Philippines: October 16, 2004

Archives

The signs are not good. American officials are investigating Filipino generals who apparently stole U.S. money intended for anti-terrorist operations. That's nothing new. Filipinos have long complained about sticky fingered generals and politicians. But even the rebels, who are fighting against (among other things), corruption, are on the take. Many Moslem rebels in the south made peace with the government in the 1990s, and the senior rebels got government jobs and some degree of local autonomy. Many of these former rebels promptly behaved just like the corrupt officials they had been complaining about for so long. Corruption is a national disease, and just about every problem in the Philippines can be traced to it. While politicians constantly pledge to "deal with corruption," it persists. Until the corruption problem is is dealt with, the rebellions and economic malaise will continue. 

 

X

ad

Help Keep Us From Drying Up

We need your help! Our subscription base has slowly been dwindling.

Each month we count on your contributions. You can support us in the following ways:

  1. Make sure you spread the word about us. Two ways to do that are to like us on Facebook and follow us on Twitter.
  2. Subscribe to our daily newsletter. We’ll send the news to your email box, and you don’t have to come to the site unless you want to read columns or see photos.
  3. You can contribute to the health of StrategyPage.
Subscribe   Contribute   Close