PHILIPPINES GOVERNANCE INDICATORS

Governance & Anti-Corruption > WGI 1996-2008 Interactive > All Indicators > Charts and Tables

Governance & Anti-Corruption > WGI 1996-2008 Interactive > All Indicators > Charts and Tables

Minimizing Our Universal Congenital Corruption

The very purpose of this message is to ask for your fervent and unceasing prayers for the well-being of the Philippines, the only Christian country in this part of the world. Please pray specifically that our prayers will be in accordance to what I believe is God's Will to alleviate the conditions of the poor and very poor Filipinos, the result of the very uneven distribution of wealth that is basically caused by our universal congenital corruption (aka the consequences of Original Sin). As has already been proven in other countries almost 500 years ago, congenital corruption may be successfully managed and reduced significantly in the Philippines (and Guam) by the simple application of Biblical Principles from the Word of God:

THE NECESSARY PARADIGM SHIFT

Politics and Government in the Philippines is founded on a governance system that BREEDS corruption. So that Filipinos—especially the small middle class whom I believe are mostly clueless—will appreciate how serious the situation, I would like to share my personal discovery about corruption in Christian nations with disparate systems of church governance, especially as applied to the Philippines, the former colony of Spain for about 400 years and the USA for 48 years:

1. Where there are human beings there is corruption. Romans 3:23 in the Bible says: "For all have sinned and fallen short of the glory of God". Corruption IS congenital in each and all of us human beings! Notice that the very first words that come out of toddlers' mouths that reflect our inborn corruption—displaying blatantly our innate greediness—is "It's MINE!" I know. I have 2 grandchildren, 2 boys who still do not know the real meaning of sharing. With some prompting, they do share their toys but soon forget, and a small-scale war ensues.

2. Given #1 above, humans need to be placed in a system of church governance that should not BREED corruption, but to CHECK corruption.

3. Since the spiritual side of human life is more foundational than the secular (or physical) side—our spirit lives even after death—it follows that the system of STATE governance should FOLLOW or be founded on the system of CHURCH governance.

4. The History of human governance systems has evolved from the Rule of One (monarchy) to the Rule of Many (democracy). This implies that the Rule of Many is better than the Rule of One in checking THE corruption in man. In other words, monarchy is academic, antiquated, and antagonistic. This is true not only in secular systems but also in the spiritual (except The Holy Spiritual form, for ONLY GOD is truly SOVEREIGN). For example, Roman Catholicism and some Protestant churches--where the "vicar" or the "anointed one" (also in the Tamang/Dating Daan) is the RULER of the church--are more corrupt than the Presbyterian / Reformed Christianity (US/UK) system where presbyters / elders rule. The 400 years of Spanish rule in the Philippines (compared with 48 American years) brought forth the "Padrino System" that is now deeply impregnated in the 'P'inoy culture ('P' for Priest, Pastor, Papa, the godPader, Padrino, Pangulo > Panggulo,naka-Pwesto, the profane+vulgar+obscene "P.i. mo!"?).

5. Based on #s 1 to 4, countries and nations of the world may be categorized into FOUR TYPES of governance systems where corruption exists, from LEAST to GREATEST: A. Rule of Many in both church and state governance; B. Rule of Many in church governance AND Rule of One in state governance. C. Rule of One in church governance AND Rule of Many in state governance; D. Rule of One in both church and state.

6. Some examples of A countries: Australia, New Zealand, Canada, UK, and USA, and Bermuda...

7. Some examples of C countries: Philippines and countries in Central and South America, and Guam...

8. To verify the claims of #s 4, 5, 6, and 7 above please visit: http://info.worldbank.org/governance/wgi/sc_country.asp. This interactive webpage enables you to choose a country and view the governance indicators.

Since this is a website of the World Bank, please click http://go.worldbank.org/ATJXPHZMH0, which explains the governance indicators and includes a DISCLAIMER.

9. In the Bible the Christian church is described as a body. The human Leadership or Headship (the elders and the pastor or priest) of the church should be patterned after the human head. The anatomical configuration of the 5 sense-organs and the mouth on the human head is triangular (shaped V) such that the sense organs (the elders) are on top and the mouth (the pastor or priest) is below. The Presbyterian or Reformed type of governance (The Rule of Many) is patterned after the "normal" human head.

10. The family is the first organization that a human being experiences. Father and Mother rules over Child, thus the Rule of Many. Mom and Dad are supposed to be ONE (The One Flesh Principle, Genesis 2:24) in all their decisions (Policy and Enforcement) so that FAMILY (Father And Mother I Love You) will be functional--The Singularity of Authority in Duality. Otherwise the family will be dysfunctional.

11. To belong to the Christian Family, one has to be born again (John 3:3 and John 3:16) into the family aka to be baptized and to confirm later one's belonging to God's Family. Since all Christians believe in the Apostle's Creed, in the Triune God, or 3 persons in God, then the visible manifestation of the Christian Family--the local church--should and must be an organization whose leadership or headship is based on the Rule of Many (Elders or Presbyters are elected by the congregation yearly)--The Singularity of Authority in Plurality. The Elders in each local church together form the Presbytery to better achieve the Rule of Many Principle.

OBSERVATIONS, CONCLUSIONS, and RESOLUTIONS:

A. While the USA may be more corrupt than the other "A" countries (because The very mark of a Christian—PRAYING—was removed from the public schools), the USA definitely is not as corrupt compared to my beloved Philippines, one major country in the " C" category, by a very 'B'ig margin!! I know for I have lived and worked at least 20 years in each country. I've experienced serious, personally damaging corruption in both countries—secular (PLDT in the Philippines) and spiritual (a church). I must admit though that some big initiators of corruption in the Philippines are Americans who know how to "score" in the current bad spiritual governance system, and how to deal with those in power.

B. Legally or illegally, millions of people from the "C" countries have moved to the USA. An EXODUS of millions from a land of bondage to the land of the free, so to speak. Living and working under a system where NOBODY (including the President) is above the Law, these immigrants have become better citizens (personal example: my corrupt driving habits dramatically changed! I'm a good driver until I balik bayan :-)).

C. I'm not anti-Roman Catholic nor anti-other Christian denominations. I believe Roman Catholics and Protestants are Christians and most members of my family and friends are RC, and good people. It's the ingrained bad church governance that we need to change to "church of the congregation, by the congregation, and for the congregation". Please pray for Philippines to change [or be BORN AGAIN] from "rex LEX" (Ang hari (not HARI) ay siyang BATAS ) to "LEX rex" (Ang BATAS ay siyang hari), the Presbyterian or Reformed Christitian system in church governance SO THAT the state governance system (Government of the people, by the people, and for the people!) adopted on July 4, 1946 by the Filipinos from the Americans will succeed!

D. The Philippines should change to the Parliamentary system of state governance because it is a MORE VISIBLE example of the Rule of Many principle than the Presidential system (the 3 branches of government with equal powers). Moreover, the Presidential system boils down or GRAVITATES to the Rule of One because of the 400-Century Culture ("Kung sino ang naka-pwesto siyang naghahari" or "the one-in-place rules!", also "It's NOT what you know, but who <not WHO> you know!"). The Philippines will be in good company with these Parliamentary governments in this region: Vietnam, Thailand, Malaysia, Singapore, Japan, Papua New Guinea, New Zealand, Australia. The Philippines being the second largest English-speaking country in the world, we may still get back to our being #2 in the region in terms of economic progress (remember July 4, 1946?).

E. Hopefully with God's blessings, with the Philippine Parliament in place, AND with the proper application of the inherent "power of many" of the Internet, it may be only a matter of time before Protestant and Roman Christians in the Philippines will or SHOULD UNITE FORMALLY to form a Presbyterian / Reformed type of church governance in their respective parishes. This will only result in people at the grass-roots level not only to get educated in the Parliamentary system but also PRACTICE the Rule of Many every year in their respective local parishes, which should bear good fruit in the secular practice and implementation of the Parliamentary system of state governance. They also need to forget, perhaps temporarily their doctrinal and practical differences FOR the Good of the Philippines—ALL for the Glory of God! This is biblical (Romans 8:28-29). As for the above stated differences, they just have to wait until it's time to personally ask REX Christ Jesus: "Sino po ba ang tama talaga: are we saved by grace through faith alone, or faith and goodworks?" (Ephesians 2:8-10).

F. There is NO perfect system, but a Pinoy or a Pinay in a Good System (Rule of Many) is a LOT better citizen than a Pinoy or Pinay in a Bad System (Rule of One).

G. No matter how much we like to change the human system to solve our innate corruption, it will NOT work UNLESS we fallen creatures believe "... seek ye first the Kingdom of God, and his righteousness, and all of these things shall be added unto you." Matthew 6:33. IF we TRULY believe in, and LOVE/OBEY The ONE sent by God and we seriously practice LOVING one another, then He will DO the changing of each one of us and give us The GOOD System (Rule of Many for church and state) for the Philippines!

H. This paper would seem to indicate there's a need of reformation not unlike what started in Germany in the 16th Century. However, I see it as simply changing a "For Profit" (Rule of CEO) to a mandated "Not for Profit" (Rule of stakeholders) type of governance for church organizations BECAUSE human spiritual governance systems simply cannot be patterned after REX LEX (Our ways are NOT God's Ways,(Isaiah 55:8-9). I believe that IF God's Will unfolds granting our prayer for this Good System of Church and State Governance to commence ,THEN 1) the "rich getting richer AND the poor getting poorer" (RgRRaPgPP?) syndrome will be eradicated and 2) the rich and superrich will realize that they cannot bring their stuff with them to everybody's final destination, and therefore should form foundations with Bill Gates and other Christian technorati to help and educate the poor and the very poor in the area of creative capitalism, technology, health, and good governance systems.

^{Mabuhay ang lahat sa Pilipinas!!!}

^{ALL for the GLORY of GOD ALONE!}

Sources of Information:

The BIBLE (or Basic Instructions Before Leaving Earth!); The Constitution of the US and the Philippines / UK; Magna Carta; Lex Rex by Rutherford; Wikipedia

Google it: "LEX rex", "Rule of Law"

. . . bornBORN or STUBborn? . . .

Hi My Labuans! Today, I just finished printing a t-shirt with the above message and then read the May 23, 2008 ODB "Heart Disease". What a "coincidence", just like when I got reminded of Our Daily Bread's May Birthdays ((Helen 1), (Nathalie 20), (Lirio 21)) with "Spelling Bee". God has been blessing me. Every GIFT@GWHS (God It's Friday Thanks @ God'w Word His Sword :-)), I wear one my passive "evangelistic" t-shirts. Today's t-shirt is about:
. . . bornBORN or STUBborn? . . .
Goodnews(John 3:16) Badnews(John 3:3)

and I hope and pray at least one of my stubdents will ask a question about it...

BTW, another word almost the same as stubborn is stillborn (born dead, btw). Here are more related / etymological words, with 1 or 2 words applicable to
Agapeistically Yours
(The Skinny Bloke With The Positive Kind of Stubbornness):

bloke

"fellow," 1851, London slang, of unknown origin, perhaps from Celt. ploc "large, stubborn person;" another suggestion is "Gypsy and Hind. loke "a man."

contumely

c.1386, from L. contumelia "a reproach, insult," probably from contumax "haughty, stubborn," from com- intensive prefix + tumere "to swell up" (see thigh).

testy

1510, "impetuous, rash," from M.E. testif "headstrong" (c.1374), from Anglo-Fr. testif, from O.Fr. testu "stubborn," lit. "heady," from teste "head," from L.L. testa "skull," in L. "pot, shell" (see tester (2)). Meaning "easily irritated" is first recorded 1526.

obstinate

c.1340, from L. obstinatus "resolute, inflexible, stubborn," pp. of obstinare "persist, stand stubbornly, set one's mind on," from ob "by" + stinare, related to stare "stand," from PIE base *sta- "to stand" (see stet).

perverse

c.1369, "wicked," from O.Fr. pervers, from L. perversus "turned away (from what is right), contrary, askew," pp. of pervertere "to corrupt" (see pervert). The L. word is glossed in O.E. by forcerred, from p.p. of forcyrran "to avoid," from cierran "to turn, return." Meaning "wrong, not in accord with what is accepted" is from c.1568; sense of "obstinate, stubborn" is from 1579. It keeps the non-sexual senses of pervert (v.) and allows the psychological ones to go with perverted.

refraction

1578, from L.L. refractionem (nom. refractio) "a breaking up," from L. refractus, pp. of refringere "to break up," from re- "back" + comb. form of frangere "to break" (see fraction). Refractory "stubborn, obstinate, perverse" is attested from 1613 (earlier refractorious, 1555), from L. refractarius "obstinate." Refrangible first recorded 1673.

mule (1)

"offspring of donkey and horse," O.E. mul, O.Fr. mul (fem. mule), both from L. mulus (fem. mula) "a mule," probably from a pre-Latin Mediterranean language.

"The mule combines the strength of the horse with the endurance and surefootedness of the ass, and is extensively bred for certain employments for which it is more suited than either; it is ordinarily incapable of procreation. With no good grounds, the mule is a proverbial type of obstinacy." [OED]

Properly, the offspring of a he-ass and a mare; that of a she-ass and a stallion is technically a hinny. Used allusively of hybrids and things of mixed nature. As a type of spinning machine, attested from 1797. Meaning "stubborn person" is from 1848; that of "narcotics smuggler or courier" first attested 1935. O.Fr. mul was replaced in Fr. by dim. form hence mulet,muleteer "mule driver" (1538), from Fr. muletier.

stride

O.E. stridan "to straddle," from P.Gmc. *stridanan (cf. M.L.G. strede "stride," Du. strijd, O.H.G. strit, Ger. Streit "fight, contention, combat," O.N. striðr "strong, hard, stubborn, severe"), from base *strid- "to strive, make a strong effort." Meaning "to walk with long or extended steps" is from c.1200. Cognate words in most Gmc. languages mean "to fight, struggle;" the notion behind the Eng. usage might be the effort involved in making long strides, striving forward. The noun was in O.E.; fig. meaning of make strides "make progress" is from 1600. To take (something) in stride (1832), i.e. "without change of gait" is originally of horses leaping hedges in the hunting-field; fig. sense attested from 1902. Jazz music stride tempo is attested from 1938.

The Compatibilist's View

Human Decisionism Is Compatible With Divine Determinism

[an excerpt of my 'yet2breplied letter' to a professing atheist Professor (Computer Science)]

Today I had a chance to read again your "Free Will Even For Robots" on
your formal stanford.edu website, and found out in the section
Preliminary Philosophical Remarks that "AI depends on a compatibilist
view", which you have taken in designing the free will for robots.

I personally believe in the "higher" view that divine determinism (in
your case, you and your computer language) and human decisionism (your
"creature" the robot) are compatible. This compatibleness is enhanced
by the compatibility of one of your Conclusions: "What an agent can do
is determined by its environment rather than by its internal
structure", with a Christian view that ultimately it is God's
Determinism that prevails over Human Decisionism, or "our set of human
choices is a subset of NO Choice."

All these equivalent compatibilities really make me smile because--and
of course I presume that you already know obviously--this is the
essence of the great difference / debate between one subgroup of
Christians who hold the Compatibilist view of the Doctrine of
Election, and those of another subgroup/s who do not. The latter
cannot accept the fact that if this doctrine is true, it will make us
human beings mere robots, and therefore we cannot be made responsible
for choosing a behavior that goes against the Rules--not recognizing
or disobeying the Creator (the programmer).

Whether we like it or not, we should be thankful to the #1 Human
Programmer of the Universe our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ who
Created us, for leading me to your website. And all because I want to
get an extra credit for a very simple Point Of Sale problem that our
professor in "Programming Languages" said could be implemented in the
language that you invented. (I only know Qbasic, but would really like
to learn LISP).

Hoping and praying that you will continue to be very productive in
your endeavors, and that you will find the time to answer or comment
about my questions. BTW, your "Sustainability of Human Progress"
website, to me, is an excellent "goodworks" service to mankind. In
connection with this, perhaps you could update the website to explain
that we should continue to be optimistic, even given the reality of
the galloping price increases of petroleum products in recent months.

Our Baby Blog: Born Again Again!

From Verticality to *^%$%^* to the "CROSS" (Vertical + horizontal!) with new Description, so that you may be encouraged to join and post:

Christ: Redeemer, Our Sovereign Savior

And we know that in all
things God works
for the good of
those who
love Him,
predestined to be conformed to the likeness of His Son,
the firstborn among many brothers. And those he predestined,
he also called; those He called, He also justified;
those He justified,
He also glorified.
If God is for us,
who can be
against us?
He who did not
spare His own
Son, but gave
Him up for us
all—how will
he not also,
along with Him,
graciously give
us all things?
(Romans 8:28
paraphrased)

dantomada@gmail.com has shared: The Great Imposter

dantomada@gmail.com wanted to share this with you:

I got this from a website I "eat" everyday! Very good delectable digestible deductive stuff! It's free too. It's the Our Daily Bread! rbc.org/odb is where you get your breakfast... This one is good stuff, especially for the mind, heart, and soul...
Dan

The Great Imposter http://www.beenthinking.org/2008/05/15/the-great-imposter/

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