Even if President B.S. Aquino 3rd’s over-marketed “anti-corruption” orientation was completely sincere and not the bunch of dog-whistling events of the past couple months have revealed it to be, the basic flaw in his thesis is that corruption flows downhill. That perspective mirrors his ideas about economic management, and is just as wrong; after all, one does not build a strong house by starting with the roof. When you read the complaint of business groups that “corruption” continues to be the biggest obstacle to investment in the Philippines, the sort of shenanigans going on in Masbate province right now are exactly the sort of thing they are describing. As regular readers of this column are aware, I’ve taken a critical interest in the activities of an energetic—and for this country, an entirely novel—group of engaged citizens calling themselves Masbate Talks; just this week, the group welcomed its 16,000th new member, and earlier this month, graduated from its still-hyperactive Facebook page to its very own website (https://masbatetalks.com/).