New Philippines President Vows to End Government Corruption

Noynoy Aquino

Noynoy Aquino, the Philippines new president, started off a bit differently than others have:

New Philippines Pres. Aquino Vows to Clean Up Government

Jul 03, 2010 Benigno “Noynoy” Aquino III has started his first week as the newly inaugurated 15th president of the Philippines. He pledged to fight endemic graft and corruption, particularly exemplified by cases that plagued the Arroyo administration; eliminate bad practices in government, and prioritize the Filipino people’s needs above all else…

Mr. Aquino did acknowledge the need to make the Philippines “attractive to investors,” pledged to cut red tape, combat corruption and make government an “enabler” and not a “hindrance” to business in his Wednesday speech. That message will be especially well-received by foreigners who have largely shunned the country in favor of places like China, Indonesia and India for those very reasons.

Yet in the same breath the new president also repeated populist promises he made on the campaign trail, including a nod to universal health care and education and government-run employment programs for the poor. “I know and feel the problems of ordinary citizens,” he said.

Populism may be popular but it’s expensive, and it’s unclear how Mr. Aquino intends to pay for it. http://online.wsj.com/article/SB10001424052748703571704575340120012082924.html

The idea of eliminating governmental corruption is an excellent one. The Bible itself teaches that leaders should not be given to covetousness (Exodus 18:21–22). But the reality of eliminating governmental graft and corruption is much more difficult than most leaders imagine, and rarely is more than slightly outwardly successful. Also making campaign promises that one cannot keep is a sign of corruption, but perhaps hopefully only optimism for this new president.

For the sake of the Philippines, we should pray that its new leader does succeed.

Some articles of possibly related interest may include:

Islands and Bible Prophecy What’s ahead for islands? What does the Bible prophesy about them?
Asia in Prophecy What is Ahead for Asia? Who are the “Kings of the East”? What will happen to nearly all the Asian? Who has the 200,000,000 man army related to Armageddon?
Polycarp, Herbert W. Armstrong, and Roderick C. Meredith on Church Government What form of governance did the early church have? Was it hierarchical? Which form of governance would one expect to have in the Philadelphia remnant? The people decide and/or committee forms, odd dictatorships, or the same type that the Philadelphia era itself had?