Systemic failure in governance?

Given contemporary developments, it’s most certain that we find ourselves along the continuum best described as, one, “a state of flux;” two, “in suspended animation;” three, “nobody’s in charge.”

The intersection of these three situations as the now prevailing scene simply magnifies what in economics is referred to as a “deadweight loss” and there is close to a case of total disequilibrium in both the economic and political fronts.

No amount of empty rhetoric can possibly reverse a rather self-explanatory proof of inefficiency, even incompetence. What’s happening now puts to shame Max Weber’s six principles of bureaucracy (i.e., task specialization, formal selection, impersonal relationships, hierarchical authority, rules and regulations, career orientation). No wonder what appears in the President’s scorecard borders on the negative (i.e., -3 as of the last quarter of 2025).

Worse, people might even prefer their sad plight than the “ray of vanishing hope” of a government that has miserably failed to get back on track — with the President’s endless mindset shift (i.e., the ICC, impeachment of VP Sara, etc.), poor action plan (i.e., the six million housing units target a mere pipe dream) and inconsistency (i.e., the sudden demise of the ICI without a trace).

When things go south, all that the Palace occupant does is hold a press conference for a lot of mumbo jumbo or gobbledygook, as not a few observers believe. No matter how one looks at it, from the old FM to the new FM Jr., the curse of massive corruption from the ashes of intervening administrations — from Cory to Eddie to Erap to Gloria to PNoy to Digong — all amounts to a repeat of history with the Filipino people always the “silent loser.”

Is the ship of state rudderless that it cannot sail in any definite direction? Are the powers from the presidential office to the legislative mill to the judiciary all mutually exclusive such that the policy output, nay outcomes, become a rather convoluted result?

Whatever happened to the revered tripartite or separation of powers in an ideal democracy? Are all these events in the policy or rule-making landscape a case of a Trojan horse or a sword of Damocles hanging over our heads?

Whoever said this phrase — “bahala na si batman” — it is poetic justice. Truly, what the government does or does not do is deemed its public policy. And most times than not, the policy menu is that of not doing what it’s supposed to be doing. It walks us through the maze we currently find this country in.

Supposedly clear lines have been blurred by the vicious confusion injected into our understanding of the underlying issues in the West Philippine Sea maritime dispute, the unresolved floodgate scandal, the periodic pattern of resignation of top and key public officials, the country’s default role as cannon fodder in the geopolitical rivalry for hegemony between US and China, the upcoming debate between a senator and a former associate justice of the Supreme Court, the unsigned report of the Blue Ribbon Committee, the damning disclosure cum reported affidavit of 18 ex-Marines — all going down the tubes.

Where will all these developments leave us? Ironically, we will have an overdose of crippling, painful and collective experiences until this nightmare is over.

All that seems to be is that we are a country straight from the crib. Between two available options of how the government should function — either as a guardian or a spender — the powers-that-be chose the latter and in light of the unprecedented “Floodgate” scam that took hold, government coffers have been literally robbed or looted.

The Lacson dilemma, the ICI disappearing act, the ICC’s “ironic echo,” the fresh disclosure of 18 ex-Marines, the sad plight of a “barbarian” Marcoleta under vicious attack, the much-publicized debate over the WPS or KIG, the influential INC that has spoken, the destabilization narrative and what poor Marcoleta suspects is a grand coverup — these and more are coming our way.