Wilfredo G. Villanueva
Cha Coronel Datu
Juana Pilipinas
Karl Garcia
giancarloangulo
Irineo B. R. Salazar
JPilipinas
karlgarcia
JoeAmBack to Ten Years?
The Costs of Retreating from K–12 Instead of Fixing It By Karl Garcia The renewed proposal to revert Philippine basic education from twelve years back to ten reflects a deep and understandable frustration. More than a decade after the adoption of the K–12 system, many parents, students, teachers, and employers remain unconvinced that the additional … Continue reading
The Philippine Impasse: Awareness, Resolve, and Strategic Sovereignty
By Karl Garcia The Philippines has become very good at explaining itself. When reforms fail, when institutions stall, when corruption reappears in familiar forms, the country reaches almost instinctively for a phrase that sounds honest and mature: easier said than done. It conveys realism. It signals complexity. It implies that failure is not denial, but … Continue reading
Performative Governance in the Philippines: Thoroughness, Rationalization, and the Illusion of Reform
By Karl Garcia Philippine governance is marked by a persistent paradox: the state promises streamlining, rationalization, and efficiency while expanding procedures, agencies, and compliance rituals. This paradox is not accidental. It reflects a deeper pattern of performative governance—or thoroughness theatrics—where the appearance of rigor substitutes for real institutional effectiveness. Even reforms explicitly designed to reduce … Continue reading
The Architecture of Disorder
How the Philippines Confuses Signals for Systems—and Pays the Price By Karl Garcia The Philippines does not lack laws, plans, or coercive institutions. What it lacks is coherence. Across decades, administrations, and crises, the same pattern repeats: the state prioritizes signals of control over systems of authority, the appearance of order over the maintenance of … Continue reading
Freedom of Information in the Philippines: Promise, Reality, and the Case for Legislation
By Karl Garcia Transparency is not optional in a functioning democracy. Yet in the Philippines, the promise of freedom of information (FOI) has existed for years in theory but remains uneven in practice. Executive Order No. 2, issued in 2016, formally introduced FOI into the country, giving the public the right to request information from … Continue reading
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The Society of Honor by Joe America 