RP and the dim road to good governance

The United Nations Development Programme (UNDP) promotes democratic and good governance among its members; Philippines inclusive. The absence of corruption is the best indicator of good governance. On the contrary, despite a nation’s level of development (or underdevelopment), a nation cannot fully eradicate corruption. There is always a degree, from minimal (like those of the Scandinavian countries) to widespread (Myanmar, for example).

In the Philippines, corruption is very prevalent that it is present in local governments and even in the national scale. I have read a few public administration articles and managed to know this: that possessing government positions (executive or legislative) is a duty of the officials to make the lives of the people better and not worse. But at these times, it’s quite the reverse. The people are the ones who make the lives of the government officials better while theirs, worse. See, these officials use public offices not for public administration but rather for private gains.

When Love Goes Blind

I am an official Tumblrista, that is, I use Tumblr whenever and wherever I could. You may call it addiction. Like any other blogging platforms (Blogspot and Wordpress), Tumblr lets you create your own web log for free. And since the blog is yours, you can post anything you want from everyday banalities to nationalistic non-pride. Is there even a word? Non-pride? Dispride? Pridelessness? Whatever. Go figure.

See, I’ve encountered on Tumblr a bunch of Filipinos that put our race to shame; like announcing to the whole virtual world, “I’M NOT PROUD TO BE A FILIPINO!!!!!” And yes, with their Caps Lock on and excessive use of exclamation marks. And in a few, these public proclamations of dishonor become the center of criticisms, spreading like wildfire nationally and even globally. Fellow Filipinos would become angry (“Then get the f*ck out of this country!”) or even murderous (“G*go ka! Mamatay ka na lang sana!”). I, on the other hand, remain silent and just proceed with the next post. Not that I feel indifferent on the issue but that I myself don’t know exactly whether to feel this so-called “love of country”.

Limang Kuwentong Hinabi (Five Interwoven Stories)

A short play written in Filipino for a course requirement.