‘Building communities, strengthening networks’

On Sunday, November 30, 2025, the Sugbuanong Pakigbisog Kontra Korapsyon (SuPaKK) with the active support of the Archdiocese of Cebu led by Cebu Archbishop Most Rev. Alberto S. Uy, will spearhead a rally against corruption. According to reports, no fewer than 5,000 people from various sectors and communities are expected to attend. I am supporting the event in my capacity both as a citizen and as a member of the Free Legal Assistance Group (FLAG)-Cebu Chapter which is supporting the activity.

The November 30 rally is described as “a collective, prayerful stand for truth, integrity, good governance, and the protection of our common home.” The activity will start with a Mass at 2:30 P.M. at the Pilgrim Center, Basilica Minore del Sto. Niño de Cebu, followed by a Peace March at around 3:45 P.M. from the Basilica to Fuente Osmeña Circle where a program will be held by 4:45 P.M.

Some cause-oriented groups, meanwhile, are calling for the resignation of practically all those running the government right now to give way to a National Transition Council, which is supposedly made up of “representatives of the people.” With all due respect to our friends in the Left, I think extraconstitutional measures only lead to paths untrodden and dangerous. The constitutional order, however compromised, still draws lines that military adventurists and political opportunists must at least pretend to respect. When we see a corrupt system, history teaches us that anything outside it is not necessarily better.

More than dignified anger and firm resolve expressed in protest actions, I believe that the fight against corruption and toward governance reforms can be won primarily by building communities and strengthening networks.

Protests can push governments to act against corruption or even topple corrupt governments, but they do not automatically produce good, long-term outcomes. Without empowered communities and strong networks beneath protest movements, the political vacuum left by a sudden change of power is usually filled by interest groups that are already organized, including opportunists from the same old machinery.

Corruption is not fought alone by the brave, bold, and outspoken. It is fought every day in communities, where ordinary individuals need not be forced to bargain privately with the system because they are surrounded by people who keep governance standards high even after the headlines have moved on, and where networks of relationships can hold one another accountable.

Dr. Karl Kendrick Chua, an economist of my generation, speaking at UP Los Baños a few days ago, called what we are living through a “critical juncture.” His point is sobering: economic outcomes are not destiny. They are the product of society and governance. Prosperity follows when institutions are inclusive, disciplined, and accountable. Decline follows when institutions are captured, erratic, and corrupt.

Honest anger may be necessary; it comes from a moral compass that tells us we have gone terribly in the wrong direction. But a compass is not a map. It is in pivotal moments like this that I listen to people like Chua, whose specific solutions I may not entirely agree with but who does the institutional and economic arithmetic in cold-blooded fashion.

The cure for corruption cannot rest on moral outrage alone. It begins with building communities and strengthening networks capable of shaping honest policy choices on fundamentals such as food and agriculture, and on long-term priorities like education, tourism, manufacturing revival, and technology upgrading. Their success will depend not only on who is or should be in power, but on the capacity of civil society to mainstream integrity on the ground.