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Tyranny of Corruption in a Soft State

Speech Before the Rotary Club of Chinatown Manila, Century Park Sheraton

I want to thank all of you for your very kind invitation. I am here to listen more and talk less. What you ask is more action and less speeches, better executives and wiser lawgivers.

There are two kinds of crisis in government – then and now. One is the quiet crisis among civil servants whose diminished quality of life persistently produces low morale. The other is the noisy crisis that arises from a lack of responsiveness in the bureaucracy to the citizenry. If we are to address both, is there a need to reinvent and reengineer government?

When we talk of reinvention or reengineering, we want to see a government that works better and costs less. The goal is admirable and beyond argument. There are, however, many questions about the means to achieve it.  Continue reading “Tyranny of Corruption in a Soft State”

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A Wake-Up Call

Speech Before the Lions Club of Manila

There is one invitation that can not be subject to refusal. It is a rare invitation, so rare that people in public life dream to receive but do not always get. When such invitation comes, the feeling is one of relief and gratitude. I am referring to the invitation of Senator Ernesto Maceda. Thank you very much, Senator Ernie!

I did not know that Senator Ernie was a Lion. What I knew was the fact that anyone appearing before the Maceda Committee or Committees in the Senate was advised to enter the lion’s den with courage and care. That must have been an intimidating advice.

But those who appeared before Senator Maceda would invariably say that they left the hearings a wiser man than when they entered. I hope to leave your meeting a very wise man, indeed.  Continue reading “A Wake-Up Call”

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Of Sacred Cows and Cash Cows

Speech before the Rotary Club-Hiyas ng Bacoor, Heritage Hotel, Pasay City

I would like to thank all of you for your very kind invitation. There is no second home to me other than the company of fellow Rotarians. You and I make mankind our business to serve and protect. Without fear, without favor.  Continue reading “Of Sacred Cows and Cash Cows”

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Gloria’s Underground Department

Mr. President,

There is a new dangerous office in government today. It is the first of its kind in our history. It is the Department of the Underground. And I rise to forewarn the Senate of the Republic and the Filipino people.

Mr. President, the Arroyo Administration has been in power for only a little more than eight months. It is powerful all right. It is powerfully corrupt.

Continue reading “Gloria’s Underground Department”

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In the Company of Predators

Speech at the Senate Flag-Raising Ceremony

Let me first thank Senate Secretary Oscar Yabes for his very kind invitation. He must have liked my maiden privilege speech last Monday to invite me to deliver my maiden flag-raising speech today.  Continue reading “In the Company of Predators”