The first made millionaires of prawn farmers but led to the destruction of mangroves. Too bad the article didn’t name the lawyer who bent the law banning the destruction of mangroves by cutting off water supply to the trees until they died. There’s no law against cutting off dead trees. Smart asshole.

The second are radical proposals for Constitutional amendments that will make the presidency less palatable to traditional politicians. The proposals include 1) removing the power of the President to appoint military officers and Supreme Court justices and 2) professionalizing foreign service, i.e., disqualifying the inexperienced and non-foreign service personnel from getting appointed as ambassadors and consuls. Right. That should get rid of the practice of rewarding retired government officials with plum appointments for the usefulness to Malacañang during their incumbency.

Problem is, who will vote for amendments like that given the realities of Filipino culture? I used to be as naive and as dreamy-eyed as the guy who wrote that article but one has to wake up sometime.

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