One of our deepest problems as a nation is that as a people, we haven’t really embraced that very important concept: rule of law, or the idea that a society agrees on a certain set of rules, with which everyone complies after legislation. This means we are governed by a set of rules and laws, not by arbitrary decisions by government officials. Worse, members of our intellectual elite have become lackeys of politico-economic overlords, and often accept, if not defend such flouting of the rule of law.

Blogs and even opinion pages, indeed, have been filled with essays on how Filipinos seem to have a penchant for breaking rules – jumping queues, throwing trash out of their car windows to the street, ignoring traffic red lights. Such observations have been highlighted by OFWs who often compare how citizens of the countries they work and live in seem to respect rules so much.

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