of Citizenship and Public Affairs. I can only hope that out of this exercise comes not only a book but a continued impact on institutions of higher learning in the Philippines to take on the question of citizenship, regardless of its complexity.

Kakistocracy

2011-04-17T12:35:00.032+08:00

Kakistocracy

The Rule of the Unprincipled, Unethical and Unqualified

(click here for abstract and image)

BLURB

Fr. Albert E. Alejo, SJ
Team Leader, Ehem Anticorruption Movement
Author, Ehemplo: Spirituality of Shared Integrity
in Philippine Church and Society (2010)

Ronnie Amorado has done it again! In the award-winning Fixing Society (2007), he x-rayed the hidden networks of fixers in Philippine bureaucracy. Using innovative methods of fieldwork, he developed a typology of insider and outsider mechanisms of circumventing structures and official bureaucratic processes. Now in Kakistocracy, he does a more sensitive operation of laser scanning the pathetic ways of betraying public trust – betrayals committed by unqualified leaders who insist on being unprincipled, unethical, and totally unworthy of the people’s hope for good governance.

In both cases, Ronnie Amorado goes beyond presenting a depressing diagnosis of what ails Philippine state and society. He offers very concrete recommendations on how to check anomalies and restore trust in public service. His proposals are based on state-of-the-art qualitative investigation techniques, enhanced by his passionate engagement in policy reform and integrity promotion.

Kakistocracy’s coming out of press today could not be more timely. The front pages of national dailies and the prime time news on TV are dominated by the revelations about high ranking military officials pocketing huge slush funds, partly to support the whims of their family members; justices even of the Supreme Court accused of plagiarism and bullying law professors for raising the issue in public; no less than the Ombudsman being implicated in pushing for a highly questionable plea bargaining agreement with a general charged on plunder. Fortunately, the people’s hunger for truth and justice finds a glimmer of hope in the courageous witnessing of Col. George Rabusa and former state auditor Heidi Mendoza – who, by the way, is our colleague, together with Ronnie Amorado, in the Ehem anticorruption movement.

I salute the Ateneo de Davao University’s Research and Publication Office for continuing its commitment of publishing books in the service of the search for deep cultural and structural reforms. The latest of these books are Dory Avisado’s The Intertwining Culture of Patriarchy, Corruption and Impunity and JAJA: Justice for Arbet, Justice for All. Ronnie Amorado’s Kakistocracy is a welcome new volume as it is destined, I confidently say, to become a classic in research-based advocacy and policy study.

Kakistocracy

2011-04-16T13:11:00.007+08:00

Kakistocracy
The Rule of the Unprincipled, Unethical and Unqualified

(click here for abstract and image)

BLURB

Dr. Steven Rood
Philippine Country Representative
The Asia Foundation

The Philippines is widely known for the high quality in the abstract of its anti-corruption frameworks and laws, and the low quality of implementation. Beginning two decades ago with investigative journalism, the civil society anti-corruption movement has had its successes from time to time, but continues to face dismal challenges. The system has not been transformed.

Ronnie Amorado is a long-time participant in this movement, and has been instrumental in some of its most significant innovations like the Ehem anticorruption initiative. He mines this experience and dedicated fieldwork to outline a theory centered on betrayals of trust. His examples, though altered to protect the privacy of the subjects, range across a variety of institutions and situations from the public to the private. He then extracts from the vignettes overall patterns which can help elevate analyses of how to transform the system.

A citizen-based strategy is proposed which involves actions that citizens can take and changes to the social context to make citizenship more active to generate trust and to preserve it. Those of us who know Ronnie Amorado can testify that he can lead by example.

Kakistocracy

2011-04-15T13:18:00.000+08:00

Kakistocracy
The Rule of the Unprincipled, Unethical and Unqualified
(click here for abstract and image)

BLURB
Matt Stephens
Governance and Anticorruption Advisor
The World Bank-Philippines

For Ronnie Amorado’s Kakistocracy, the title of the book really does say it all. Kakistocracy is not a word in common use and, similarly, the book takes a different approach to much of the anti-corruption literature in the Philippines.

As the title suggests, the book explores the conditions that lead to and the practical manifestations of government by the least qualified or principled. By recounting a series of real cases of malfeasance by the unqualified or unprincipled – collusion in appointments and promotions in government, misuse of public resources, extortion, nepotism and even domestic violence – from the perspective of those directly affected, the book connects broad scale corruption and individual behavior, positing an inexorable link between immorality and ethics in the private and public spheres.

Ronnie Amorado highlights the necessity of capable and ethical leadership, but the case studies equally demonstrate that good leadership of itself is not an adequate condition to prevent corruption. Looking beyond leadership, he passionately espouses the necessity for social mobilization to demand better governance as an obligation of citizenship. Through community action, Ronnie Amorado argues, trust can be built, strong leaders supported, and capable institutions established.

Ronnie Amorado’s lively writing style, breadth of theoretical and historical perspectives and personalized rendering of the real impact of corruption on the lives of ordinary people make Kakistocracy a highly readable and worthy contribution to the Philippines’ rich literature on anti-corruption.

Kakistocracy

2011-04-14T13:23:00.000+08:00

Kakistocracy
The Rule of the Unprincipled, Unethical and Unqualified
(click here for abstract and image)

BLURB
James Wesberry
Chief of Party, Philippine Integrity Project (iPro)

Ronnie Amorado’s second major book stands apart for more reasons than its eye-catching title, Kakistocracy – a government by the unprincipled, unethical and unqualified. An anatomical dissection of betrayal of public trust, the theme throughout the book, is accompanied by spine tingling fictionalized but very real cases of political and ethical apostasy, deception, dishonesty, double-crossing, double-dealing, duplicity, false witnessing, legerdemain, tergiversation, perfidy, prevarication, sell-out, treachery, trickery and unfaithfulness to persons, parties, principles, and the people as a whole.

If that were not enough the book also provides a wealth of short diagnostics including origin and often historical background of all sorts of topics relating them to trust and integrity, for example such public speakers’ treasures as the Peter Principle, Murphy’s law, Parkinson’s Law, the Pareto Rule, among others. Many quotes permeate the volume; some are familiar to the seasoned corruption fighter but many little known ones are excavated from works over the centuries such as the Latin axiom: Quis se excusa, se acusat! (He who excuses himself, accuses himself). My favorite is from Confucius which I condense here: To put the world…the nation… the family…in order…we must first set our hearts right!

Based on over ten years of researching corruption’s mega-breach of faith and giving scores of anti-corruption seminars, Ronnie Amorado believes that, “Without integrity, intelligence is impunity. Without intelligence, integrity is mediocrity. Thus to be trusted – one must gain intelligence and integrity, one must cultivate character and competence.” He says that the betrayal of trust by those who are in power is “a form of subjection and subjugation.” He finds forms of kakistocracy everywhere and says they are all related – in government, in business, in religion, in not-for-profit organizations, even in the family. And he wraps it all up by proffering “a concept of citizenship as a countervailing power to offset and reduce kakistocratic behavior that breeds corruption and acts of betrayal.” Ronnie Amorado is riding a shooting star across the Philippines and among the Filipinos whose hopes and prayers for the future depend on transforming kakistocracy into a genuine democracy – one that is founded on leadership by example and nurtured by character with competence – on ending the historical betrayal of their trust.

Writing RRL

2011-02-08T19:59:00.001+08:00

Impunity

2011-02-06T20:45:00.000+08:00

Impunity is not only the flagrancy of the crooked;

impunity is also when the crooks are scot-free!

Impunity

2011-02-06T10:18:00.006+08:00

Impede the plea, expose the impunity!

The plea bargain agreement for Gen. Carlos Garcia, an admitted launderer to dodge the graver offense of plundering more than 300 million pesos, is impunity in its most reprehensible twist. Impunity is not only the flagrancy of the crooked; impunity is also when the crooks are scot-free.

How do we tell the Filipinos to act in uprightness and combat corruption? How do we encourage our public officials and employees to a conduct of decorum? How do we persuade businessmen to pay their taxes? How do we tell our students not to cheat?

How do we promote integrity and accountability in the country, when corruption cases like that of Gen. Garcia are rewarded by pure legalese? What can deter the crooks if they can go unpunished by simply allowing them to return a portion of their loot?

How are things to change when the very institutions entrusted with punishing corruption are either circumvented or abetting it?

Paano tayo titino kung ang mga kurakot ay nakakalusot? Sino ngayon ang magkakalakas ng loob sugpuin ang mga katiwalian sa bansa?

Garcia’s plea bargain is a toleration of his anomalous actions. Toleration does not only set a very bad precedence; it also feeds and reinforces the crookedness of his breed.

This is not anymore about Gen. Garcia; this is now more about the honor and integrity of the country that is at stake. This is now more about the reputation of fiduciary institutions – the Office of the Ombudsman (OMB) and the Office of the Special Prosecutor (OSP) – that is suspect. This is now more about the entire Filipino people losing trust and faith on these institutions. This is a classic betrayal of public trust!

I believe that the Philippine government has a solid case against Gen. Garcia, and subscribe to the legal and audit opinions that the plea bargain is categorically illegal and blatantly inappropriate. I support the calls to abrogate the plea bargain!

We should commend the hard work of the lawyers, auditors and investigators who worked for many years to build a solid case against Gen. Garcia. You are our inspiration and will forever be remembered of your legacy.

We must praise those well-meaning OMB and OSP officials and employees who remain steadfast and oppose – even in silence – the plea bargain agreement. The people will forever remember you for taking the higher moral ground.

We laud the Armed Forces of the Philippines for courageously wanting Garcia’s case to proceed, rather than be shelved by plea bargain. More importantly, we can salute the military whistleblowers who will certainly stand out as the genuine officers and gentlemen.

Corrupt men in the army don't deserve to wear their uniform. You should be ashamed!

I join the Filipino people in monitoring and supporting the full resolution by prosecution of Gen. Garcia’s plunder case.

Pag-isipan, pag-usapan! Huwag nating kakalimutan!

We should enjoin the citizenry to seriously reflect. Garcia’s case is corruption that creeps into our families and institutions.

We should call on the parents to serve as good examples to their children and espouse the virtue of honest toil. We call on the children to ask your parents about their sources of income. We call on the students to ask how your tuition fees are paid.

We must knock on the doors of the schools and universities to review your formation programs; we exhort on your intervention to chastise corrupt students and alumni.

We must urge all offices – public and private alike – to look deeper into your procurement practices, and enhance transparency and accountability.

We should remind all lawyers, auditors and law enforcers of your public oath of honor and integrity. Are you becoming instruments of the impunity of corruption?

It takes years to build trust and a few seconds to destroy it, and takes longer time to restore it.

Of law and justice

2011-01-24T20:40:00.000+08:00

The law is not always
the pathway to justice!
- The Leverage

Still holding on!

2010-11-04T23:28:00.007+08:00

Click image to enlarge, and click here to read the full article.

Still holding on!

2010-10-29T09:02:00.011+08:00

(click image to enlarge)

The results of the annual Corruption Perception Index (CPI) survey done by the Berlin-based Transparency International (TI) recently came out. The CPI is the only annual survey that sorts out country corruption levels on a global scale. A CPI score near 10 is categorized as least corrupt, and a score near 1 is more corrupt.

For 2010, the Philippines scored 2.4 and ranked 134th out of 178 countries included in this year's survey.

With this score and rank, the Philippines is part of the 12 most corrupt countries in the world, together with Azerbajian, Bangladesh, Honduras, Nigeria, Sierra Leone, Togo, Ukraine and Zimbabwe.

In 2009, the Philippines scored the same CPI (2.4) but ranked 139th out of 180 countries, thereby making it as one of the 13th most corrupt countries in the world.

The country is showing some resilience as it has been holding on since 2008 (see Hold on, Philippines).

Somalia is still at the bottom rung scoring 1.1 in CPI, making it the most corrupt in the world for this year. Interestingly, Somalia held on to this post with the same score in 2009 also.

The top post (least corrupt countries) is shared by Denmark, New Zealand and Singapore with all 9.3 in CPI for this year. Last year, Denmark singly topped the rank with a 9.4 CPI.

In Southeast Asia, the Philippines got worse. With its CPI score and rank, the country holds the position of the 3rd most corrupt in Southeast Asia, next only to Myanmar, Cambodia and Laos. In previous years, the Philippines is better off but has been overtaken by Indonesia, Vietnam and Timor-Leste for this year. Both the Philippines and Timor-Leste are the only predominantly Catholic countries in Southeast Asia.

1. Singapore (9.3)
2. Hong Kong (8.4)
3. Taiwan (5.8)
4. Brunei (5.5)
5. Malaysia (4.4)
6. Thailand (3.5)
7. Indonesia (2.8)
8. Vietnam (2.7)
9. Timor-Leste (2.5)
10. Philippines (2.4)
11. Cambodia (2.1) and Laos (2.1)
12. Myanmar (1.4)

Globally, the Philippines is resiliently holding on (sans the Southeast Asia caveat) for the past 8 years. It has maintained a steady pattern of 2.4-2.6 CPI range from 2002 up to 2010. In 2005-2007, the country showed a steady course for a 3-year CPI of 2.5.

Despite all the unresolved national scandals, the steady pattern is a relieving sigh, although we hardly recovered from the drastic fall of 1999-2002. Our highest CPI is 3.6 (1999), sharply fell to 2.8 (2000), slightly rose to 2.9 (2001) and fell again to 2.6 (2002). During this period, the country was still reeling from the consequences of the Erap Impeachment and the precursor of widespread irregularities in the Estrada Administration.

With the renewed hope and more collective action to resolve current scandals and combat corruption under the Aquino Administration, let us all hold on and hope that our steady pattern in CPI will leap us back to the level of 1999 (3.6).

We have six years!

Oath of Plataea

2010-10-17T20:43:00.001+08:00

The rise to the presidency of Benigno Aquino III excites some uncertain future for the country. For the many who are suspicious of him, the future is a bit blight. For the majority who trust him, the future is a hopeful one. It is now up to President Aquino to steer the country's future to the right path, as his Inauguration Address underscored. It is up to him to drive this country out of the mess, as brought about by the past administration.

No matter where the country is going, it always starts from where it is. While the present greatly shapes the future, it is a lot constrained by the past. Moving on means resolving - and not forgetting - past actions, especially past wrongdoings.

The country is like a turtle. Those who want reform are like the turtle's head wanting to forge ahead, but is however strained and held back by its heavy shell of many unresolved scandals.

As President Aquino always reiterated - "there can be no reconciliation without justice... Sa paglimot ng pagkakasala, sinisigurado mong mauulit muli ang mga pagkakasalang ito!"

And he is correct in this exhortation. How can the country move on and face the future if it has unresolved past? The present juncture is a make or break for the country.

We should never forget. NBN-ZTE Broadband Scandal. Fertilizer Fund Scam. Euro Generals. Hello Garci. Lamppost Overpricing. 12-0 Scandal. Maguindanao Massacre. Jose Pidal Account. Cash Gift Scandal. Midnight Deals. Midnight Appointees. Even the Manila Hostage Taking is a consequence of unresolved past. These are some, and many more to come. This is the reason why we should never forget the past, for us to learn our painful lessons. The past should remind us, and hurt us, to move us!

In the Ancient Greek City of Plataea, when the Plataeans fought with the Athenians to win the battle against the invading Persians in 479 BC, they decided to preserve the ruins of the war, subscribing to an oath not to rebuild the sanctuaries destroyed by the invaders. The ruins would remind them of their struggles and pains as a people. The ruins allowed them to remember and learn of their past. The ruins strengthened the Plataeans as they shaped their strong future.

This became part of the Oath of Plataea - remembering the painful past for the future to learn.

Reconciliation without resolution, forgiveness without fairness, judgment without sense of justice are sure formula for committing the same past mistakes.

We need the Oath of Plataea in the Philippines!

Intelligence and integrity

2010-09-26T13:15:00.003+08:00

Intelligence without integrity is impunity;

integrity without intelligence is mediocrity.

Good leadership has to have both!

Leadership Integrity Forum

2010-09-26T13:09:00.006+08:00

The Leadership Integrity Forum is a community coaching site to sustain our leadership coaching and mentoring support to those who went through my managerial leadership classes and leadership integrity seminars nationwide. As we all learned, leadership is always a work in progress. This site is aimed to provide an avenue for continued and sustained learning and sharing from one another's experiences and expertise in the exercise of leadership integrity.

If interested, contact me at cyberron@pldtdsl.net or cybererron@yahoo.com.

Pakyas!

2010-07-27T23:06:00.002+08:00

Pinagbabayaran ng kinabukasan
ang kasakiman ng nakaraan!
- Pres. Noy!

Solving a problem

2010-07-19T07:50:00.006+08:00

No problem can be solved
from the same consciousness
that created it!
- Albert Einstein

Setting the example

2010-06-30T21:59:00.003+08:00

Ang unang hakbang ay ang pagkakaroon ng tuwid at tapat na hanay ng mga pinuno. Magsisimula ito sa akin. Sisikapin kong maging isang mabuting ehemplo!

The first step is to have leaders who are ethical, honest and true public servants. I will set the example. I will strive to be a good model. I will not break the trust you have placed in me!

President NoyNoy Aquino
Inauguration Address
June 30, 2010 | Quirino Grandstand
Philippines

Go!

2010-06-23T14:52:00.003+08:00

For all the unworthy and the unqualified, especially those who got appointments by sheer political accommodation and connection, resign and relinquish your position.
For once in your life, summon some sense of propriety!
Please, resign and go!

"You have sat too long
for any good you have been doing .....
Depart, I say;

and let us have done with you.
In the name of God, go!"

- Oliver Cromwell

Rule well!

2010-06-09T23:10:00.004+08:00

Congratulations to President-elect
Benigno Simeon "NoyNoy" C. Aquino III
and Vice-President-elect
Jejomar "Jojo" C. Binay!

In all honor and integrity -
as the great Scorpion King dispatched -
RULE WELL!
May God bless you and the country!

The Humphrey-Maxwell Fellows 2009-2010

2010-05-24T00:44:00.004+08:00

To see the profile of the Hubert H. Humphrey Fellowship and the Maxwell Fellows, click on this link.

To view various Fellowship photos, choose albums on this link.

Fellowship as Assimilation

2010-05-23T11:54:00.007+08:00

Fellowship as Assimilation
(A Critical Insight)
Dr. Ronnie V. Amorado
Republic of the Philippines
Hubert H. Humphrey Fellow 2009-2010
Maxwell School of Citizenship and Public Affairs
Syracuse University, NY

Paper presented at the Fellows' Break-out Sharing Session during the Hubert H. Humphrey Fellows' Global Year-End Retreat held on May 16-19, 2010 at the Rocky Gap Hotel Resort in Cumberland, Maryland USA.

To read the full text, click on this link.

Open Forum Part-1

Open Forum Part-2

Open Forum Part-3

Fellowship as Assimilation

2010-05-22T06:11:00.013+08:00

ONE OF THE MANY things I observed in attending the Humphrey activities is its tendency to be US-centric. In the goal of showcasing America to the Fellows from around the globe, what happens is a sharing asymmetry. Fellows learn a lot about America, but how can America learn about the Fellows’ countries and their culture and people?

Or more importantly, how can the Fellows learn from each one's country?

With all the activities in the entire year and exposing the Fellows to the great developments in the US, we can easily forget the problems back in our own countries. We stand in awe, become envious of how this country has become so great and advanced. America has become a benchmark, and the Humphrey Fellowship an inevitable tool for comparison. From the point of view of neo-colonization, this can be a modern form of assimilation. A geopolitical indoctrination embedded in student exchange. Fellows can embrace all that is good and beautiful in this country.

But Hubert Humphrey once said about America: “History teaches us that the great revolutions aren't started by people who are utterly down and out, without hope and vision. They take place when people begin to live a little better - and when they see how much yet remains to be achieved.”

I take the longer and more strategic view in what Humphrey exhorted about seeing what remains to be achieved. While one can agonize on the painful reality of assimilation, I will break free from myopia and turn it into an empowering emancipation.

America is a vantage view. The country is generally clean. Law enforcers are highly esteemed. The museums and public libraries effectively serve as bearer of culture and promoter of heritage. American work ethic is distinguishable, though not necessarily representative of quality of life. Online commerce is excellently established and trusted. But again as Humphrey quipped, to live a little better to see how much remains to be done.

In one of the school visits during last year’s Global Leadership Forum, I can vividly recall when a school principal told me that praying in the classroom in public schools is a criminal offense. How strange to what extent secular hegemony can marginalize religious pluralism. The health care debate is fascinating, at times difficult to understand. While Americans champion the cause of universal education and even spend for those who cannot afford, they remonstrate on health care which is more important than education and a more fundamental requirement for human survival.

America is a vantage point that allows us to see our own countries from afar. Much remains to be achieved when I go back to the Philippines. Not from the benchmark of America; not from the standards of Western progress. Not from emulation, but by convergence and selective appreciation.

My Humphrey Fellowship serves as my torch to appreciate my country’s endowments and inadequacies. By learning from American institutions, my Fellowship should allow me to see how much remains to be done in my part of the world.

It is thus a challenge to each and every Fellow. After about 10 months of immersion in the US, what can we do when we return to our homelands?

Many of us come to the US for exposure. To establish networks. To attend academic programs. Others come for vacation and luxury. Some for future career opportunity. It is my view that a meaningful and productive Fellowship should allow us to produce some clear and tangible outputs in the service of our country. They serve as our strategic plans; Fellows are men and women on mission. As Humphrey Fellows, we act as ambassadors of our countries and maintain the links that bridge us with the United States. With clear outputs, we do not waste our sacrifices to be away from our country and family.

For the Humphrey program, it is also my exhortation to allow for more cross-cultural learning to reduce the asymmetry. We do not come to the US to learn only about America; we also want to learn and understand the countries of our co-Fellows. United States can also learn from us.

To reduce the asymmetry, our fellowship can be a tool for genuine emancipation through systematic cross-learning activities embedded in the Humphrey program. I am sure we want to hear about the history and heritage of our Fellows’ countries. I am sure we can resonate with common problems and thus inspire us to work together.

I therefore end with two important questions for our reflection:

Through the Humphrey Fellowship, how can America learn from the Fellows coming from different countries?

And through the Humphrey Fellowship, how can the Fellows learn from each other’s country?

Our recommendations should be able to help and benefit the succeeding harvests of Humphrey Fellows.

Thank you very much!

Train in Truman's Restraint

2010-05-15T09:49:00.009+08:00

There is something to learn from Harry S. Truman (1884-1972), the 33rd US President from 1945-1953 when it comes to wielding political power and restraining its potential abuse or misuse.

While serving as Vice President, he succeeded the presidency upon the untimely death of Franklin D. Roosevelt in 1945. Truman was one of the most controversial US presidents in that most unstable period in World War II. He also holds the lowest and highest public approval ratings in the country's presidential history, but came out as one of the most revered and respected leaders in the US. For two times, he was Time's Man of the Year in 1945 and 1948.

Harry Truman popularized the famous leadership dictum on accountability and command responsibility: THE BUCK STOPS HERE!

Many historians and political analysts agree that Truman's greatness is most felt after his presidency, including his notable demeanor and sense of propriety and simplicity.

After his term, he got many invitations as adviser or consultant, or offers to sit in corporate and business boards. He was also invited to a lot of commercial endorsements with all the perks.

He all turned them down, believing that these offers will only invite a lot of conflict of interest. As a former US president, he knew that he would be bringing the prestige, connections and endowments bestowed upon his former office.

Thus, he was popularly quoted or referred to in various sources by his famous line of restraint: "They were not interested in hiring Harry Truman the person; what they wanted to hire was the former president of the United States. I could never lend myself to any transaction, however respectable, that would commercialize on the prestige and the dignity of the Office of the Presidency!"

When he made a long drive for a speaking engagement, he was stopped and accosted by a New York policeman for making an illegal lane change. He did not use his influence as a former president. In 1971, he thanked Congress for the recognition but refused to accept the Congressional Medal of Honor that the latter planned to bestow on him.

By learning this brand of Truman's restraint, we can ask and reflect about the (mis)demeanor and (mis)conduct of many of the elected officials in the Philippines after this month's national and local elections.

Who makes use of his or her public office - past and present - for personal or commercial purposes? Who makes use of his or her powers of appointment even if they destroy public trust and integrity? Who makes use of his or her position to further perpetuate in power?

And for the first time in our country's democratic history, a President ran and won as a Representative in Congress and bid to be Speaker of the House. Power begets power!

Even if these actuations are legally allowed, it is a desecration when laws are used without a sense of decency. As Truman suggested, the presidency is a natural habitat for conflict of interest; former occupants of the position must exercise extreme restraint.

When power intoxicates, and where wielding power is abused and disgraced, all the more we need moderation and propriety. It is of utmost imperative to summon our very deep sense of Filipino delikadeza.

We need to train in Truman's restraint!

Curse of corruption

2010-05-02T11:41:00.005+08:00

May 10, 2010 national and local elections!

10 more days to make or break the country!

What will it be? Rise up or fall apart?

Arise my countrymen,
arise for our integrity!

Cheat, and fall apart as a country!

This is the curse of corruption!

Those who win by cheating
will rule by cheating!

Those who win by buying votes will rule

by collecting debts in public office!

Spread the word, spread the word!

A Knight's Oath

2010-04-27T23:43:00.001+08:00

Be without fear in the face of your enemies.
Be brave and upright that God may love thee.
Speak the truth always,

even if it leads to your death.
Safeguard the helpless, and do no wrong.
That is your oath!

Arise, arise a knight!

- Kingdom of Heaven (2005)

What man is a man?

2010-04-25T22:59:00.001+08:00

What man is a man,

who does not make

the world better!

- Balian of Ibelin, Kingdom of Heaven (2005)

Die to live or live to die?

2010-04-19T00:00:00.005+08:00

We live as if we are never going to die,
and we die as if we never lived!
- Anonymous

Die to live or live to die?

2010-04-18T23:58:00.001+08:00

A matter of integrity

2010-04-11T19:48:00.003+08:00

If you have integrity,

nothing else matters;

if you don't have integrity,

nothing else matters!

- Alan Simpson, American statesman

Governance

2010-04-05T19:38:00.013+08:00

A man cannot govern a nation if he cannot govern a city;

he cannot govern a city if he cannot govern a family;

he cannot govern a family unless he can govern himself;

and he cannot govern himself
unless his passions are subject to reason!

- Hugo Grotius (1583-1645),
Dutch philosopher and playwright

A Cast of COMELEC

2010-03-29T05:58:00.012+08:00

It is all set for the national and local elections on May 10, 2010. The campaign period is now full blast for all the elective positions. Our country's fate now rests upon the Commission on Elections' (COMELEC) steadfast resolve to tide us over -- peacefully, safely and credibly until election day.

COMELEC needs to restore and protect the people's confidence and the voters' trust. This is a very critical period for the country and for the elections in disparate crossroads. One leads to genuine hope and change, the other towards a perpetual penury. While the people are choosing - reluctantly, frustratingly or desperately - the COMELEC must strive very hard to drive and bring the country in the right direction.

The people's cast of vote in the elections is the people's cast for COMELEC. Every cast of vote is a cast of COMELEC!

Nevertheless, it's a very rough road and the drive is difficult! We can never ignore, and we will never forget the 12-0 and the Hello Garci scandals! Even the ZTE-Broadband scandal is an outrageous stain (what the "#@%!!!" is the business of the COMELEC chair in economic affairs!). How can the COMELEC restore the people's trust in these trying times! The memory is all coming back when computer technicians walked out because of tabulation fraud in the 1986 snap elections.

Niccolo Machiavelli was correct. When the system is corrupt, the rich and the powerful stand to win; and the weak - even if virtuous - are too frightened and incapacitated to run. It's a mind-boggling mockery, a flaw of democracy where the country's future relies on a corruptible (if not corrupt) system. The mockery has become so disparagingly mundane, that Imelda Marcos was once quoted: “Win or lose, we'll just go shopping after the election!”

The COMELEC needs to reverse the ridicule, especially that this is the first computerized national and local elections in the country. It is also the first time that the presidential position has 9 contending candidates (we would have 10, if not for the disqualification of the KBL prexy aspirant). The elected president will have to face a potential paralysis as a minority president.

About 85,000 candidates will be competing for only about 16,000-17,000 national and local positions, including about 150 party-list organizations. With a 63 million voting population, over 51 million voters are registered. Past figures show that only about 70% or 35-40 million voters actually vote during the election day. Of this figure, the youth - aged 18 to 40 - consist of holding the swing votes since they comprise 40% of the registered voters.

Why are there so many candidates for the upcoming elections? Some good reasons are identified in another blog (Now What, Cat?). People run for public office for media mileage. Some test the waters in case they run again. Others are waiting to be offered to withdraw for whatever illicit deals they may get from withdrawing (like cabinet or ambassadorial position or positions in the government controlled corporations). Surely, many others run for nuisance reasons. Even party list groups are crowded with many questionable identity. The next president should lead in clarifying what constitutes marginalized sectors, and protect their interest by improving sectoral representation through the party-list system.

Thus far, the election season shows how people behave (or misbehave) in their political conduct (or misconduct). Public cynicism gravely impairs public trust and derails the choice of candidates. The American journalist Franklin Pierce Adams was not sarcastic to say: “Elections are won by men and women chiefly because most people vote against somebody rather than for somebody!” Even the German socialist, Oscar Ameringer - reputed as the Mark Twain of American Socialism - was never acerbic to state: "Politics is the gentle art of getting votes from the poor and campaign funds from the rich, [and] by promising to protect each from the other!"

And the poor electors are as lost as deceived by politicians. Most candidates change their party for the sake of their principles; others their principles for the sake of their party. And by an act of a collective scorn, the people do not necessarily choose the best candidate; they just hope to vote for the one who will do the least harm.

By a preemptive act of caution, I cannot help but believe Josef Stalin in his (in)famous allusion:

Those who cast the votes determine nothing! Those who count the votes determine everything!

So much depends on the COMELEC,

and thus may God bless this country!

2010 elections need the Athenian Oath!

2010-02-21T00:24:00.012+08:00

The upcoming elections on May 10, 2010 is a make or break for the Philippines. Those who will finish their term should be held accountable: have they done more and better for their office than when they got elected into it years ago? As the ancient Athenians exhort – can you transmit the country better and greater than when you ruled it?

The Athenian Oath is the philosophic oath of all free governments and democratic states, of all visionaries, leaders, managers, planners and administrators from around the globe. In a nutshell, the Athenian Oath swears to "leave this community better than when we found it!" At the crux of this pride lies a very strong influence from the Athenian philosophers in the ancient Greeks from over 2,000 years ago.The oath inscribed:

"We will never bring disgrace on this our City, by an act of dishonesty or cowardice.We will fight for the ideals and Sacred Things of the City both alone and with many. We will revere and obey the City's laws, and will do our best to incite a like reverence and respect in those above us who are prone to annul them or set them at naught. We will strive increasingly to quicken the public's sense of civic duty. Thus in all these ways we will transmit this City, not only not less, but greater and more beautiful, than it was transmitted to us!"

For all the candidates running for public post on 2010, what is your oath of doing more and better for the Philippines than what it is today?

By the nature of how election campaigns are done in the country, sincere oaths are pitifully lost in grand rhetorics. There is so much noise in singing, shouting and rallying during campaigns. But we also need to pause and seriously reflect: do the candidates – both national and local – imbue and exude genuine oaths to bring real change to the country?

Moreover, a more serious sense of oath – for clean and credible elections – should also hit the hearts of the electorates. Not promises, not money, not the celebrities. Not the lies and deceits of politicians.

But bet on it, the unworthy and the unqualified will still win. This has always been the case. People just never learn. Let us dare all the candidates and the electors!

This is our curse: Those who win by cheating will rule by cheating! Those who win by buying votes will rule by collecting debts in public office!

Jose Rizal saw it in his time, and so he cried: "Tal pueblo, tal gobierno!" As the people are, so is their government! We will always deserve the kind of officials we elect into office. The great philosopher Plato is hard-hitting: “Those who are too smart to engage in politics are punished by being governed by those who are dumber!”

Whatever the outcome of the 2010 elections, Filipinos just deserve it – for better or worse !

Blue Valentine

2010-02-14T11:51:00.000+08:00

It's a blue Valentine's Day to be far away
but blue roses are as lovely as the red.
Yet, even if my favorite color
is so alive as a flower,
romance in a foreign winter land
is chilling cold and sadder!

This lovely poem is dedicated to those

who shared romance with their loved ones

- from a distance!

On this Valentine's Day

when you are so far, far away
I would not do anything special
that I wouldn’t do for you any other day

So I ask, why wait for some made up day
When I can show you how I feel each day
Kiss on your head, small bite on your ears
What you see is my love overflowing as tears

Flowers, candy, cards and more
Things you can easily buy from a store
But the gift of love I’ve saved for you
But that my darling, you already knew
(c) 2008 by Gerard C. Johnson

Snowy Syracuse

2010-01-25T02:55:00.004+08:00

It's snow white here, there and all over! Cool! It's for human eyes' delectation!

But damn, it's cooold! Freezing temperatures these past weeks. I will never love the winter! But as they say, enjoy the first time; it might be the last time (unless climate change brings snow to the Philippines).

So what's cool and what's not?

Snow is an amazing creation! Flurries are better than rains. But I hate the snow glare or winter glare; it triggers my migraine.

Dread the snow ice when it starts to subside; they're extremely slippery. Black ice is dangerously deceiving; it's every driver's, jogger's and commuter's nightmare.

Fresh cool air, bereft of air pollution whatsoever. But extreme temperature bleeds the nose, whew! (I miss Philippine pollution).

When winter wind combines with snow or rain, it's fatally freezing and biting!

Winter fashion! With all my thermal tops and suits. Bonnets and hoods. Gloves. Neck warmers. Balaclavas. Fleece jackets (I learn to love fleece). Balloon jackets for snow. Winter socks and snow boots. But they're heavy, with 3-4 layers on the tops. Seems like space suits in the movies. Trench coats are my favorites, but not the wools (too itchy to be cool).

My electronic warmer blanket is weird, but it works!

Amazing ski mountain resort. Cool ski gadgets and ski fashion. Poor me, a pure terra firma creature. Couldn't glide on snow and ice, as I don't also swim on water.

Who says you cannot jog on snow? I am really amused to see people jogging on snow, even in shorts, even in dusk where temperatures suddenly drop. I will try jogging on snow, sans the black ice.

Have not tried the snowman, but should soon do so!

So this is snow!

Words

2010-01-16T03:54:00.001+08:00

He who guards his lips,
guards his soul!

- Proverbs 13:3

Pains and gains in rains

2010-01-08T10:16:00.003+08:00

If you want the rainbow,
you've got to put up with the rain!

- Dolly Parton, American philanthropist

Deep prayer

2010-01-08T01:04:00.003+08:00

Strengthen us my Lord

to be able to hold and keep on

and not fall apart,

and stabilize us

so that we will be able

to help our family

and those who are in need!

Prayer for Jet Flight

2010-01-06T18:45:00.005+08:00

Please remember me, Lord:
I'm the fidgety one
that's scared to death of heights;
that same one that’s now strapped
so tightly into this plane seat
that my legs are turning purple.

I’ve never liked flying before, Lord,
so You’d do me a great favor
if You’d give this bus with wings
Your undivided attention.

I’ve read novels about jets,
so I know what can go wrong with them:
the tail could blow off, or
the engines could overheat,
it’s not that I’m panicking;
I’ve done that long ago.
it’s just I tend to worry
about the other passengers.

How do You think they’ll feel, Lord
if I have to be carried off this flight

in a total collapse?

The 10 Mortal Sins of Development

2010-01-04T10:22:00.001+08:00

KNOWLEDGE, it if becomes a tool for oppression
INVESTMENTS, if they destroy the environment
JOBS, if they reinforce exploitation
INCOME, if it becomes excessively profit-oriented
TECHNOLOGY, if it becomes a tool for slavery
INFRASTRUCTURE, if it becomes white elephant
POWER, if it corrupts and self-perpetuates
AFFLUENCE, if it abets poverty
- Anonymous

The 7 Social Sins of Endeavors

2010-01-03T10:18:00.000+08:00

Politics without principle
Wealth without work
Commerce without morality
Pleasure without conscience
Education without character
Science without humanity
Worship without sacrifice
- M. Gandhi (1869-1948)

Test of government

2010-01-02T17:32:00.002+08:00

It was once said that the moral test of government is how that government treats those who are in the dawn of life, the children; those who are in the twilight of life, the elderly; and those who are in the shadows of life, the sick, the needy and the handicapped!
-- Hubert H. Humphrey (1911-1978)

Greetings!

2010-01-01T00:00:00.000+08:00

Dramatic December

2009-12-31T00:00:00.007+08:00

I am very thankful to be allowed to come home for a month-long and spend this Christmas with my family in the Philippines.

All possible opportunities knocked on my door: the favorable permission from my IIE/Humphrey Fellowship program and Maxwell campus coordinators; the 50% roundtrip airfare discount from Cathay Pacific; the university apartment rental fee waiver (which I used to augment my airfare); and the compelling need to conduct additional fieldwork research and clarify some data for my Humphrey Fellowship work in the US. I was also able to consult with my Philippine panel (Ehem anticorruption group) on the direction of my research on anticorruption and citizenship.

Nobody knew I was coming home, not even my wife and kids. I went together with my sister-in-law and her family. The goal was to surprise everyone, and make this vacation a meaningful one. Thanks to my NY-based sister-in-law and her husband -- Ate Rissa and Bong Asuelo, for the gleeful conspiracy.

It was a very dramatic and romantic arrival in the Philippines. My family and friends were at the airport to pick up my sister-in-law and her family. That was the cover; it was previously planned out that everyone had to be at the airport for the pick-up.

Then I was the last person out of the plane! Everybody was stunned and surprised when I got out and entered the Arrival Area. All of them couldn't move. My wife and kids cried; They all cried when they saw me. All were shouting inside the airport. My son kept hugging and smelling me. I was in tears!

It was indeed a blessing to be allowed home to get the much-needed rest and break the cycle of homesickness.

I think I was also sent home just to be around when, in the middle of this month, my mother was rushed to the hospital for her mild heart attack (for the first time) triggered by stress and infections. And just a few days before Christmas, my son was also confined briefly due to some gastro-infection and threat of dehydration. These were all scary and humbling episodes this December.

I could not imagine and fathom the combined effects of homesickness and the intervening events at home had I stayed in the US!

Thank you, Dear Lord for the great opportunity and humbling experience this Christmas. I just pray deeply that You strengthen each one of us to be able to hold and keep on and not fall apart, and stabilize us so that we will be able to help our family and those who are in need in times like these.

Thank you for the renewed energy and fresh outlook as I go back to the US. Coming home, I was able to see and assess my Fellowship at the Maxwell School from a distance. Coming home, I was able to see and feel my own flaws and limitations nearby. This December revealed, challenged, tried and shaped my mortal character! We surrender totally, because we are never in full control.

Thank you very much for my wife and kids! I have never deeply felt before how important they are to me and how they give meaning and strength to my life.

As we thank You for all the blessings in our family, it is our fervent prayer to allow us the good chance to face and hurdle our life's challenges and trials. I offer you my Fellowship, and the future that it holds for me and my family.

In Proverbs 3:5-6 we take refuge:"Trust in the Lord with all your heart and lean not on your own understanding; in all your ways acknowledge Him, and he will make your paths straight!"

Polls closed

2009-12-24T16:17:00.000+08:00

Several online public polling surveys in various Ehem networks from the periods of August-October and August-December now closed. The following survey questions were asked to determine the psychographic views of those who participated in the online polls:

The Philippines ranked as one of the 12th most corrupt countries in the world in 2008. Do you think the country will improve its standing for 2009?
Who should be the next President of the Philippines?
What do you want Sen. NoyNoy Aquino to run for in 2010?
Are you in favor of Erap running again for president in the upcoming 2010 elections?
Are you in favor of GMA running again for any elective post in the upcoming 2010 elections?
Is it worth it for Prof. Randy David to run for a Congressional seat in Pampanga against GMA?
Are you in favor of World Boxing Champion Manny Pacquiao running for Congress in the upcoming 2010 elections?
Are you in favor of bishops, priests, nuns or brothers running for any elective position?
Is it time to amend the Philippine Constitution?
When is the best time to amend the Philippine Constitution?
What mode do you prefer to amend the Philippine Constitution?

In summary, the results of the random online surveys revealed the following among various Ehem networks:

The networks are divided in their thoughts that the country will improve or worsen its corruption levels in 2009 (NOTE: the country actually improved; see the poll analysis).
The networks are divided on who they think should be the next president (NOTE: this poll was made before Sen. NoyNoy Aquino decided to run for president).
Majority wanted Sen. NoyNoy Aquino to run for president of the Philippines in the 2010 elections.
A resounding majority does not favor the former President Erap Estrada to run again for the presidency.
A resounding majority does not favor President GMA to run again for any elective post in the upcoming 2010 elections.
Majority support Prof. Randy David to run for a Congressional seat in Pampanga against President GMA (NOTE: Prof. David decided to withdraw his plan, citing delicadeza and logistical problems).
A resounding majority does not favor World Boxing Champion Manny Pacquiao to run for a Congressional seat in the 2010 elections.
A resounding majority believe that bishops, priests, nuns or brothers should not run for any elective position in government.
A resounding majority believe that it is time to amend the Philippine Constitution but only after the 2010 elections and only through the mode of Constitutional Convention.

The Polls

Are you in favor of GMA running again for any elective post in the upcoming 2010 elections?

Yes, it is ok - 5 votes (5%)
No, not anymore - 92 votes (93%)
Not sure - 2 votes (2%)
Total Votes: 99 (100%)

-----------------------------------------
Is it worth it for Prof. Randy David to run for a Congresional seat in Pampanga against GMA?

Yes, it's worth it - 55 votes (63%)
No, not worth it - 21 votes (24%)
Not sure - 11 votes (13%)
Total Votes: 87 (100%)

-----------------------------------------
Are you in favor of Erap running again for president in the upcoming 2010 elections?

Yes, it is ok - 3 votes (3%)
No, not anymore - 91 votes (95%)
Not sure - 2 votes (2%)
Total Votes: 96 (100%)

-----------------------------------------
Are you in favor of World Boxing Champion Manny Pacquiao running for Congress in the upcoming 2010 elections?

Yes, he's qualified - 8 votes (9%)
No, he's not qualified - 83 votes (88%)
Not sure - 3 votes (3%)
Total Votes: 94 (100%)

-----------------------------------------
Are you in favor of bishops, priests, nuns or brothers running for any elective position?

Yes, it's alright - 26 votes (32%)
No, they're not trained - 50 votes (62%)
Not sure - 5 votes (6%)
Total Votes: 81 (100%)

-----------------------------------------
Is it time to amend the Philippine Constitution?

Yes - 32 votes (33%)
No - 56 votes (58%)
Not Sure - 9 votes (9%)
Total Votes: 97 (100%)

-----------------------------------------
When is the best time to amend the Philippine Constitution?

Before 2010 elections - 6 votes (7%)
After 2010 elections - 76 votes (84%)
Not Sure - 3 votes (3%)
Others - 6 votes (7%)
Total Votes: 91 (100%)

-----------------------------------------
What mode do you prefer to amend the Philippine Constitution?

Con-Ass - 10 votes (12%)
Con-Con - 50 votes (60%)
Not Sure - 16 votes (19%)
Others - 8 votes (10%)
Total Votes: 84 (100%)

Previously, the following polls conducted for the period August-October 2009:

The Philippines ranked as one of the 12th most corrupt countries in the world in 2008. Do you think the country will improve its standing for 2009?

Check the results at these following links:
Hold on, Philippines
ASEAN connection
From fascination to conviction

-----------------------------------------
Who should be the next President of the Philippines?
Check results here.

-----------------------------------------
What do you want Sen. NoyNoy Aquino to run for in 2010? Check results here.

Hold on, Philippines

2009-12-11T07:58:00.005+08:00

Click image to enlarge!
Read full article here and here!

An act of disgrace!

2009-12-01T05:32:00.009+08:00

(photo courtesy of http://www.inquirer.net)

This is unprecedented!

No Philippine president has done this in our country's history, at least not in our modern days' past. She may be legally allowed to run for a lower post, but this really leaves a very very bad taste.

How can now the president oversee a peaceful and credible election in 2010? How can she now ensure a proper transition and turnover of government? How can she exercise political will and ascendancy if she is so tied with partisan political campaign? This is not a good presidential act!

Two schools of thought are emerging on why President GMA wants to run for a Congressional seat in the 2010 elections: (1) her lust for power and (2) her lawsuit shield.

A third reason -- a future agenda towards a parliamentary form of government -- is not anymore far-fetched! She can easily become the House Speaker in the short term. And most probably, a Prime Minister in the long term.

President GMA committed a dishonor in her position as president, and maybe for the country! She just blundered by this disdainful act of disgrace! She missed a very good opportunity (probably her last) to become a great president. I gave my unsolicited advise on how President GMA can still become a great president, but she just again lost my vote.

In various Ehem networks, we have been running this online poll for the past three months:

"Are you in favor of GMA running again for any elective post in the upcoming 2010 elections?"

95 voters participated, and they responded overwhelmingly into:

Yes, it is ok -- 5 votes (5%)
No, not anymore -- 88 votes (93%)
Not sure -- 2 votes (2%)
TOTAL votes -- 95 (100%)

Let us all remember, fellow countrymen -- Hello Garci in 2004, 12-0 in 2007. And now, the Pampangga connection for 2010!

Sayang GMA, sayang!

May God bless this country!

Holding on!

2009-11-24T07:27:00.008+08:00

(click image to enlarge)

THE Berlin-based Transparency International (TI) just recently released the annual survey results of the Corruption Perception Index (CPI) for 2009. The country's CPI level for this year is 2.4, holding the 139th position out of the 180 countries which participated in this year's survey.

Thus with this standing, the Philippines is part of the 13th most corrupt countries in the world for this year, joining Pakistan, Belarus and Bangladesh.

Somalia came out as the most corrupt country in the world for this year, with a score of 1.1 and rank of 180th. Not surprisingly, New Zealand came out as the least corrupt country this year with a score of 9.4 at the 1st rank.

A CPI score near 10 is categorized as least corrupt, and a score near 1 is more corrupt.

IN 2008 the Philippines scored 2.3 at the 141st rank, making it as one of the 12th most corrupt countries out of 180, joining Cameroon, Iran and Yemen.

Does this mean that the Philippines is making improvements, albeit slightly (or faintly), in its efforts to curb corruption in the country?

An online nationwide polling survey among various Ehem anticorruption networks from the period mid-August to mid-November revealed some mixed views. The poll question was: "The Philippines ranked as one of the 12th most corrupt countries in the world in 2008. Do you think the country will improve its standing for 2009?"

94 online voters participated in the poll, and their responses were distributed into:

35 votes (37%) - Yes, it will improve
40 votes (43%) - No, it will worsen
19 votes (20%) - Not Sure
94 votes (100%) - FINAL RESULT

The survey results showed mixed feelings of hopelessness (that it will worsen) and hopefulness (that it will improve), with a noticeable margin of uncertainty (not sure). The slight (and faint) positive and negative changes in its CPI score and ranking could also reveal that the country might just be holding on.

This is not the first time that the country exhibited a holding-on pattern, despite all the unresolved national scandals in the government. From the years 2002-2004, the Philippines registered 2.6-2.5-2.6 CPI behavior. This is a critical period because of the infamous Hello Garci Scandal that rocked the election of President GMA in 2004. And in the 2005-2007 period, the country maintained a three-year 2.5 score, despite its being one of the 10 most corrupt countries in the world during this time. Thus, with the 2.3-2.4 CPI improvement and from being one of the 12th most corrupt countries to becoming one of the 13th most corrupt nations in 2008-2009, who can object?

Yes, we all aspire for a better world standing. But with all the corruption scandals and the certainty of electoral frauds towards the national and local elections in 2010, our CPI standing could have been worse!

This could be resilience showing among Filipino people. Just like in natural disasters and man-made catastrophes in the country, Filipinos hold on rather than completely fall apart.

With all the tragedy of government scandals and the impunity of corruption, all the more that the Filipino people need to summon resilience and hold on!

ASEAN connection

2009-11-23T22:10:00.006+08:00

(click image to enlarge)

THE Berlin-based Transparency International (TI) just recently released the annual survey results of the Corruption Perception Index (CPI) for 2009. How do members of the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) fare in their performance graphs for this year?

Singapore continues to maintain its rank as the only Southeast Asian country to be part of the top 10 least corrupt countries in the world. With a score of 9.2, it is the 3rd least corrupt among 180 countries in this year's CPI survey, next only to Denmark (9.4) and New Zealand (9.3).

Beside Singapore, three other countries are maintaining their 2008 CPI scores in the 2009 survey: Laos (2.0); Vietnam (2.7); and Timor Leste (2.2). Laos' over-all performance graph has revealed a drastic drop since its participation in 2005 with a CPI of 3.3.

Malaysia is experiencing a sharp drop in its CPI score of 4.5 in 2009 from a high 5.1 in 2008. For a long time, Malaysia is enjoying consistent fair ratings in CPI performance (5.0 and above), but this year's survey threatens the country's unassailable status. Its ranking is the lowest in the history of the country's anticorruption levels in 15 years. More than 70% of the Malaysian population have grown dissatisfied with the government's performance in curbing public sector corruption.

Thailand is experiencing only a slight deterioration with its 3.4 CPI score in 2009 from 3.5 in 2008. The survey turnout is somewhat unexpected for many anticorruption researchers and observers given Thailand's domestic troubles involving a prominent member of the Royal Family and the political turmoil in the Parliament (change of prime ministers in less than a year).

Experiencing slight improvements (1 to 2 points variances) are the Philippines (2.4 in 2009 from 2.3 in 2008); Indonesia (2.8 in 2009 from 2.6 in 2008); and Myanmar (1.4 in 2009 from 1.3 in 2008).

With the lowest CPI score, Myanmar (1.4) nevertheless appears as the most corrupt country in Southeast Asia, followed by Laos (2.0), Timor Leste (2.2), the Philippines (2.4), and then Indonesia (2.8).

Both the Philippines and Indonesia used to compete for the rank of the most corrupt in Southeast Asia but for these past two to three years, both have also shown steady rise, though still volatile, in their CPI performance.

Indonesia's improvements can be attributed to President Susilo Yudhoyono's unprecedented efforts to crack down on government corruption.

For its part, the Philippine's slight improvement is attributable to the Filipino people's resilience and vibrant broad-based anticorruption initiatives in the private sector despite the many unresolved national scandals in government.

Over-all, Southeast Asian countries have maintained their momentum in their CPI performance graphs (+/- 1 to 2 points variances only) with the striking exception of Malaysia (6-point variance).

From fascination to conviction

2009-11-23T06:31:00.004+08:00

(click image to enlarge)

About five months since August, 11 proud international Hubert H. Humphrey Fellows (2009-2010) of the Fulbright Exchange Program are undertaking their Fellowship programs in the top-rank Maxwell school of Citizenship and Public Affairs in NY's Syracuse University. The Fellows represent 10 countries from all over the globe: India, Tunisia, Liberia, Dominican Republic, Ecuador, Philippines, Sierra Leone, Moldova, South Korea and Israel.

The Fellows are chosen through a globally competitive screening and qualification system through the auspices of their respective Fulbright country commissions and the Institute of International Education (IIE) with grants from the US Department of State.

Each Fellow is expected to make good use of their professional expertise, experiences and dexterity through an exchange program with fellow counterparts from various participating countries. As Fellows, they will be attending special seminars, academic courses, site visits, agency visits and dialogs, professional development activities and professional affiliation activities that are all geared towards attaining their individual program plans for their country re-entry application.

Coming from a diversity of professions, academic credentials, unassailable experiences, fields of interest and expertise, personal advocacies and convictions, the Fellows are connected and bonded in the universal principles of effective leadership, good governance, networking and collaboration, conflict management and resolution, crisis management, citizenship and civil society initiatives among others. One of the perennial issues that keep cropping up is CORRUPTION.

For some, investigating and curbing corruption is a fascination. For others it is a passion. A few more press on as a matter of conviction.

In the interest of fascination, passion and conviction, it is worth looking deeper at the state of corruption among the Fellow's countries.

THE Berlin-based Transparency International (TI) just recently released the annual survey results of the Corruption Perception Index (CPI) for 2009. A CPI score near 10 is categorized as least corrupt, and a score near 1 is more corrupt. A median score of 5 is considered as fair.

The ranking of Maxwell-Humphrey Fellows' Countries in CPI-2009 survey showed the following:

1. Israel (6.1)
2. South Korea (5.5)
3. Tunisia (4.2)
4. India (3.4)
5. Moldova (3.3)
6. Liberia (3.1)
7. Dominican Republic (3.0)
8. Philippines (2.4)
9. Ecuador (2.2)
10. Sierra Leone (2.2)

Israel is taking the lead as the least corrupt, with a CPI score of 6.1 which is above the fair median ranking. This is followed by South Korea at 5.5 in CPI. The rest of the Fellow's countries have serious problems of corruption with a collective CPI scores ranging from 2.2 to 4.2, which are below the fair median ranking.

Ecuador and Sierra Leone have the lowest survey rating with a 2.2 CPI level, making them the most corrupt among the Fellows' countries this year.

The USA - the Fellows' host - garnered a CPI of 7.5, making it as one of the 20 least corrupt countries in the world.

With 180 countries participating in this year's survey, the top 10 countries perceived as least corrupt are:

1. New Zealand (9.4)
2. Denmark (9.3)
3. Singapore (9.2), Sweden (9.2)
5. Switzerland (9.0)
6. Finland (8.9), Netherlands (8.9)
8. Australia (8.7), Canada (8.7), Iceland (8.7)

On the other hand, the top 10 countries perceived as most corrupt are:

1. Somalia (1.1)
2. Afghanistan (1.3)
3. Myanmar (1.4)
4. Sudan (1.5), Iraq (1.5)
5. Chad (1.6)
6. Uzbekistan (1.7)
7. Turkmenistan (1.8), Iran (1.8), Haiti (1.8)

Somalia came out as the most corrupt country in the world for this year, with a score of 1.1 and rank of 180th. Not surprisingly, New Zealand came out as the least corrupt country this year with a score of 9.4 at the 1st rank.

Progression, deterioration

A closer look at the Fellows' countries' performance in the CPI using a 5-year comparative interval growth rates show some interesting patterns.

Four Fellows' countries are consistently deteriorating since 2000: Israel, Ecuador, Sierra Leone and Tunisia.

Israel, Ecuador and Sierra Leone have been deteriorating by 2-3 points in the years preceding 2009. Interestingly, Tunisia is showing sharp deterioration over the years beginning 2000. From a CPI score of 5.2 in 2000, it declined into 4.9 in 2005 and further dropped to 4.2 in 2009.

On the other hand, four other Fellows' countries are showing consistent improvements: India, Moldova, South Korea and Liberia.

Both India and Moldova scaled up by 4-5 points from 2008 to 2009. Liberia showed upward leap by almost 10 points, when its CPI of 2.2 in 2005 jumped to 3.1 in 2009. South Korea also exhibited sharp improvements for the past decade, with CPI progression of 4.0, 5.0 and 5.5 in 2000, 2005 and 2009 respectively.

The Philippines, like USA, displayed a holding-on pattern for the past five years with 1-2 points of variances thereby maintaining its momentum since 1995. The Dominican Republic just participated this year in the annual corruption survey, starting with a 3.0 CPI score.

For more analysis on Philippine and ASEAN corruption levels,
please click on these links:
http://cyberron.blogspot.com/2009/11/holding-on.html and
http://cyberron.blogspot.com/2009/11/asean-connection .html.

Poll closed

2009-11-15T07:22:00.002+08:00

The Philippines ranked as one of the 12th most corrupt countries in the world in 2008. Do you think the country will improve its standing for 2009?

35 votes (37%) - Yes, it will improve
40 votes (43%) - No, it will worsen
19 votes (20%) - Not Sure
94 votes (100%) - FINAL RESULT

GMA can still be a great president!

2009-11-01T23:21:00.010+08:00

Some local officials and Congressmen are moving for a formal resolution to call on Pres. GMA to run again for public office, this time as Pampanga Representative. She will most probably win, considering the incumbency machinery of a sitting president (and she will most probably become the Speaker of the House, given all her resources).

As a citizen of this country, I beg to register my opposition to this move.

I wish to offer the President this simple formula of Ogunlela Olu: SELFLESSNESS = GREATNESS!

It will be the ultimate act of greatness if President GMA will not succumb to the temptations and pressures to run again for public post!

I am sharing again my unsolicited analysis and propositions for Pres. GMA. These were culled out from what I wrote in my earlier blog at this link.

GMA can still be a great President

I would like to strike a middle ground. We can spark an explosion of collective purification that should be led by no less than President Arroyo and all her Cabinet members.

This can be achieved by heeding the simple formula of Ogunlela Olu: selflessness = greatness!

For President GMA, the purification process should begin with undertaking the following concrete steps of selflessness, which I believe would really leave a significant mark towards her greatness:

1. Finish your term and swear by your ancestors not to run again for the next election, in whatever form and mode. Speak in categorical and sincere terms that you will step down peacefully and honorably in 2010; no teasing, no ambiguities, no obscurities! If you are sincere and categorical, all your people, especially in Congress, will heed your wish!

2. Ensure that there will be no cheating in the 2010 elections. Please do not allow another Hello Garci and another 12-0! They really divided the country; they really caused miscalculated damage to your administration.

3. Convene a governance transition team now, which will plot a proper and orderly system of turn-over to the next elected president. No political talk, just be professional. Be transparent in your modest gains and be candid of what you have not achieved. The next president should be able to address this lacuna.

4. Make Constitutional change a priority for the next administration, and you can explore the process for including the election of the members for a Constitutional Convention (ConCon) during the 2010 elections. Constitutional Assembly (ConAss) is really not popular, since
Congress does not enjoy popular people's trust. Surveys speak!

5. Take more proactive measures to solve at least the major corruption issues that scandalized your administration. You can use all the powers of the presidency to solve at least the NBN-ZTE broadband overpricing and bribery scam as well as the fertilizer fund scam. I believe you have all the powers to help solve these scams because the parties involved are your own officials. And they take cues from you!

6. Stop all political appointments. The 2009 Philippine Human Development Report revealed that you have already exceeded the allowable presidential appointments for Cabinet USec and ASec positions (and many of them are not even qualified). If you decide to take back their appointments, you win the votes of meritocracy!

7. Make radical reforms on two other very important issues in the country: (a) flooding and climate change and (b) the Mindanao peace talk.

We Filipinos have a soft heart for conciliation and healing. As you endeavor to end your term properly and to leave a significant mark to be great, you can reach out to your ardent critics and detractors -- even those who hurt you -- and make good peace and reconcile. This is the greatest mark of humility!

These are my unsolicited propositions for the President, which I believe will regain or win greatness for the incumbent leadership. We have 7 months before the next elections.

Madam President, you have 7 crucial months to make history for the Filipino people and be great as well!

For a change! 2010 now!

2009-10-31T21:35:00.001+08:00

Philippine Humphrey Fellows

2009-10-25T07:49:00.010+08:00

Historic rendezvous with Philippine Embassy and Filipino Humphrey Fellows
L-R: Monette Singh, Robert Borje, Ronnie Amorado and Reggie Junio

The great Vice Consul and Third Secretary Robert Borje works with the Philippine Embassy in Washington, DC. Vice Consul Borje comes from Mindanao, Philippines. He used to be with the giant network of the ABS-CBN News and the Mindanao Economic Development Council (MEDCo) before joining the Department of Foreign Affairs and got assigned in the Washington Embassy. It was a very pleasant experience to meet the very young, promising and awe-inspiring Vice Consul during the State Department Reception Dinner hosted by the Department of State for all the Hubert H. Humphrey Fellows for 2009-2010 last October 20, 2009 in Washington, DC.

Mabuhay si Robert! Hail Robert!
Keep up the good work, Vice Consul!
The country is proud of you!

The Philippine Fellows

Maria Filomena Singh is a Fellow at the Washington University's College of Law in Washington, DC. She is a presiding judge in the Regional Trial Court of Quezon City in the Philippines. She is also a professor of law at the Ateneo de Manila University School of Law and at the Philippine Judicial Academy in Manila. She specializes in the field of law and human rights with focus on more efficient court management, alternative dispute resolution, and programs which could unclog the local court's heavy dockets. During her Humphrey year, she hopes to gain new knowledge and skills that will help her advocate for a more efficient case management system, and a more independent judiciary to help perpetuate better Philippine internal and international stability. Judge Singh holds a Juris Doctor degree (Doctor of Law) and a recipient of the Judicial Excellence Award. In 2007, the Society of Judicial Excellence named Judge Singh as one of the Top First Level Court Judge in the Philippines.

Regina Junio is a Fellow at the Cornell University's College of Agriculture and Life Sciences in Ithaca, New York. She is a professor at the Ateneo de Zamboanga University back in the Philippines. She handles natural science courses, leads the various university social development programs and conducts research on solid waste management, natural resources management and minerals development. She mentors development programs with partner communities on natural resources management in the Philippines. Her Fellowship program is focusing on conflict management for communities in conflict over natural resource use, best practices for sustainable development and environmental economics. Prof. Junio holds a Master of Science in Chemistry Education.

Ronnie Amorado is a Fellow at the Maxwell School of Citizenship and Public Affairs of the Syracuse University in Syracuse, New York. As a Humphrey Fellow, he is working on his post-doctorate research on anticorruption and citizenship with special focus on policy analysis and evaluation especially as it relates to good governance and anti-corruption reforms. His research interest revolves around the dark side of social capital, notions of integrity and betrayal theory among others. He has been working for numerous years with government agencies and private sector organizations on discourse formation, conducting anticorruption research, providing training and public lectures on management, good governance and corruption issues. Currently, he is the Country Coordinator of the Ehem Anticorruption Group, a major anticorruption movement run by the Society of Jesus in the Philippines. He holds a doctorate degree in development studies specializing in governance and anticorruption studies. He is author of Fixing Society: The Inside World of Fixers in the Philippines (2007), which won a National Book Award/Outstanding Book Award for 2008 given by the prestigious Philippine National Academy of Science and Technology (NAST).

Click on this link for more photos of the Filipino Humphrey Fellows.

Click on this link for more photos of the 2009 Humphrey Global Leadership Forum Opening Tour in Washington, DC.

Click on this link for more photos of the State Department Reception Dinner.

I also visited the Smithsonian Space Museum (click here) and the Natural History Museum (click here).

As they say, pictures speak a thousand words. And museums make a great country's national identity greater!

Of good character

2009-10-14T03:48:00.002+08:00

Good character is not formed in a week or a month.
It is created little by little, day by day.
Protracted and patient effort is needed
to develop good character!
- Greek philosopher Heraclitus (c.535 BC - 475 BC)

The Gospel of Wealth

2009-10-14T01:09:00.010+08:00

The Gospel of Wealth

Andrew Carnegie (1835-1919) was a Scottish immigrant who became one of America's pioneering philanthropists, and a popular baron and business oligarch in the 19th and 20th centuries. In his time, he used to be regarded as the second richest man in history after John D. Rockefeller.

In early 1908, he commissioned a survey of the top 500 wealthy achievers in the US to find out their secrets for success. The findings came out in a published book in 1928 (about a decade after Carnegie's death) entitled, "The Law of Success."

Carnegie was a turning point in the Spanish-era Philippines. He opposed the acquisition of the colony by the US. After the Spanish American War, Carnegie offered Spain the amount of US$20 million (more than what the US government offered) in order to give the Filipinos their independence. He failed.

As a leading and very influential philanthropist (he established the major charities, foundations, museums, schools and libraries in the US and Europe), he came out with the so-called Carnegie's Dictum, which became the foundation of his Gospel of Wealth. These documents influenced the evolution and growth of the philanthropic movements in the US and the whole world.

The Carnegie Dictum

To spend the first third of one's life
getting all the education one can.

To spend the next third
making all the money one can.

III

To spend the last third
giving it all away for worthwhile causes.

The Gospel of Wealth

1. All personal wealth beyond that required to supply the needs of one's family should be regarded as a trust fund to be administered for the benefit of the community.

2. Much better this great irregularity than universal squalor.

3. The Socialist or Anarchist who seeks to overturn present conditions is to be regarded as attacking the foundation upon which civilization itself rests.

4. The highest result of human experience: individualism, private property, the law of accumulation of Wealth, the law of competition.

5. There are but three modes in which surplus wealth can be disposed of. It can be left to the families of the decedents; or it can be bequeathed for public purposes; or finally, it can be administered by its possessors during their lives.

6. It were better for mankind that the millions of the rich were thrown into the sea than so spent as to encourage the slothful, the drunken, the unworthy.

7. Of every thousand dollars spent in so-called charity today, it is probable that nine hundred and fifty dollars is unwisely spent -- so spent, indeed, as to produce the very evils which it hopes to mitigate or cure.

8. Neither the individual nor the race is improved by almsgiving. Those worthy of assistance, except in rare cases, seldom require assistance. The really valuable men of the race never do, except in case of accident or sudden change.

9. The man who dies thus rich dies disgraced.

INSIGHTS: The dictum provides an excellent basis for entrepreneurialism, education and philanthropy. The first, seventh and eight gospels are very striking and indisputable. The third, fourth and ninth gospels are debatable.

The first, second and sixth gospels are good arguments against society's corruption, as well as for advancing the virtue of integrity. In this regard, I would re-state the ninth gospel: the man who dies thus rich and filthy dies disgraced!

References

Carnegie, Andrew. 1900. The Gospel of Wealth and Other Timely Essays. New York: The Century Co.

Andrew Carnegie @
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Andrew_Carnegie#Controversies.

Andrew Carnegie @
http://www.answers.com/topic/andrew-carnegie

Devastation

2009-10-03T10:07:00.003+08:00

Devastation!

The country was struck by a devastation brought by Typhoon Ondoy (international codename Ketsana) at the close of September. About 20-25 tropical typhoons pass the country every year, but Ondoy was a wrath. It was the first of its kind since the Great Flood of 1972. Ondoy's rainfall in about 6 hours was good for a 6-month volume. It caused massive flooding. 20 feet of flood waters (about 6 m). About half a million displaced, and more than 200 died. Cost of damage to properties and infrastructure pegged at 5 billion pesos (US$106 million). And while the figures are increasing by the day as official reports continue to come in, the country is again in peril with the coming of stronger typhoons. Environmental officials report of expected massive mudslides and landslides, while health officials warn of disease outbreaks. As a sorrowful reality in disasters, the aftermath is always said to be "disastrous" than the disaster. Catholic leaders are invoking the highest prayer for divine intercession - Oratio Imperata - to shield the country from further destruction.

It is climate change and global warming taking revenge against mankind's utter disregard of environment. No doubt, as Al Gore warned in An Inconvenient Truth, natural disasters are getting worse and ruthless in the 21st century. This crisis, however, is compounded and exacerbated further by systematic inaction of world's governments, including the Philippines.

Resilience among Filipinos is already tried and tested in times of disasters and calamities. It is a reliable Filipino virtue. But the country has to be warned against wasting this virtue into nonchalance, especially among the government officials and leaders of the land.

In its September 29 issue, Time Magazine has appropriately described Ondoy's aftermath. The country has never really did enough preparation, especially long-term mitigation. This is the province of the government, given all its mandate and resources. Click here for the Time report.

We need more calamity and disaster management and preparedness programs in government offices, business and schools. Expand and increase the drills (fire, earthquake, typhoon, flooding, landslides, etc) and clean-up operations. Make it mandatory through school curriculum. Conduct more regular public drill activities done by the military, Red Cross and Boy Scouts. Legislate dedicated appropriations through affirmative laws and ordinances. Improve the drainage systems and waterway facilities. Curb illegal logging and regulate golf courses and posh subdivision construction. Solve the garbage problem. Explore and develop bystander rescue programs, as we also enhance the regular rescue agencies. Most of all, it is of utmost urgency to seriously build the forecasting capacity and resources of the Philippine Atmospheric, Geophysical and Astronomical Service Administration.

The agency's acronym, PAG-ASA, is crying out loud! It means HOPE in Filipino language. The Philippine government should not rob the Filipinos of the much-needed hope for implementing the necessary reforms in disaster mitigation and management.

The upcoming 2010 elections should be an opportunity for the Filipino people to make the government accountable and press the candidates for categorical disaster programs to defend and promote the people's hope!

Resilience does not lose the hope!
Government's ineptness does!

Loafing

2009-10-01T02:20:00.024+08:00

What is loafing?

In the past months, several Ehem anticorruption seminar and anti-fixing workshops discussed at length with much debate the issue of loafing which is becoming a very prevalent malpractice in many government agencies and private sector offices.

What is really loafing?

Loafing comes from a colloquial English noun "loafer," to mean as someone who spends time idly. This is known from about 1830s, and most probably in the US. While its exact origin cannot be established, many believed that it emanated from an old German reference to a tramp, also known as "landlaufer."

In the modern times, loafing is the equivalent of loitering. But it is more of a bureaucratic behavior (behavior in the bureaucratic or organizational context). Thus, loafing can also mean bureaucratic loitering.

Loafing is generally defined also as the continued and deliberate idleness during work periods that results in the employee's failure to perform assigned tasks manifested by wasting time, slowing down at work, engaging in idle talk or gossip, or conducting personal business during work periods.

Loafing results in a lot of undesirable consequences that distort the bureaucratic systems as well as the personal and collective virtues of integrity. The most immediate consequence is the delay or slow-down of public transactions, thereby undermining public service. Loafing is thus directly correlated to bureaucratic red-tapes and fixing problems. There are several forms of loafing, which many are not aware of. These include but are not limited to:

Gossiping or chatting while working (the distracting ones)
Habitual tardiness
Frequently going out of the office for private transactions
Manicure/pedicure in the office
Texting (the unofficial type)
Gambling in the office; the most common form is 'tong-its', 'patad' or 'last-two'
Telebabad (5 hours in the telephone)
Reading newspapers (usually taking more than one hour)
Longer periods of time in the comfort rooms
Cyberloafing (internetting or emailing for private matters; or even gaming)
Longer snack breaks or longer coffee breaks (the 15-min becomes 30-min or 45-min)
Table hopping (related to #1)
Selling goods in the office (Avon Ladies are aplenty in government offices)
Selling insurance in the office (many employees are insurance underwriters)

Loafing also leads to many complications or other anomalies. For example, loafers resort to OT (over-time work) in order to finish the job. Without loafing, the OT option might not be necessary anymore.

Another example: when superior officers sell goods or insurance to their subordinates or staff, the latter are compelled to buy since it is difficult to say no to bosses. And remember 'pakikisama' at 'utang na loob' and even 'pagtingin sa kapangyarihan.' These have a way to creep into our bureaucratic relationship.

INSIGHTS: In Fixing Society (2007), loafing is also considered a form of stationary banditry; a practice of passive theft or looting by delaying or slowing down the transactions in government, thereby forcing the public to seek out the assistance of fixers. Forms of loafing among frontline employees include spending much time drinking coffee, reading newspapers, fixing the hair and face inside the comfort room, texting in cell phones, or responding to telephone calls. Loafers are considered as stationary bandits. In the Ehem anticorruption networks, what we are saying during our seminars is for people to be sensitive about our vulnerabilities. And part of this is sensitivity to our tendency to loaf. Most especially, loafing becomes more anomalous when we loaf in front of customers or our clients. Imagine reading newspaper, chatting or gossiping in front of a long queue of clients! So, be aware of loafing! Beware of loafers! Beware of stationary bandits!

References:

Amorado, Ronnie V. 2007. Fixing Society: The Insider World of Fixers in the Philippines. Davao City: Ateneo de Davao University-Research and Publication Office.

Social loafing at http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Social_loafing.

For a change, 2010 now!

2009-09-28T10:03:00.002+08:00

Filipinos Syracuse

2009-09-25T09:04:00.005+08:00

It is always nice to see compatriots in a foreign land! This is the first meeting of Filipino Fellows and Scholars in Syracuse, NY. From R-L: Atty. Rene Pacaldo from the Fortress City of Iligan; Mr. Ryan Villar from the Salt Province of Pangasinan; Ms. Jaclaine Mercado of Pampanga, the Land of the Beauty; Lt. Col. Al Jaji of the River City of Cagayan de Oro and Sultanate Province of Sulu; and Dr. Ronnie Amorado of the Durian City of Davao. Rene is faculty of the MSU-Marawi City while Al works with the Intelligence Division of the Philippine Army. Both Rene and Al are Fulbright Scholars finishing their PhDs on environment with the State University of New York (SUNY). Al specializes on environment and conflict, while Rene studies carbon sequestration of willow shrubs as alternative source of energy; he is also studying US environmental laws. Ryan is a Central Bank Fellow taking up instructional designs, while Jac is a Moynihan Scholar taking up international studies. Both Ryan and Jac are taking up their second MA degrees in Syracuse University; both respectively earned their first MA degrees on government administration and political science from the Ateneo de Manila University. Ryan works with the HR Group of the Philippine Central Bank, and Jac a full time scholar. Ronnie is a Hubert Humphrey-Fulbright Fellow doing his anticorruption research at the Maxwell School of Citizenship and Public Affairs in Syracuse University.

The meeting was sponsored by Al in celebration of Eid'l Fitr last September 20, 2009 at the Fuji Asian Buffet Restaurant in Syracuse. As of last account, there are about 13 Filipinos studying in Syracuse.

What is good with meeting compatriots in a foreign land is the joy of a lifeline -- we all easily connect like we have known one another back home. We can also speak our home-grown language, and discuss current events and issues affecting the country. The lifeline actually provides sanity. In the words of Al -- "magaling ka nga, sige'ng aral, basa at sulat, palaging English, pero para ka na rin namang sirang ulo!"

We plan to hold a monthly Filipino Day, just an informal fellowship day among Filipino compatriots, to provide lifeline and sanity!

Mabuhay ang mga Pilipino!
Mabuhay ang Pilipinas!

Common good, common greed

2009-09-18T20:47:00.002+08:00

Leaders train for the lofty aim of the common good
and then act out in life on the basis of common greed!
- Saul Alinsky (1909-1972)

Kakistocracy

2009-09-17T22:54:00.010+08:00

Kakistocracy

The Italian philosopher Niccolo Machiavelli (1469-1527) saw it coming as early as the 1500s, when he declared: “what are we in power for!” This was not a question, but a pragmatic pronouncement about the skill of acquisition and utilization of power that leaders ought to learn, perpetuate and protect. Profoundly, Machiavelli’s evocation depicts the downfall of many great leaders across the globe – among governments, corporations and even cause-oriented social movements. More than 400 years later, the English Baron Lord Acton (1834-1902) unleashed his popular dictum against Machiavellian pragmatism: “power tends to corrupt, and absolute power corrupts absolutely!”

The use of cunning and deceitful tactics in politics and society in general, aimed at protecting and propagating vested interests (can be personal interests, class interests, party interests, business interests), has become a major source of tension as management and leadership theories evolve. The basic tension arises from the lacuna of an operational ethical framework that could have served as one of the firm foundations of effective managerial and leadership styles. This lacuna explains the many controversies and scandals that hound the world’s leaders. Thus, there is a need to privilege ethical leadership as an urgent theoretical and practical tool – a kind of ethical leadership philosophy that promotes integrity, credibility and ascendancy, and that which provides a meaningful normative function for effective managerial and leadership skills. In resonance, Lee Bolman and Terence Deal (Reframing Organizations, 2008) fittingly espoused: “If we choose to banish moral discourse and leave managers to face ethical issues alone, we invite dreary and brutish political dynamics. An organization can and should take a moral stance. It can make its values clear, hold employees accountable, and validate the need for dialog about ethical choices. Positive politics without an ethical framework and moral dialogue is as unlikely as bountiful harvests without sunlight or water!"

I adhere to the belief that intelligence without integrity will result in impunity. Without integrity, intelligence and competence will just become effective instruments for undesirable conduct of managers and leaders. On the other hand, integrity without intelligence will simply yield to mediocrity. Mediocre people cannot serve as good and inspiring leaders. Integrity flourishes best when it works with the other ingredients for effective managerial functions and leadership skills.

Leadership without intelligence or integrity gives rise to kakistocracy – a government or organization that is ruled by the most unprincipled, unethical and unqualified managers and leaders. Kakistocracy comes from the Greek kakistos (to mean worst) or kakos (to mean bad) + kracia (to mean rule, power, government). If unchecked, kakistocracy results in kleptocracy . Kleptocracy comes from the Greek kleptos (to mean theft) + kratos (to mean rule).

Kakistocratic and kleptocratic leadership behavior explains the world’s woes in government corruption, corporate scandals, desecration of rule of law, and even the persistence of illegitimate authoritarian states and despotic rulers.

Kenneth Shaw (The Intentional Leader, 2005) was unequivocal: “Make no mistake about it – ethical leaders are good leaders... most sought after and admired leaders around the world were honest, forward-looking, confident, and inspiring. In most international surveys conducted over the past thirty years, honesty is valued first... because we don’t want to be lied to; we want to be told the truth. We want a leader who knows right from wrong...when we follow someone we believe to be dishonest, we come to realize that we’ve compromised our own integrity. In time, we not only lose respect for the leader, we lose respect for ourselves!"

(Photo courtesy of Irregular Times; visit the site for socially-oriented t-shirts and stickers).

2 polls closed

2009-09-14T23:24:00.007+08:00

Two polls are now closed at this blog's polling station. The first poll has to do with the presidentiables for 2010, and the second poll is about Sen. NoyNoy Aquino. We are completing and closing these polls because of the new political realignments in the Philippines as well as the formal decision of Sen. Aquino to run for the presidency.

We will monitor the coming weeks as new configurations will emerge. Let's watch out for the tandems; this could be our next poll on the 2010 elections.

The first poll is: Who should be the next President of the Philippines?

We have been running this poll for about 2 months, and 64 voters participated in the poll. How did these 64 voters vote?

Sen. Manny Villar - 17 votes (27%)
Sen. Mar Roxas - 13 votes (20%)
Sen. Dick Gordon - 8 votes (13%)
Bro. Eddie Villanueva - 5 votes (8%)
Metro Manila Chair Bayani Fernando - 4 votes (6%)
Fr. Ed Panlilio - 3 votes (5%)
Chief Justice Reynato Puno - 2 votes (3%)
Gov. Grace Padaca - 2 votes (3%)

1 vote each (1%):

Vice President Noli de Castro
Sen. Loren Legarda
Sen. Ping Lacson
Civil Society Activist Nick Perlas

0 vote each (0%)

Sec. Gibo Teodoro
Councilor JC de los Reyes

Others - 6 votes (9%)

Mar Roxas, Ed Panlilio and Grace Padaca all withdrew their plans in favor of Sen. NoyNoy. Supreme Court Chief Justice Reynato Puno is very unequivocal in his position not to run since the very beginning. And other potential candidates are expected to re-align in the coming weeks.

The second poll is: What do you want Sen. NoyNoy Aquino to run for in 2010?

We run this poll for 2 weeks only, and there were 23 voters who participated, 23 souls who believe that Sen. NoyNoy Aquino should:

Run as President - 12 votes (52%)
Run as Vice President - 4 votes (17%)
Not Run - 4 votes (17%)
Not Sure - 2 votes (9%)
Others - 1 vote (4%)

So these two polls are now officially CLOSED. The other polling questions are still open (we will close a polling question when there is a major change in directions). Just go to the polling station in this blog!

Laughing Money, Crying Money

2009-09-03T23:27:00.006+08:00

For these past years I have been conducting integrity development and anticorruption seminar workshops, this phenomenon of laughing money and crying money keeps cropping up. This is especially pervasive in almost all government offices and has been identified as an important element of the whole gamut of graft and corruption issue in the Philippines.

For anticorruption research, this phenomenon can also serve as a very useful analytical tool. The challenge now is really to conduct more empirical studies and conceptual scrutiny of how laughing money and crying money really pervades and reinforces widespread corruption in the Philippine bureaucracy in particular, and the Philippine society in general.

What is laughing money and crying money? One needs to first understand the latter to appreciate the former.

Crying money, also known as blood money, is understood to cover all and any resource that is due to government, and if somebody steals the resource it results in government loss. Some examples of crying money are:

Public funds, government loans and grants
Taxes, fees, collections, levies, permits, duties, tariffs, excises, tolls, duties
Government time (officials and employees paid by government)
Government supplies, equipment, vehicles
Government facilities, buildings and infrastructure
Government services

On the other hand, laughing money refers to any resource that is not due to government, and if somebody steals the resource, there is no loss to government. Some examples of laughing money are:

Gifts from contractors or private individuals
Tips, commissions and other perks (in kind)
Donations and contributions
Free travels, free club memberships, gift certificates

It is important to note that stealing in both cases are taken liberally, and could also mean in the broader sense. Stealing may imply diverting, undermining, withholding (in the case of public service), loafing (in the case of government time), sneaking, accepting for personal use, embezzling or pocketing among others.

How does this phenomenon of crying money and laughing money relate to or reinforce widespread graft and corruption?

There seems to be a general acknowledgment that crying money directly correlates with graft and corruption since the resource is really owned by government. There is no debate that those who steal crying money are committing acts of graft and corruption, and by so doing they taint their hands with blood (that is why crying money is also called as blood money).

What is more contentious is the phenomenon of laughing money. And many are using laughing money to justify their anomalies and rationalize stealing in various forms and names. But imagine the effect of laughing money in many of these actual cases and everyday experiences of many government officials and employees:

Developing a special treatment to a bidder who gives cash commissions or gifts in kind to the members of Bids and Awards Committees.
Coming up with favored decisions or actions for suppliers whose companies give perks like free plane fares, free hotel accommodations, all-expense paid travels to conferences and vacations, sponsorships to parties and other public gatherings.
Or a favored court judgment in exchange for a big retirement mansion.
A purchaser who benefits from gaining extra appliances for patronizing a supplier; the purchaser's house is fully filled up with all the free appliances from bread toasters to computers to sala sets to washing machines to air conditioning units.
A regulator who gives priority to approve license applications given by fixers, who give additional commissions paid by their clients. Or approves application papers even if they lack documentary requirements.
Favored clients who give gifts and all other goods during Christmas season.

While these and many other similar examples do not imply immediate loss to government, laughing money undermines the government and the public in the long term. People's decisions and actions are affected (or corrupted) by these resources, even if they are owned by private individuals. Private corruption has a way of permeating into public corruption. The blurring effect is as dirty as it can get!

To the extent possible that laughing money involves public transactions, it is still part of graft and corruption. Even if there is no financial and immediate loss to government, laughing money has the capacity to corrupt people's behavior and distort systems. In the end, the same blood that taints the hands of the crying money also stains the face of the laughing money!

See also the Sutton's Law of the Impunity of Profit.

(Photo courtesy of http://www.cerebromente.org.br/n16/mente/mask.jpg)

War and politics

2009-09-02T06:59:00.001+08:00

In war, you can only be killed once,
but in politics, many times!
- Winston Churchill

Bemused, be amused!

2009-09-02T06:50:00.005+08:00

The recent action of Sen. Mar Roxas to give way to Sen. NoyNoy Aquino to be the presidential standard bearer of the Liberal Party is an act of political sacrifice that should earn him some important sympathy votes. It must have been very painful for Sen. Mar, who has invested a lot for the upcoming 2010 elections.

The political value for the emerging tandem of a NoyNoy-Mar candidacy in 2010 remains to be seen from the point of view of reforms and genuine alternative politics. It is also wanting of whether or not the tandem can really unite the opposition (if the opposition is divided, it is the administration that continues to benefit).

But using the lens of analyzing transactional party machinery, the tandem can be a formidable force. Why is that?

Consider the following: the NoyNoy-Mar tandem also means Kris-Korina support. Imagine how showbiz machinery can enhance political machinery by leaps and bounds. And Sen. Kiko Pangilinan already announced to support Sen. NoyNoy, so bring into the equation the Megastar factor, his popular wife-actress Sharon Cuneta. And if the Megastar is added into the equation, rest assured you can also count on the active support of Juday Santos, another popular actress who has stated to join a Pangilinan campaign come the 2010 elections (Juday's campaign in 2007 for another senator was a poor taste, a classical TRAPO!).

The problem is, will Sen. Pangilinan give way to Sen. Mar for the Vice Presidency? If yes, what will happen to Sen. Mar Roxas? Giving up the presidency is already painful; yielding up the vice presidency might be losing face too much. Sen. Roxas is one who will not simply give in to the prospect of obscurity!

So will this be a NoyNoy-Mar versus NoyNoy-Kiko? These are very challenging times for the Liberal Party. The administration party and the Nacionalistas must be delighted, while the other political movements -- reformists included -- continue to bemuse and perplex in their (our) search for the right candidate!

The great Winston Churchill was not kidding when he uttered: “In war, you can only be killed once,
but in politics, many times!"
(photo courtesy of Inquirer.net)

New Poll

2009-08-31T23:37:00.006+08:00

What do you want Sen. Aquino to run for in 2010?

As President? Vice President? Or you don't want him to run at all? Not sure? Let us see how our compatriots feel and think about the only son of former President Cory Aquino. This is a new online public poll. Go to the polling station (scroll down, left side) and register your votes. There are also other polling survey questions; you might also want to participate if you have not yet registered your votes. Invite your friends, colleagues, family members and relatives, teachers, students and your other networks.

Niagara

2009-08-30T07:59:00.007+08:00

It's awesome! Majestic. Spectacular. Powerful. Blissful. Lovely. The Niagara Falls on one good Saturday on August 22. No words can fully capture the enormity and immensity of this natural resource. An enduring creation! No wonder the first French, Swedish and Belgian explorers in as early as 1600s were all enchanted in their memoirs and chronicles of the Falls located very intimately between Canada and New York. On why they are referred to as Niagara is mostly allegorical, most probably coming from the 17th century inhabitants known as the Niagagaregans. Tourism and hydro-power industry began to boom in Niagara in 1800s, while a series of preservation programs from both countries were implemented in the mid-1800s to early 1900s. Niagara Falls has since become a huge tourist attraction and favorite spot for wedding ceremonies and among honeymooners. I glimpsed on two wedding ceremonies held against the backdrop of the Falls and raging river flows! Very romantic! A popular 19th century romantic story claims that Napoleon Bonaparte's brother Jérôme and his bride came to the Niagara Falls for their honeymoon.

Click on my album here to see more photos of my Niagara experience with my in-laws and family friends. The wallpaper-quality photos are courtesy of Bong Asuelo.

Lovers, honeymooners, poets, painters, photographers, chroniclers, geologists, and plain sightseers from all over the world come to Niagara Falls to experience its awe and magic. Like this poem written by J.S. Buckingham in 1837, it's indeed a gift from the Great Creator!

To NIAGARA

Thy diadem's an emerald, of the clearest, purest hue,
Set round with waves of snow-white foam,
and spray of feathery dew;
While tresses of the brightest pearls float
o'er thine ample sheet,
And the rainbow lays its gorgeous gems
in tribute at thy feet!

And from that hour to this,
in which I gaze upon thy stream,
From age to age, in Winter's frost
or Summer's sultry beam,
By day, by night, without a pause,
thy waves, with loud acclaim,
In ceaseless sounds have still proclaim'd
the Great Eternal's name!

The Fellows

2009-08-28T08:52:00.008+08:00

The proud international Hubert H. Humphrey Fellows (2009-2010) of the Fulbright Exchange Program in the Maxwell School of Citizenship and Public Affairs in Syracuse University, New York. First row: Anita Sarmah (India), Simpson Snoh (Liberia), Addys Then Marte (Dominican Republic), Emma Silva (Ecuador). Second row: Jamel M’Hedhbi (Tunisia), Alexei Ionasco (Moldova), Ronald Amorado (Philippines). Third row: Dong Seok Lee (South Korea), Nimrod Goren (Israel), Joseph Bangura (Sierra Leone), Shouvik Mitra (India).

The Fellows are chosen through a globally competitive screening and qualification system through the auspices of their respective Fulbright country commissions. Each Fellow is expected to make good use of their professional expertise, experiences and dexterity through an exchange program with fellow counterparts from various participating countries. As Fellows, they will be attending special seminars, academic courses, site visits, agency visits and dialogs, professional development activities and professional affiliation activities that are all geared towards attaining their individual program plans for their country re-entry application.

Click here for the bio-sketches of the Fellows and their respective country representation and areas of specialization.

The Maxwell School of Citizenship and Public Affairs of the Syracuse University in New York is also the premiere public affairs and public administration school in the United States. Maxwell School is the first and oldest public administration program in the country and prides itself of a long-standing tradition of academic excellence in the areas of citizenship, public affairs and public administration. For many years already, the Maxwell School of the Syracuse University has been ranked by the US News and World Report as the No. 1 Graduate School for Public Affairs in the US (and most probably in the world). Top public affairs and public administration practitioners from around the globe come to the Maxwell School for academic degree or professional development.

For 2008-2009, the top 24 Graduate Schools for Public Affairs ranked by the US News and World Report are:

1. Maxwell School, Syracuse
2. Harvard (tied with another school)
2. IU Bloomington
4. Princeton (tied with another school)
4. U of Georgia
6. UC Berkeley
7. U of Kansas (tied with two others)
7. UMichigan
7. USC
10. Carnegie Mellon (tied with 3 others)
10. Duke
10. NYU
10. UChicago
14. American University (tied with 11 others)
14. Columbia
14. Georgetown
14. GWU
14. SUNY Albany
14. UCLA
14. U of Minnesota - Twin Cities
14. UNC Chapel Hill
14. UT Austin
14. U of Washington
14. U of Wisconsin Madison

Click here and here for the reports on the graduate school ranking in the US.

Go forth Fellows! Go forth towards a better world order! Make your country proud of you!

The Athenian Oath

2009-08-22T09:39:00.013+08:00

I have always been fascinated and drawn into oaths and what they dearly hold and represent. An oath is more than just a promise or a commitment. It has some sacredness involved in it. A person making an oath unleashes all his or her honor and dignity. A person who violates his or her oath is a shameful dishonor and a disgrace, unworthy of his or her person (or degree or profession, or accomplishment, or family and religion, or name and reputation). So it really struck me immediately when I encountered the Athenian Oath -- the philosophic oath of all free governments and public bureaucracies, of all visionaries, leaders, managers, planners and administrators from around the globe.

In a nutshell, the Athenian Oath swears to "leave this community better than when we found it!"

The Athenian Oath has become a very inspiring philosophical foundation of the Maxwell School of Citizenship and Public Affairs of the Syracuse University in New York. Being the first and oldest public administration program in the world, and ranked as the No. 1 graduate school of public affairs and public administration in the United States, Maxwell School prides itself of shaping the evolution of public administration theory and practice in democratic societies worldwide. At the crux of this pride lies a very strong influence from the Athenian philosophers in the ancient Greeks from over 2,000 years ago.

The Athenian Oath of the City-State is thus proudly inscribed right at the giant wall by the entrance foyer of the Maxwell Hall just beneath the statue of Thomas Jefferson (1743-1826), political philosopher and one of the most influential American Founding Fathers (also the 3rd President of the United States) and who wrote the Declaration of Independence in 1776:

"We will never bring disgrace on this our City
by an act of dishonesty or cowardice.
We will fight for the ideals and Sacred Things
of the City both alone and with many.
We will revere and obey the City's laws,
and will do our best to incite a like reverence
and respect in those above us who are prone
to annul them or set them at naught.
We will strive increasingly to quicken
the public's sense of civic duty.
Thus in all these ways we will transmit this City,
not only not less, but greater and more beautiful
than it was transmitted to us!"

In the ancient Greece, Athenian men were obliged to make this oath when they reach the age of seventeen. A derivative of this oath -- known as the Oath of the Young Men of Athens and inscribed on a bronze plaque in the Thacher School in California -- also reads:

"I will not disgrace these sacred arms,
nor ever desert a comrade in the ranks.
I will guard the Temples and
the Centers of Civic Life,
and uphold the ideals of my Country,
both alone and in concert with others.
I will at all times obey the Magistrates
and observe the Laws
as well those at present in force
as those the Majority may hereafter enact.
Should any one seek to subvert those laws
or set them aside,
Him I will oppose
either in common with others or alone.
In these ways it shall be my constant aim
not only to preserve the things of worth
in my Native Land,
but to make them of still greater worth."

An earlier version of this oath, known as the Athenian Ephebic Oath (because they made the oath in the Ephebic College in Athens) reads more in elaboration:

"I will not disgrace my sacred arms
Nor desert my comrade, wherever I am stationed.
I will fight for things sacred
And things profane.
And both alone and with all to help me.
I will transmit my fatherland not diminished
But greater and better than before.
I will obey the ruling magistrates
Who rule reasonably
And I will observe the established laws
And whatever laws in the future
May be reasonably established.
If any person seek to overturn the laws,
Both alone and with all to help me,
I will oppose him.
I will honor the religion of my fathers.
I call to witness the Gods …
The borders of my fatherland,
The wheat, the barley, the vines,
And the trees of the olive and the fig."

Long live the Athenian Oath!

Knowledge

2009-08-20T10:09:00.002+08:00

Suos cultores scientia coronat!
Knowledge crowns those who seek her!

Time Zones

2009-08-20T09:26:00.005+08:00

Greetings from the University of Syracuse in the upstate New York. I just arrived here recently (August 11), and have began adjusting my psyche to the new environment. It really feels weird to cross several time zones. I flew out of Narita at about 3 PM, and witnessed dusk and darkness at 6 PM high up thousands of altitudes. When I was just about to sleep at 10 PM (supposedly), it suddenly became 11 AM as we cruised the Pacific and landed Detroit at 2 PM. It was like I was robbed of my night and felt more weird to have skipped morning. I arrived Syracuse at 6 PM like I never moved dates (left Manila on August 11 and arrived on the same day). Time zones are amazing. When the first-ever world time zone conference or the so-called International Prime Meridian Conference was held in 1884 in Washington DC, the aim was to harmonize the different local times of all countries which were just using the sun as the basis for setting the time (solar time). And since then, longitudes and latitudes, as well as the Greenwich Meridian Time (GMT), International Date Lines (IDL) and the Universal Time Coordination (UTC) have been used. Thanks to the transcontinental trains, especially those crossing the US and Canadian borders in the 1800s. With the trains crossing several countries, the mass confusion of what the exact local time was (since there were different local times) led to the need of coming up with a standard time for all. And so the trains became the mother of invention for time zones, and the Canadian railway engineer Sir Sandford Fleming (1827-1915) became the acknowledged Father of Standardized Time because he developed the system of worldwide time zones that have been used until now.

Its summer time now in Syracuse, sunny but its cold (already for me). And sunset is at 9 PM, whew! This is my first experience of a semblance white night! I also need to get myself familiar with US cents. They all look the same. And the giant pizzas and burgers here are not good for our health; I need to start jogging.

I'm attending my Hubert Humphrey - Fulbright Fellowship at the Maxwell School at the Syracuse University, touted as the No. 1 graduate school of public affairs and public administration in the whole of US for many years now (Harvard is only 2nd in rank). It's also nice to know that Maxwell School is the first to open the public administration program in the US in the late 1920s (it has the oldest and longest-running public affairs and public policy program blended with social science curriculum in the country). I'll be working on global corruption and integrity initiatives for a year, as part of my work with the Ehem Anticorruption Group. As a research university, Syracuse has a lot of interesting historical and pioneering accomplishments since its foundation in 1870 .

Welcome to the Orange City (and the orange carpet, not red carpet), the land of the great Orange Basketball Team (NCAA Divison), the Orange Football Team and the Orange Lacrosse Team. CUSE (Syracuse nick) is also home to the touching memorial of the 35 students who were among the fatalities in the terrorist bombing of Flight Pan Am 103 over Lockerbie, Scotland in 1988.

I'll be staying around to live the Orange life until next year, and adhere to its wonderful philosophy: Suos cultores scientia coronat! Knowledge crowns those who seek her!

The Broken Window Fallacy

2009-08-18T09:14:00.008+08:00

The Broken Window Fallacy
and the Law of Unintended Consequences

The Broken Window Fallacy, also known as the Parable of the Broken Window, was created by the French political economist Frédéric Bastiat (1801-1850) in his essay
Ce qu'on voit et ce qu'on ne voit pas (That Which Is Seen and That Which Is Unseen) to reveal the undesirable hidden costs associated with the seeming benefits as a result of destroying the properties of others. This concept was also further developed by the Austrian economist Henry Hazlitt (1894–1993) in his book, Economics in One Lesson (1946).

While the labeling similarity of the concepts cannot easily escape the inquisitive minds, Bastiat's Broken Window Fallacy must not be confused with the Broken Window Theory developed by James Wilson and George Kelling as popularized in Malcolm Gladwell's Tipping Point (2007).

How does this fallacy work?

A man throws a stone into the window of a house, breaking the glass and destroying some properties. Furious, the owner runs after the man but he is long gone. The neighbors gather in sympathy to look into the incident of vandalism and after a while offer some consolation by saying that glaziers (glass cutters or glass makers) are there to solve the owner's problem. Without the man breaking the window, glaziers would be out of business. Breaking windows, or any vandalism for that matter, serves some good purpose of creating employment for repairs and reconstruction. The emerging justification somehow overlooks the hidden costs that the owner has to incur (the owner could have used his money to buy food, rather than to spend for window repair). This is the Broken Window Fallacy based on Hazlitt's original essay in his book.

The Broken Window Fallacy is also related to the Law of Unintended Consequences since both expose the wrong notion of privileging the beneficial outcomes by hiding unintended costs. Both concepts involve the incomplete accounting for the consequences of an action. If the hidden costs are accounted for, the claim for the beneficial outcomes will be effectively challenged.

Unintended consequences are latent outcomes. They may or may not be limited to the results originally intended in a particular situation. The unintended results may be foreseen or unforeseen, or planned or unplanned, but they should be the logical or likely results of the action. There are three types of unintended consequences: (1) the positive unexpected benefit, usually referred to as serendipity or a windfall; (2) the negative or perverse effect, that may be contrary to what was originally intended; and (3) the potential source of problems, such as described by Murphy's Law. Generally, the Broken Window Fallacy intimately binds with the negative or perverse unintended consequences.

Applying the Broken Window Fallacy, some arguments may be raised:

Waging war that makes good business in the mass production of weapons and equipment, not to mention the men who are conscripted as soldiers. But what happens to the cost of war imposed upon humans?
Is there such a thing as waging war in the name of peace? Or religion? Or sovereignty? Or territory? Especially the all-out war? Similarly, the concept of a just war should be thought out several times.
And we need to really demystify the so called collateral damage in every human undertaking! Collateral damage disregards the cost to justify some acts; it is a form of hidden cost.
Putting up a profiting business, despite the cost of dislocation among the residents. This includes the cost of environmental destruction and mitigation, as well as the cost of human displacement.
Greasing the money to lubricate the bureaucratic engine in order to speed up the transactions. But what happens to the long-term distortion and destruction of the bureaucracy? And undermining the common good must have some cost.
Allowing political accommodation and compromise as quid pro quo tactics. But where do we assert our principles and standards?
Stocking on goods because they sell on big discounts, but even if we do not need them?
Acquisition of credit cards and even club membership perks without knowing the hidden financial charges.

INSIGHTS: The Broken Window Fallacy is a strong argument against trivializing hidden costs thus, yielding to some artificial or fleeting beneficial outcomes. Broken Window Fallacy simply calls us towards a kind of benefit-cost analysis that is more honest and realistic in accounting for the hidden costs.

References

Parable of the Broken Window Fallacy at http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Parable_of_the_broken_window

The Broken Window at http://freedomkeys.com/window.htm

The Law of Unintended Consequences at http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Unintended_consequences

That Which is Seen and That Which is Not Seen at http://bastiat.org/en/twisatwins.html

The Epidemic Theory of Integrity

2009-08-17T19:11:00.008+08:00

The Epidemic Theory of Integrity

The Epidemic Theory of Integrity is a reverse application of the Broken Window Theory of Corruption, also known as the Epidemic Theory of Corruption, which is based from the Broken Window Theory developed by James Wilson and George Kelling and popularized by Malcolm Gladwell in his bestselling book Tipping Point (2007).

If corruption, just like crimes and other deviant behavior, has the capacity to be contagious, the reverse is also true. Thus, integrity can have a contagious effect to people who can consciously and deliberately become the instruments
(or epidemics carriers) to spread the same. This theory reinforces the positive effects of role models, who are effectively emulated by many others. By simple emulation, people create positive influence and spread integrity. Single acts of integrity pulsate and radiate as positive energies, and together they cumulate to influence others and create stirring movements in the environment, just like ripples in the oceans. As poetically described by the activist Cal Montgomery, "ripples move out from the center, meeting other ripples that build into waves."

The writers Margaret Weis and Tracy Hickman are more elaborate: "In the vastness of the ocean, is any drop of water greater than another? No single drop has the ability to cause a tidal wave. But, I argue, if a single drop falls into the ocean, it creates ripples. And these ripples spread. And perhaps - who knows - these ripples may grow and swell and eventually break foaming upon the shore. Like a drop in the vast ocean, each of us causes ripples as we move through our lives. The effects of whatever we do - insignificant as it may seem - spread out beyond us. We may never know what far-reaching impact even the simplest action might have on our fellow mortals. Thus, we need to be conscious, all of the time, of our place in the ocean, of our place in the world, of our place among our fellow creatures. For, if enough of us join forces, we can swell the tide of events - for good or evil."

The rippling, foaming and waving processes are the building blocks that make epidemics possible. These are positive epidemics happening through spreading and increasing people's acts of integrity. And by so doing, the epidemic of corruption is challenged, tempered, reduced and effectively altered. The widespread scourge of anomalies and irregularities are reversed by a groundswell of honorable and just acts.

Robert Kennedy was very provocative when he said during his time: "Each time a man stands up for an idea, or acts to improve the lot of others, or strikes out against injustice, he sends forth a tiny ripple of hope and crossing each other from a million different centres of energy and daring, those ripples build a current that can sweep down the mightiest walls of oppression and resistance."

INSIGHTS: How do we spread the epidemic of integrity? It is important, before anything else, to declare a personal code of honor and conduct, and decide to live a just and honest life, as much as possible. Pronounce to resist corruption, and try not to be involved in whatever anomalies. Always espouse reform, and even err on its side. Try to be hopeful and inspiring amidst skepticism and sarcasm. Heed the cardinal virtues of prudence, justice, temperance, and fortitude. Exercise self-restraint. Be drawn towards fidelity and faithfulness. And be in the company of good and honorable men and women. Inspire people to do something! And so it is likewise important to nurture an inspired life in the service of integrity, for what cultivates integrity nurtures human dignity. Thus, make single acts of integrity every day, and become the person worth emulating. This sets the epidemic in motion!

References

Gladwell, Malcolm. 2000. The Tipping Point: How Little Things Can Make A Big Difference. USA: Little Brown.

The Tipping Point at http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Tipping_Point

Broken Window Theory at http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Fixing_Broken_Windows

Broken Window Theory of Corruption

2009-08-15T16:42:00.007+08:00

We all cringe and denounce big time graft and corruption in the Philippines, and wallow in outrage in every unresolved scandal in high government places. And as always, we get ourselves caught in dead ends, finding ourselves paralyzed by our inability to do something about these issues. The logical conclusion is it is always beyond our control. And it is becoming a discomforting refuge to justify our collective inability and paralysis.

So we always look at the forest and ignore the trees. We always denounce big-time corruption high up, but forget the small-scale irregularities within our reach -- in our offices, organizations and groups. But there can be no forest without the trees! Thus, we can never help in resolving corruption in the country if we continue to ignore the irregularities and anomalies in our reach.

This is what is called as the Broken Window of Corruption, and can also be known as an Epidemic Theory of Corruption. This is based on Malcolm Gladwell's Broken Window Theory in his best-selling book The Tipping Point (2007).

The Broken Window Theory was developed by James Wilson and George Kelling, both are criminologists and law enforcers. Gladwell disclosed that both Wilson and Kelling "argued that crime is the inevitable result of disorder -- which is symbolized by a broken window. If a window is broken and left unrepaired, people walking by will conclude that no one cares and no one is in charge. Soon, more windows will be broken, and the impression of anarchy will spread from the buildings to the streets and to the entire neighborhood environment, sending a signal that anything goes."

In Broken Window Theory, relatively minor problems like graffiti and vandalism, public disorder, littering, heavy traffic, vagrancy, gangsterism and other aggressive deviant behavior are all the equivalent of broken windows, which actually invite more serious crimes. This is the epidemic crime -- a crime that is contagious (like a fashion or a virus), that it can start with a broken window and spread to an entire community.

The Broken Window Theory of Corruption or the Epidemic Theory of Corruption applies the same. There are broken windows that when left unrepaired, they perpetuate corruption. What are some of these broken windows? What are some of the conditions where broken windows perpetuate corruption?

Many organizations promote efficiency and effectiveness, but do not address red tapes in their own transactions. Especially the delayed transactions in most of financial and accounting units.
Many now implement the Anti-Red Tape Act (RA 9485) and come up with citizen's charters on transactional flowcharts. But they do not touch the delays in their own administrative and financial transactions.
Almost all proclaim punctuality, but look at their daily time cards and attendance in meetings.
Many government agencies implement integrity development programs but they do not want to antagonize the anomalies and irregularities of their own officials.
Many abhor cheating in government, but they bring home supplies for their children's personal use.
Investigators swiftly go after anomalous officials and employees, but are slow to move when who is involved is one of theirs.
Many government offices pronounce integrity as a virtue in public service, but ignore infidelity and promiscuity of their officials and employees.
Many are angered by the lavishness of others, but tolerate their own excesses.
Even funding agencies espouse transparency and accountability in many programs, but turn a blind eye on their own malpractices. They are not even transparent. And people can hardly make them to account.

Why is there so much corruption in the country? And why are people so powerless to do something? This is because of the broken windows -- which symbolize our ineptness, fears, inadequacy, double-standards, and hypocrisy! And to hide our own broken windows, we take refuge to the much-abused excuse - that it is just simply beyond our control! This is the reason why many people do not anymore believe in integrity programs and anticorruption reforms.

Shame on us!

If we really want to do something about the scourge of corruption in the country, we can start by fixing the broken windows in our own backyard. Fix the broken windows that symbolize disorder, anomaly, irregularity, incompetence and inadequacy. They all create the impression that we are powerless, or worse - we ourselves abet corruption.

In the long term, our collective inability and paralysis also make us perpetuators of the very scourge that we abhor. As my favorite philosopher Edmund Burke will always say: "The only thing necessary for evil to triumph is for good men to do nothing!"

Disorder

2009-08-09T17:35:00.003+08:00

The impression of disorder makes disorder real and worse! - CyberRon

Broken Window Theory

2009-08-09T17:08:00.004+08:00

Broken Window Theory

The Broken Window Theory, which is also known as the Epidemic Theory of Crime, is one of the foundations of the bestseller book Tipping Point (2000) by Malcolm Gladwell. Gladwell defines tipping points as "the levels at which the momentum for change becomes unstoppable; these are the moments of critical mass, the threshold, the boiling point." Tipping points are made possible through epidemics.

Gladwell came up with the three rules or principles of epidemics, based on learnings from worldwide stories of epidemics: (1) contagiousness (or how to be contagious and infect others); (2) little things have big effects; and (3) changes happen in dramatic moments. He further scrutinized what makes dramatic moments and identified three more: (1) law of the few; (2) power of context; and the (3) stickiness factor (or retainability, the impression that really marks and lasts). The law of the few are epidemics facilitators and there are three types: (1) the connectors (networkers); (2) the mavens (technical people; technocrats); and the (3) salesmen (persuaders). Without them knowing, these three types of people make it possible for epidemics to occur through their connections, technical skills and persuasive skills.

In the power of context, Gladwell underscores the environment and its power to shape people's behavior. Here is the crux of explaining and changing people's behavior by understanding and controlling the environment. Gladwell makes use of the Broken Window Theory as the main lever in understanding the power of context.

The Broken Window Theory was developed by James Wilson and George Kelling, both are criminologists and law enforcers. Gladwell disclosed that both Wilson and Kelling "argued that crime is the inevitable result of disorder -- which is symbolized by a broken window. If a window is broken and left unrepaired, people walking by will conclude that no one cares and no one is in charge. Soon, more windows will be broken, and the impression of anarchy will spread from the buildings to the streets and to the entire neighborhood environment, sending a signal that anything goes."

In Broken Window Theory, relatively minor problems like graffiti and vandalism, public disorder, littering, heavy traffic, vagrancy, gangsterism and other aggressive deviant behavior are all the equivalent of broken windows, which actually invite more serious crimes. This is the epidemic crime -- a crime that is contagious (like a fashion or a virus), that it can start with a broken window and spread to an entire community.

In the Tipping Point, an experiment was made to reduce criminality in the New York subways where graffitis normally scattered all over and the neighborhood buildings all had broken windows. Everytime the local officials built and re-built the dilapidated subway facilities, people kept on destroying and vandalizing these facilities and threw out litters and filth everywhere. When Kelling was brought in to help find the solution, he focused on cleaning the graffitis and vandals and ordered the massive repair of all broken windows.

Kelling asserted that the graffitis, vandals and the broken windows all symbolized disorder and inability of law enforcers to govern and projected the total collapse of the system. He pressed that all improvements in the subway facilities would be useless if they did not address the symbol of disorder. The local officials were surprised, but they found that Kelling's Broken Window Theory worked. People began to respect rule and order, and helped in taking care of the subway facilities and maintaining public cleanliness. The impression of order and cleanliness was very effectively contagious, creating a positive epidemic.

INSIGHTS: How is contagiousness made possible? The power of context can also be considered as the power of creating impression, which is actually the principle of the stickiness factor. Gladwell explains this as a process of motor mimickry, a process of emotional contagion that triggers epidemics. This contagion process is made possible through a very deep sense of emotional stirrings. This is the kind of emotion that moves people, the emotion that yields to some gradual effects bringing about long-term effects. If undesirable epidemics have tipping points, the opposite also powerfully create tipping points. Simply by starting on little things instead of grand acts, of small effects rather on large-scale interventions. Never belittle the capacity of small things. Do not disregard small details. Do not trivialize the value of minor contribution. Learn to appreciate the power of ripples. Gladwell's tipping points explain how little things can make a big difference indeed.

References

Greatness

2009-08-06T10:39:00.003+08:00

Selflessness = Greatness!
- Ogunlela Olu

Post-mortem propositions

2009-08-06T10:15:00.006+08:00

After the stirring burial of President Cory, what now? How do we sustain the reinvigorated patriotic emotions? How do we turn the sympathetic outpourings into streams of positive acts?

The hard-hitting Inquirer columnist Conrado de Quiros warns that the explosion of love for Cory might turn into an explosion of fury against the opposite of Cory. And the opposite is not just the former President Ferdinance Marcos. Neither the former Presidents Fidel Ramos nor Joseph Estrada. It is intended for the incumbent President Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo. If GMA will not heed the people's craving of the virtues symbolized and personified by former President Cory Aquino, she just might be igniting the explosion of fury towards her administration.

I would like to strike a middle ground. We can spark an explosion of collective purification that should be led by no less than President Arroyo and all her Cabinet members.

This can be achieved by heeding the simple formula of Ogunlela Olu: selflessness = greatness!

This is why President Cory won the hearts and minds of the Filipino people. This is why, from the very beginning till her death and even for a lifetime, President Cory will always be esteemed with greatness because of her selflessness that manifests in her virtues of spirituality, integrity, sincerity and humility -- all ingredients for a great leadership!

For President GMA, the purification process should begin with undertaking the following concrete steps of selflessness, which I believe would really leave a significant mark towards her greatness:

Finish your term and swear by your ancestors not to run again for the next election, in whatever form and mode. Speak in categorical and sincere terms that you will step down peacefully and honorably in 2010; no teasing, no ambiguities, no obscurities! If you are sincere and categorical, all your people, especially in Congress, will heed your wish!
Ensure that there will be no cheating in the 2010 elections. Please do not allow another Hello Garci and another 12-0! They really divided the country; they really caused miscalculated damage to your administration.
Convene a governance transition team, which will plot a proper and orderly system of turn-over to the next elected president. No political talk, just be professional. Be transparent in your modest gains and be honest of what you have not achieved. The next president should be able to address this lacuna.
Make Constitutional change a priority for the next administration, and you can explore the process for including the election of the members for a ConCon during the 2010 elections. ConAss is really not popular, since Congress does not enjoy popular people's trust. Surveys speak!
Take more proactive measures to solve at least the major corruption issues that scandalized your administration. You can use all the powers of the presidency to solve at least the NBN-ZTE broadband overpricing and bribery scam as well as the fertilizer fund scam. I believe you have all the powers to help in these scams because the parties involved are your own officials. And they take cues from you!
Stop all political appointments. The 2009 Philippine Human Development Report revealed that you have already exceeded the allowable presidential appointments for Cabinet USec and ASec positions (and many of them are not even qualified). If you decide to take back their appointments, you win the votes of meritocracy!
Do not appoint people not nominated by the Judicial and Bar Council for the Supreme Court position. Do not bestow the National Artist Awards for people who are involved in any of the preparation and selection processes.

We Filipinos have a soft heart for conciliation and healing. As the president endeavors to end her term properly and to leave a significant mark to be great, she can reach out to her ardent critics and detractors -- even those who hurt her -- and make good peace and reconcile. This is the greatest mark of humility!

These are my unsolicited propositions, which I believe will regain or win greatness for the incumbent leadership. We have 10 months before the next elections; President GMA has 10 months to make history for the Filipino people and be great as well!

Live and die

2009-08-04T08:31:00.003+08:00

On how you lived your life
will greatly shape how your death
will be regarded!
- CyberRon

Craving for a Cory

2009-08-03T21:08:00.007+08:00

The outpouring of collective grief and sympathetic emotions for the death of the former president reveals a very important and poignant message for the country. Yes, we will be deeply missing the moving presence and inspiring influence of the former president -- especially more because she is the only Philippine president that has really demonstrated a very strong ethical leadership.

Yes, there were many issues hurled against her administration (all presidents will always have contending issues). Yes, she could have done this and that. Yes, she worked on some but missed on many others. Yes, she stood her ground for many actions, while giving in to some political pressures. As a president, she did what she did! And many times, she came out politically firm and morally strong, and that gained her more of the people's admiration and popular support. She even earned the respect of her worst detractors for her incredible sincerity and humility.

President Cory holds the venerable position in the country's history as the one who ousted the conjugal dictatorship of the Marcoses, brought back democracy and fundamental freedoms, re-established the democratic institutions, as well as survived successfully seven coup attempts in her government. As the first woman Philippine president and with her bloodless people power revolutions, she became a venerated model worldwide -- a stature unequaled by her successors.

But the most important message of the president's death is her irrefutable integrity, strong morals and public ethics and humility -- the kind of virtues that we find wanting in almost all elected politicians who came after her. Cory's administration may be fraught with many controversies, but she hardly had a major issue of corruption in her own person and presidency -- the kind of corruption issues that keep on persisting and hounding all the Philippine presidents since the Martial Law period.

At the font of her virtues is the most important manifestation of leadership -- President Aquino did not cling on to power! And she made it clear from the very start till the end of her term. And so she had no hidden agenda, and so she was focused on her goals, and so she was determined for a peaceful and orderly transition of governance, and so she only aspired to really serve the people as the Philippine president who even had no plans to become one. She was only bent on pursuing the case of Ninoy! Her election into office was really providential! And it served the purpose; Ninoy should be very pleased and approving of her. President Cory did not waste what Ninoy stood and even died for the country!

Yes, the public outpouring for President Cory is all about people's craving for integrity, ethical leadership, strong morals, public ethics and humility in governance. It is all about using power for the people, and never for self-perpetuation! President Cory did not hang on to power, despite all the revolutionary temptations (she had all the revolutionary powers and influence then). President Cory will always be a benchmark of restraint in Philippine politics and governance.

But as almost all politicians have wanted to perpetually indulge and stay in power, President Cory's virtues have become scarce and scarcer in Philippine politics! I pray that our politicians will have the wisdom and courage to read and adhere to what the people have long craved for, as lived, symbolized and personified by President Aquino. The people will always crave for a Cory in our political midst!

This is the great lesson on the death of President Cory --
on how you lived your life will greatly shape how your death will be regarded!

Farewell Madam President, farewell!
May God bless this country!

Of politicians and statesmen

2009-07-30T21:55:00.001+08:00

A politician thinks of the next election. A statesman, of the next generation!
- James Freeman Clarke (1810-1888)

Erupting Erap

2009-07-30T21:03:00.006+08:00

Reading in between the lines of GMA's SONA, a very strong message has been sent. These lines are hard-hitting:

"I am accused of misgovernance. Many of those who accuse me of it left me the problem of their misgovernance to solve. And we did it….. Those who should be in jail should not threaten it, especially if they have been there!"

I read this to refer to past administration officials, who also had their fair share of scandals and misgovernance. And in apparent reference to former President Estrada and maybe other officials like him, "those who should be in jail should not threaten it, especially if they have been there!"

Will a person who availed of amnesty endeavor to attack the one who granted the amnesty? There is some betrayal here, and a potential destabilization if the political attack will fuel a political crisis! Given the stature and resources of the former president, the country cannot afford to dismiss and disregard the magnitude of the political volatility.

With all the problems and scandals that seriously hound the incumbent administration, we certainly reject another major problem that will destabilize the country.

Talks of Erap doing a political come-back and possibly run for president in 2010 are exacerbating the increasing public uneasiness brought about by ConAss moves, term extension, automated elections and the unresolved corruption scandals among others. Erap threatens to run if the opposition cannot unite themselves, but I am not sure if this move will unite the country. With all its legal and political complications, I feel an Erap's comeback will stir up old tensions and foment more division.

President Erap, please do not erupt!
Probono publico, for the good of the public,
for the good of the living generation!

The preacher James Freeman Clarke (1810-1888) wrote:
“A politician thinks of the next election.
A statesman, of the next generation!”

May God bless this country,
and bless us with more statesmen!

Denial

2009-07-29T07:52:00.000+08:00

Never underestimate
the power of denial!
- Wes Bently

SONA, sana!

2009-07-28T23:04:00.007+08:00

Let's give it to the president! I think her SONA for this year, hopefully her last SONA, is more straightforward and has less garnishings as compared to her past SONAs. The downside is its proclivity to present the president's achievements in order to refute and discredit her critics, which makes it appear cheaply defensive. I believe SONAs are aimed at presenting the real state of the country, good and bad! It is not to be used as a bragging instrument against dissent.

The president also mentioned important commendable declarations: the extension of land reform program, implementation of sin taxes for alcohol and tobacco, the fight against terrorism, mitigating climate change, and most importantly -- addressing the Mindanao problem. The president deserves all the support for making these official statements, which somehow find themselves as unmistakable policy directions.

But the most significant semblance of assurance is the president's declaration that the 2010 elections will push through and proceed in full automation. Yes, there will be elections! It's just about time!

But here's the unwitting spoiler: "At the end of this speech I shall step down from this stage but not from the Presidency. My term does not end until next year." The president is dangerously cloaking in ambiguity. If she really intends on the second line, why make a tease on the first line? Amidst the worsening dissatisfaction ratings and increasing public uneasiness towards term extension, this ambiguity is too important to ignore. The president's men cannot and should not fault the public -- GMA promised not to run for the presidency in 2004, and she broke the promise! Public trust gets scarcer in a politics where promises are made more in breach instead of fulfillment.

This year's SONA is jam-packed with economics, despite conflicting figures and statistics of various economists (can't we convene an economics congress and tell us the reality?). But I really wondered why the president skipped on other equally important issues. I would have wanted to hear from her some categorical description on corruption and the state of anti-corruption efforts in the country.

Why did she not mention her government's anticorruption programs? I would have wanted to hear updates about AO 255 that mandates for the implementation of integrity development initiatives in all national government agencies and local government units. What about the Anti-Red Tape Act (Republic Act 9485)? I would have wanted to hear what is happening in the efforts to resolve big-time national scandals like the NBN-ZTE Broadband Bribery Scandal, the Fetilizer Fund Scam, NorthRail and SouthRail Overpricing, the WB-DPWH Expose', the DepEd Computers and Noodle Scams, inter alia!

I would love to get clear policy directions on Constitutional Change, especially the provisions that many say need to be amended and updated. As well as how the president wishes the change to proceed (ConAss or ConCon) and when (before or after the 2010 elections).

Corruption and constitutional change are two very important issues denied of official attention ascribed to the SONA. Sana nabigyan din sila ng pansin!

This is the problem when the president resort to ambiguity. The president's men can take matters on their own. If they succeed, they have the full presidential blessing. If they fail, resort to plausible deniability!

Wes Bently warns us again:
“Never underestimate the power of denial!”

Manic Manny?

2009-07-27T08:17:00.002+08:00

These past days I was conducting series of lectures in General Santos City and the nearby Sarangani Province. We discussed effective management and good governance, national and political situationer, and integrity and anticorruption issues among others. Interestingly, we held mock elections as part of understanding the upcoming 2010 elections. The mock elections focused -- obviously -- on the multi-awarded World Boxing Champion Manny Pacquiao, who ran and lost in General Santos, and now planning to run in Sarangani.

The General Santos audiences were a mixture of professionals and multisectoral groups, who analyzed why Manny lost in the city. Among many reasons, the most common analysis they cited -- proudly -- was that because the people in General Santos City were (and continue to be) intelligent voters! They love Manny the World Boxer, but they are more discerning to say that the Boxer can be an effective Congressman. Not money, not prestige, not even popularity -- but sheer intelligence. This is how many in General Santos City feel and decide when it comes to electing their leaders (of course there is also the minority who really support Manny).

So the analysis went to why Manny chose Sarangani, realizing that he can never win in General Santos. Manny also did not choose Manila, Laguna or even Davao where he can easily establish residency (he has mansions in these places). Is he thinking that he can easily make it in Sarangani? Is he thinking that the people in Sarangani are not the breed of intelligent voters? There were pros and cons, emotional discussions on either side of the camp.

In one Sarangani seminar, we had a mock election on who they will vote as the lone Representative of the province. The audience consisted of provincial and municipal officials -- mostly Administrative Officers and Heads of Offices. There were 40 of them.

Of the 40 who voted, 15 officials (38%) said they will vote for Roy Chiongbian, who is touted to replace his father in Congress. Only 8 officials (20%) voted for Manny Pacquiao. Interestingly, there were 17 officials (43%) who were undecided!

The reasons given for voting undecided --- they are not really sure if Manny Pacquiao knows how to legislate; not sure if Manny Pacquiao has the competence to enter into politics and governance; not sure of who will really run in 2010; and they will still have to study their candidates.

While it is really too early to conclude, the Sarangani mock election showed that the people (at least those who participated) were thinking people -- the mark of intelligent voters! The big margin of undecided voters is a revelation.

But there is one question that fortunately unified the participants -- they all wonder why Manny needs to run and join politics (again a mark of intelligence). Manny already has all the pesos (money), prestige and popularity, and so he now goes for power! Is Manny becoming manic in going for power? Even if he already has all that he has? Is Manny frantic in looking for places where he can win? Is he manically satisfying the insatiable urge for getting more, at all cost?

There's a lot to learn from the intelligent voters of General Santos City. If Manny Pacquiao loses in Sarangani, the province must be endowed with intelligent voters. If he wins, the people must belong to a different breed of intelligence.

Or by any good chance, by a heavenly intervention, Manny Pacquiao suddenly realizes that the boxing ring is totally different from the political ring, and that he lacks the necessary skills and competencies needed for technocracy, and by so realizing he decides to reconsider his political plans and instead endeavor to prepare himself in the future, I should say Manny Pacquiao is not just an excellent sportsman! He should be an intelligent man!

May God bless the people of Sarangani!

Ang Lupang Hinirang

2009-07-26T08:23:00.005+08:00

Ang alab ng puso
sa dibdib natin ay buhay!

Mind conceives, achieves

2009-07-23T18:28:00.001+08:00

Whatever the mind can conceive, it can achieve!
- W. Clement Stone (1902-2002)

The Law of Attraction

2009-07-23T17:42:00.011+08:00

The Law of Attraction

The law of attraction is based on the best-seller book entitled The Secret (2006) authored by Rhonda Byrne. The law of attraction is the secret!

Primarily, the law of attraction (can be Byrne's Law) is --
Like attracts like!

When you think a thought, you are attracting like thoughts to you. We attract what is happening. What we think about and say about, we bring about! And the secret is unearthed: "Everything that's coming into your life you are attracting into your life. And it's attracted to you by virtue of the images you're holding in your mind. It's what you're thinking. Whatever is going on in your mind you are attracting to you."

The secret law applies to several dimensions: attracting positive thinking, attracting love, attracting money, attracting health, and attracting relationship.

Law of Attracting Positive Thinking

You are like a human transmission tower,
transmitting a frequency with your thoughts.
If you want to change anything in your life,
change the frequency by changing your thoughts.

Nothing can come into your experiences (or existence)
unless you summon it through persistent thoughts.

It is impossible to feel bad and at the same time have good thoughts. So try hard to feel good always.

Nurture and tap your 'secret shifters', such as pleasant memories, enjoy nature, watch a good movie, or listen to your favorite music. They can change your feelings and shift your frequency in an instant.

Process of the law of attraction: (also known as the 'creative process'):
ASK, BELIEVE AND RECEIVE.

Create your day in advance by thinking the way
you want it to go, and you will create your life intentionally.

Develop the habit of saying thank you. Inculcate a sense of gratitude -- the so called 'attitude of gratitude.' Always be grateful for what you already have, and you will attract more good things.

Expectation is a powerful attractive force. Expect the things you want, and don't expect the things you don't want.

At the end of everyday, before you go to sleep, go back through the events of the day. The events or moments that were not what you wanted, replay them in your mind the way you wanted them to go.

Anything we focus on, we do create. So if we're really angry, for instance, at a war that's going on, or strife, or suffering, we're adding our energy to it. We're pushing ourselves, and that only creates resistance. What we resist persists.
There is a need to positivize!

Learn from Mother Theresa, she knew the law of attraction. She said: "I will never attend an anti-war rally. If you have a peace rally, invite me."

So if you're anti-war, be pro-peace instead. If you're anti-hunger, be pro-people who have more than enough to eat. If you're anti-corruption, be pro-integrity. If you are anti-a-particular politician, be pro-his opponent. Often elections are tipped in favor of the person that the people hate because he's getting all the energy and all the focus.

What you resist, you attract, because you are powerfully focused on it with emotion. To change anything, go within and emit a new signal with your thoughts and feelings.

You cannot help the world by focusing on the negative things. As you focus on the world's negative events, you not only add to them, but you also bring more negative things into your own life.

The essence of law of attraction is that you must think abundance, see abundance, feel abundance, believe abundance. Let no thought of limitation enter your mind.

Law of Attracting Love

The feeling of love is the highest frequency you can emit.
The greater the love you feel and emit,
the greater the power you are harnessing.

Law of Attracting Money

To attract money, focus on wealth.
It is impossible to bring more money into your life
when you focus on the lack of it.

Feeling happy now is the first way
to bring money into your life.

Law of Attracting Relationship

When you want to attract a relationship,
make sure your thoughts, words, actions and surroundings
do not contradict your desires.

Treat yourself with love and respect,
and you will attract people who show you love and respect.

To make a relationship work, focus on what you appreciate
about the other person, and not your complaints.
When you focus on the strengths,
you will get more of them.

Law of Attracting Health

Every unpleasant thought is a bad thing
literally put in the body.

Laughter attracts joy, releases negativity
and leads to miraculous cures.

Disease is held in the body by thought,
by observation of the illness,
and by the attention given to the illness.

If you are feeling a little unwell, don't talk about it --
unless you want more of it.

If you listen to people talk about their illness,
you add energy to their illness.
Instead, change the conversation to good things
and give powerful thoughts to seeing these people in health.

INSIGHTS: The Law of Attraction is a pat on the back, as compared to the Murphy's Law. This could be Byrne's Law versus Murphy's Law in terms of our outlook in life. But maybe just like the Murphy's Law turned upside down, Byrne's Law of Attraction makes a lot of sense on how we could live the everyday life and handle its many problems. The law basically challenges us of disposition. Even as in generating this insight, it is a vote of disposition!

References:

Byrne, Rhonda. 2006. The Secret. New York: Atria Books

Law of Attraction at http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Law_of_Attraction

The Secret at http://www.thesecret.tv/

Tempting Men

2009-07-22T23:09:00.007+08:00

Sometimes wrong things are good things that are off-limits. On other occasions, wrong things are good things in excess!
- Bill Perkins, When Good Men Are Tempted (1997)

Sutton's Law of the Impunity of Profit

2009-07-22T22:39:00.007+08:00

The heated discussions about the resistance of the pharmaceutical and drug companies to reduce the cost of exorbitantly priced medicines in the country have actually opened a bigger can of worms. The issue has unearthed a long disregarded (mal)practice among medical doctors and medical representatives to deceive, consciously or unwittingly, the patients in particular and the public in general -- all in the name of profit. A senseless and unmindful profit!

This is Sutton's Law at work --
"go where the money is!"

The Sutton's Law is often cited in medical schools to teach and train new physicians to spend resources where they are most likely to pay off. This is classical economic principle of maximization, as well as conventional management rule of efficiency. We all want the highest yield and return and output for every input and resource we have invested. No problem with that, if done in fairplay, transparency and with a sense of justice, and not through deceptive marketing, irresponsible sweet-talking, and deliberate coaxing. Interestingly, Sutton's Law is named after the legendary bank robber Willie Sutton (1901-1980), who when asked why he robbed banks, allegedly claimed to have answered -- "because that's where the money is!"

Pharmaceutical and drug companies have all the resources and money that medical doctors seek (all professions seek for it by the way), and medical representatives indeed act with all skill and adroitness to rake in all the profits, at all cost! Go where the money is, because that's where the money is!

The Chief of the Medical Mission Group Hospitals and Philippine Health Services Cooperative Federation, Dr. Jose Tingco candidly wrote about the manipulation between medical doctors and medical representatives:

"The first to manipulate him (doctor) would be the transnational drug companies. Even in his internship year, when he has just begun to write prescription medicines, the drug companies are already hot and heavy on his trail. They bribe him with commissions on each capsule that he prescribes. They shower him with little colorful plastic ball pens and doodads. They treat him to sumptuous meals and little snacks. They sponsor sports fests and bowling tournaments and drinking sessions. They tempt him with leggy, sexy med reps. During residency, they sponsor training trips for him abroad. All in exchange for prescribing their brutally high priced medicines!"

Dr. Tiongco further shared: "The exploitation goes even more high gear in private practice. Here the med reps take notes of how many patients he has and classify the doctors along the number of patients he/she sees a day and the number of prescriptions he/she makes; Grade A, being the highest. And the perks become more or less depending on his level of classification. The perks become heavier: cars, appliances, shopping trips to the malls, medical equipment and yearly trips abroad to attend specialty conferences, even training seminars. If he is a subspecialist and practicing in Manila, they sponsor lecture tours in the provinces to bolster his reputation as well as sell their high priced drugs. The run of the mill doctor in the provinces gets a yearly airplane ticket to Manila to attend the various specialty conferences and a free four-day stay in a five star hotel. If he has a good practice (Grade A), he will probably be fetched at the airport by an unfortunate medical representative bearing his name on a piece of cardboard, who together with his car, is assigned to him on a 24 hour basis. This med rep is responsible for the doctor's entertainment during his entire stay and even for the procurement of female company, if the doctor so desires!"

This is impunity of profit!

We beg and kneel before our medical doctors and medical representatives -- stand firm, and be upright, ethical and honorable! Stick on your Hippocratic Oath to keep the people from harm and injustice. Do not sell your soul!

The businessman and industrialist Henry Kravis found his secret of success: "If you don't have integrity, you have nothing. You can't buy it. You can have all the money in the world, but if you are not a moral and ethical person, you really have nothing!"

Sutton's Law

2009-07-22T22:33:00.004+08:00

Sutton's Law

Go where the money is!

This is the Sutton's Law which is often cited in medical schools to teach and train new physicians to spend resources where they are most likely to pay off. This is classical economic principle of maximization, as well as conventional management rule of efficiency. We all want the highest yield and return and output for every input and resource we have invested.

Not only doctors and medical practitioners, but all professions involved in commerce have to go by the Sutton's Law. After schooling and training, it is time for pay back. It is time to go and earn where there is pay off.

Sutton's Law is named after the prolific and legendary bank robber Willie Sutton (1901-1980), who when asked why he robbed banks allegedly claimed to have answered -- "because that's where the money is!" Interestingly, after serving most of his life in prison and became a free man, Sutton advocated for prison reforms and did consultancy on anti-robbery techniques. Indeed, experto crede -- believe one who speaks from experience!

INSIGHTS: There is no problem in going where the money is for maximization of profit, if done in fair play, transparency and with a sense of justice, and not through deceptive marketing, irresponsible sweet-talking, and deliberate coaxing. This is the reason why we need to train and equip managers and leaders with development perspectives. There is such a thing as corporate social responsibility, corporate governance, human resource development, triple bottomline and just investment.

References:

Willie Sutton at http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Willie_Sutton.

Sutton's Law at http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sutton%27s_law.

Sutton's Law at http://www.drhull.com/EncyMaster/S/Suttons_law.html.

Hofstadter's Law

2009-07-21T19:14:00.004+08:00

Hofstadter's Law

Ever wonder why people always beat the deadline (just in the nick of time) or despite deadlines, people always ask for extension. To a certain extent, it is because of poor planning (miscalculated the time required), or due to many unexpected intervening factors (Murphy's Law?), or sheer inability to meet the deadline. Regardless of how much time there is, time is always lacking and there is always the need for more time! This is Hofstadter's Law.

The Hofstadter's Law is a self-referencing time-related adage, coined by the American Pulitzer Awardee Prof. Douglas Hofstadter - "It always takes longer than you expect!"

The Hofstadter's Law could be a derivative of the Parkinson's Law - time expands to fill the time available! The amount of time does not matter. People will always aim to work by maximizing the time allowable. And if they can, people will always try to extend the time possible. It always just simply takes longer than is expected.

INSIGHTS: To be conscious of time needs discipline, determination and dedication. Time is never enough; we might not be able to finish on time, but just keep on working and waste nothing. Jim Rohn was very practical in his line: “Time is more valuable than money. You can get more money, but you cannot get more time.” Alice Bloch was also correct to observe: “We say we waste time, but that is impossible. We waste ourselves!” The Hofstadter's Law might also therefore mean that we always simply take ourselves longer than we expect! And so we always say better late than never -- but never late is better! Harvey Mackay was nicely melodramatic:

"Time is free, but it's priceless.
You can't own it, but you can use it.
You can't keep it, but you can spend it.
Once you've lost it, you can never get it back.!”

References:

Uris, Auren. 1986. 101 of the Greatest Ideas in Management. USA: John Wiley & Sons, Inc.

Douglas Hofstadter at http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Douglas_Hofstadter

Why research?

2009-07-21T12:30:00.005+08:00

Research is to see what everybody else has seen, and to think what nobody else has thought!
- Albert Szent-Gyorgyi

Snowballing Sampling Technique

2009-07-20T20:07:00.005+08:00

Snowballing
Sampling
Technique

Sampling is easy to establish in quantitative research designs. The sampling frame can easily be extracted once the population universe is established and the appropriate sampling formula is identified. However, qualitative research is not as lucky. Establishing the sample and the sampling process in qualitative inquiry is almost often a subject of contention, and takes much more time in persuading panel members during research defense sessions. A systematic sampling process in qualitative research designs is rarely established. Often, what is used is a very arbitrary and uninformed purposive sampling technique (sample identified on purpose). It is indeed difficult, but should not be impossible.

The snowballing sampling technique is a systematic non-probabilistic purposive sampling method that is very apt for qualitative research. Highly qualitative and exploratory studies call for a purposive non-probability sampling design, which is not after the representativeness of samples. A purposive non-probability sampling design relies heavily on the availability of respondents, especially those who are difficult to locate for interviews.

A snowballing sampling technique can be employed to seek out informants or respondents, who are otherwise difficult to locate and identify. The snowballing sampling method is akin to the opportunity sampling technique, the chaining sampling technique and the referral sampling technique (referred informants). The works of Dr. Earl Babbie, Dr. Fely David, Dr. Roberto Padua, Dr. David Garson and Dr. Wilfredo Arce have all provided the foundational, philosophical and procedural bases in employing the abovementioned sampling techniques.

The snowballing sampling technique is most proper when the members of the target respondents are difficult to locate. A snowball is the process of accumulation of referrals as each located and interviewed informant suggests other informants whom they happen to know and locate. For Arce, it “results from one key informant being interviewed and asked for suggestions on who else might be good informants, and the next informant is chosen on the basis of this suggestion.” As an opportunity sampling technique, the informants were selected and interviewed mainly because they were located and made available for and in a particular study. David used accidental non-probability sampling technique as a derivative of the opportunity sampling technique. In accidental sampling technique, the respondents were chosen as they become available. This technique resembled that of Garson’s chain sampling method, where the aim is to “obtain a saturation of informants….to reveal common cultural understanding....in a chaining process.”

The question is: when does the sampling process of snowballing, chaining, referring and opportunity-seeking stop?

Simple! It stops when the so-called saturation sample is spotted. A saturation sample is a point of sampling where new respondents are now unable to give new information that generally depart from those given by previous respondents. A saturation respondent or informant does not give new data-value, thus this is the signal that getting new samples is not anymore necessary.

References:

Amorado, Ronnie V. 2007. Fixing Society: The Inside World of Fixers in the Philippines. Davao City: Ateneo de Davao University - Research and Publication Office.

Amorado, Ronald V. 2005. Fixing Society: The Inside World of Fixers in the Philippines. A Doctoral Dissertation. Davao City, Philippines: Ateneo de Davao University-Graduate School of Arts and Sciences.

Arce, Wilfredo F. 2001. Systematic Qualitative Data Research: An Introduction for Filipino Practitioners (2nd ed). Quezon City: Ateneo de Manila University – Office of Research and Publications.

Babbie, Earl. 1998. The Practice of Social Research (8th ed). Wadsworth: Thomson Learning Inc.

David, Fely P. 2002. Understanding and Doing Research: A Handbook for Beginners. Iloilo City: Central Philippine University – Social Science Research Institute.

Garson, G. David. 2004. “Ethnographic Research.” Course Syllabus on Ethnographic Research. North Carolina State University. Raleigh, North Carolina.

Padua, Roberto N. 2000. Elements of Research and Statistical Models. Cagayan de Oro City: MPSC Publishing House. USA: Wadsworth Publishing Company.

FGDs

2009-07-20T17:29:00.006+08:00

FGDs

Focus Group Discussions (FGDs) are very popular in social science research. In fact, it has become an over-used, abused and misused method of gathering data and information. It has become a cliche method, sometimes utilized as an excuse for not knowing other methods and techniques, and oftentimes wrongly employed and applied by many researchers. There is a need to re-educate ourselves, to go back again to the basic FGD method, and to revisit its methodical philosophy and procedure.

In her book, Understanding and Doing Research (2002), Dr. Fely David described the FGD as an “informal in-depth discussion in which a small number of participants, under the guidance of a moderator or facilitator, talk about topics of special importance to a particular research issue.... participants are purposely selected from a defined target population whose opinions and ideas are relevant to the research….”

But I vote for Kenette Ellison's work on basic group facilitation methods, where he analyzed and identified the logical steps in conducting FGDs: contextualizing, brainstorming, clustering, titling/labeling, and reflection. These logical steps are very helpful in establishing discernible patterns and thematic trends generated from the group discussion. Ellison (1997) describes in detail the FGD workshop method as a process that organizes the participants on their journey towards deepening the discussions and insights of a group.

The first of these steps is the context, at which the parameters for the group discussion are defined and set. Usually, this is in the form of a focus question that the group will seek to answer.
This is then followed by the brainstorm, at which data and ideas are generated at three levels – first individually, and then in small groups, and finally in plenary.
Once the ideas have been generated, the third step asks the group to cluster these ideas. Similar themes or topics are grouped together.
With similarly intended (or defined) ideas clustered, the group then proceeds to give a title (or label) to each of the clusters, which directly respond to the focus question (or a set of guide questions) they sought to answer.
And finally, after the group’s ideas were articulated and presented in plenary, the workshop session ended by a brief collective reflection at which the implications of the many ideas were reviewed, elaborated further and appreciated.

Conducting FGDs requires discipline and fidelity on the part of the researcher. The researcher needs to be meticulous in probing the discussions through focus questions, as well as in documenting the responses. More importantly the researcher needs to be faithful to the group responses, applying extra care in distilling and categorizing these responses without contaminating the same. Contamination occurs when the researcher over-interprets the responses (especially upon consolidation and analysis), thereby reducing the reliability of the discussion outcomes.

References:

Management

2009-07-20T06:39:00.004+08:00

What is Management?
Adopted from M. Scott Myers' Rhymes of the Ancient Manager (1994).

The purpose of all management
is to cultivate motivation
and manage innovation.
Perpetuating the status quo
is leadership abdication.

Managers who bluff their way
as though they know it all,
not hearing voices from below,
will self-destruct and fall.

Managers are like other folks
who reach life's half-way mark;
some arrive enlightened,
some are in the dark.

For most it is the zenith,
beginning downward trends
few go beyond the middle rung
in growth that never ends.

Most managers follow
the path where others go;
few take the path less traveled,
to seek the next plateau.

Insights from the less trod path
presented on our life's pages,
are tips for self-renewal
gleaned throughout the ages.

Deming's 14 Points

2009-07-19T10:43:00.006+08:00

Deming's 14 Points

Dr. Walter Edwards Deming (1900-1993) wrote and published the Out of the Crisis (1982), a book that contains -- read: warns -- of the basic crises managers will encounter. Dr. Deming is known as a Management Guru, who became popular in his design troubleshooting techniques borne out of his business consultancy experiences in Japan and the US. Dr. Deming was also acknowledged by his business philosophy (could be a Deming's Law) -- when quality tends to increase, costs fall over time!

He could be a pragmatic alarmist, but his teachings on crisis management serve as important guidance for modern managers. The management psychologist M. Scott Myers pronounced the Deming's 14 Points in poetic reference to the warnings of Dr. Walter Edwards Deming. And Myers wrote, poetically:

The renowned ancient Guru exhorted folks to scorn
shoddy ways of doing things -- of crisis he did warn,
to guide their recovery from habits obsolete
14 points are offered to help them compete:

1
Resolve to stay in business
to be the best you can
with vision and strategies
to form a master plan!

2
Quality is essential
to succeed in this age
product and service flaws
incur consumer rage!

3
Quality is not achieved
by inspectors at the end
but by folks on the line
who errors find and mend!

4
When buying from suppliers
don't hang up on price
but choose frugal sources
punctual and precise!

5
Astute management practice
helpful systems provide
alert for system errors
to be quickly rectified!

6
Training is expanded
so everyone is skilled
to reawaken motivation
that routines had killed!

7
Foremen and operators
handle quality control
with leadership support
to facilitate their role!

8
Grant workers self-control
to drive away their fear
creative effort blossoms
in a climate of good cheer!

9
Slash bureaucratic barriers
established by traditions
let teams cross boundaries
to fulfill company missions!

10
Posters, slogans and numbers
put people's minds in jail
let folks refine their systems
so initiatives can prevail!

11
Engineered work standards
intended to set goals
put ceilings on performance
and limit worker roles!

12
Let workers own a process
to manage with pride
people proud of workmanship
take challenges in stride!

13
Education and retraining
for all folks high and low
reinvigorate commitment
so all can jointly grow!

14
The top management team
led by the CEO
must orchestrate daily
to make the process go!

INSIGHTS: Management is an art! As Myers would also poetically exhort, managers are "masters of the art of living, [who] go their exuberant way, drawing no distinction between work and play! They simply pursue a vision, through dedicated action; the attainment of excellence, being the key to satisfaction!"

References:

Deming, Walter Edwards. 1982. Out of the Crisis. USA: MIT Press.

Myers, M. Scott. 1994. Rhymes of the Ancient Manager -- Leadership in the New Age. Walton Beach, FL: Choctaw Publishing.

Walter Edwards Deming at http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/W._Edwards_Deming