When ‘diskarte’ and 'fixers' go too far: The hidden power behind corruption — 4 ways to stop it

Manila: Here's a lingo lesson: "Katiwalian" comes from Filipino/Tagalog word tiwali (crook) — perfect word for a system where everyone's yelling kasalanan (wrongdoing) but nobody's in handcuffs.

The result so far amid the flood scam:

Plunder, condemned by many, is admired as diskarte. This is how theft of taxpayers' money gets normalised here.

Filipinos romanticise corruption as clever survival — street smarts or "workaround".

In this high-theatre-low-penalties scenario, every scandal becomes a telenovela season premiere.

Then grafters walk free, for sequel.

Moral outrage is high drama. Social media explodes. Then a few months later, "trapos" (traditional politicians) are back on billboards.

Here's the viral truth: Filipinos condemn katiwalian louder than anyone — but tolerate it like favourite villain. 

High drama, low consequences is corruption's perfect Pinoy ecosystem, from the Barangay (village) all the way to the Senate.

Like a rigged mobile game, ‘Diskarte Mode’ is pay-to-win, due process is nerfed, and taxpayers keep getting "game-over".

Then come election season (every 3 years), taxpayers give their tiwala (trust) to the tiwali, in a mind-numbing repetition.

Never mind if facts or metrics don't match reality, like projects reported as 100% complete, but turn out to be ghosts.

This is how overpricing of state projects and the tongpats (kickbacks) culture became "standard operating procedure" (SOP).

When a huge gap gets exposed, diskarte kicks in. 

Diskarte is hard-coded: Filipino upbringing tends to crown survival drama queens/kings over boring rule-followers.

Diskarte, too, is deeply rooted. A family member who is ma-diskarte, for good or bad (as long as it benefits the family or the tribe), is crowned with admiration.

There's no exact English word for it: Diskarte is pure Pinoy alchemy. Filipinos wield it like a superpower.

Diskarte can roughly mean: hustle + rule-bending + shakedown artistry + getting yours through creative chaos. 

Think: “fixer” magic at the Land Transportation Office (LTO).

Or passing car emissions test even if your vehicle is a rundown 30-year-old vehicle fitted with a hand-me-down diesel engine from Japan, traffic cop “negotiations”, multi-billion-peso budget insertions, mega kickbacks from state projects.

It's no wonder Philippine driving licenses, processed by shady Kuya/Ate fixer handing out licenses like candy (while charging exorbitant fees), get side-eyed abroad. So even legit drivers carry fixer reputation.

Facing corruption charges? No problem. 

Hire a good lawyer + troll team to craft soc-med theatrics, easy-to-remember slogans.

Hypershare.

Repeat. 

Lawyering, i.e. bending the law, is another example of diskarte.

Still, despite this cultural baggage, many Filipinos, the sitting President (Ferdinand Marcos Jr) included, still dream of building "another Singapore".

There’s just one little problem: The Philippines, spread over 7,641 islands centrally governed from Manila, is more than 400x larger than Asia’s richest city-state. 

Here’s another: Lee Kuan Yew, Singapore’s no-nonsense founding father, called out the Filipino culture for being “soft”, i.e. on corruption.

Many local dynasties had been named respondents in cases of katiwalian. But come election season, people forgive, and forget. 

Case closed.

This "culture of impunity" makes corruption a high-gain, low-risk endeavour, reinforcing a cycle of graft, lack of accountability, and public distrust. 

Diskarte and tribalism are two of distinctly Filipino culture so pervasive that it's become a culture-eats-strategy-for-lunch setup.

Culture is also manifested and pervasive: 

No, and Yes. I mean yes, but no.

No, because there’s no easy fix when it's hard coded in the culture.

Yes, because cultural ethos can change over time. 

Still, copying from neighbours (like Singpoare, Japan and South Korea) zero-tolerance infrastructure and public shaming campaigns don’t work here.

Yes, some people who get caught stealing from public coffers sometimes go to jail. Then, they eventually walk proud and free, after paying the best lawyer who win on technicality or a judge citing “insufficient evidence”.

They simply wait for the public to forget, ramp up socmed drama, run for re-election at the earliest chance, and it's back to square one.

While shaming and dismissal are normalised in developed countries, those who are shamed here get top honours for “diskarte”.

It’s a Pinoy paradox: They may be world-class abroad, but turn into diskarte disasters at home.

The prevalent culture is such that everyone here believes human beings are “tiwali” by default, a result of the human lot given to pride, envy, anger, sloth, greed, gluttony, lust (the so-called "7 Deadly Sins").

Then it’s OK for officials to siphon off billions in taxpayers’ money, lie about it repeatedly until the public believes it's the truth.

If corrupt lawmakers, officials and judges somehow get caught red-handed, again, they easily wiggle out of it, with diskarte. 

The plain result of this diskarte culture: Poor infrastructure, sloppy governance, bad rap.

Filipinos, however, give high marks for sloganeering and catch-calls. Some classic examples:

Social media amplifies sloganeering: high engagement ensures their overwhelming presence in any digital discourse.

Then new slogans turn, entertaining and guiding people; facts become irrelevant.

Only diskarte and slogan virality count. The truth and facts don't. Troll farms become the top productive industry.

And campaigning kicks off on Day 1 after every election.

How does tribal thinking keep this nation of 116 million trapped?

Every election affirms this culture as tribal/regional loyalty ignores hard facts.

It leads to:

When facts lose power, identity becomes the main filter.

Rarely in theory — but often in practice.

A poll shows up to 97%+ of Filipinos consider corruption in government is "rampant" and a serious concern.

Most condemning corruption — in infrastructure, courts, procurement, Customs and taxation. Most people live with inefficiency in governance.

Most abhore selective justice and impunity. Many are aware of emotional manipulation via “kami vs sila” (us vs them) narratives.

Yet all these persist.

Why? Because beyond the condemnation, corruption has become normalised as diskarte.

Moreover, whistleblowing is risky. Justice is less about the truth or guilt but about bending the law, under strong tribal-driven undercurrents.

As short-term and personal benefits are prime concern, reforms remain a pie-in-the-sky, an abstract idea no one really cares about.

The cocktail of tribalism and “diskarte”, and a fundamental lack of discipline, has a flipside. 

Filipinos turn into rule Ninjas, i.e. following the rules – but only when their passports get stamped.

Abroad, Filipinos turn to “angel mode”: OFWs morph and patiently endure queues, become mindful of their moves the second they land in Dubai or Japan. Its as if they've become new person.

Back home? "Bahala na” and diskarte" reign; rules are just suggestions, drama is dinner conversation.

Filipinos sometime try to export “diskarte”, and even sabong (cockfighting). 

And when they get caught doing certain infractions (drug abuse/peddling, jumping borders, visa overstays, cruelty to animals etc), they simply laugh it off, dismissing them as a "mahina" (weak) ang diskarte. 

Then their families back home go into a drama overdrive, seeking help from the Department of Foreign Affairs (DFA).

Among the urban, younger, and digitally-connected crowd (Gen Z, and soon, Gen Alpha), they’re showing sings of fatigue.

Pehaps identity-based politics and recycled slogans could someday turn Jurassic?

Is it time for radical transparency and efficiency?

Yes — it’s long overdue. Concrete reforms are not utopian; many are already global best practices.

What this could look like:

#1. Transparency: Livestreamed budgeting (from proposal to approval)

#2. Blockchain-tagged public spending (traceable peso-by-peso)

#3. Real penalties: A real challenge, given slow and gaming of justice system

Let's break it down:

We’re not talking about token transparency, but a radical one. The kind driven by apps and cuts discretion — in budgeting, permitting, taxation, Customs – the oxygen of corruption.

When institutions are weak and daily needs are a challenge, tribal affiliations and diskarte become existential.

Tribalism/regionalism offers emotional belonging; diskarte simplifies choices. However, they often masks patronage networks, family alliances, fraternities, religious blocs, and local kingpins. In short: frustration is real, but exit options are limited.

Transparency shifts politics from loyalty to performance.

More importantly, it builds investor confidence, lowers project and operational costs. 

Transparency, and open datasets by default ( not by request), make media and civil society more effective, reducing “palakasan” (nepotism), fixers, middlemen. It restores trust through verification, not rhetoric or cheap slogans.

Sunlight is the best disinfectant. Can government transactions be 100% digital or app-driven? In principle: yes. In reality: 90–95% is achievable in the medium term.

What’s needed:

Estonia, India, and parts of Brazil already show this works at scale.

Blockchaining public transactions nukes corruption by making every peso tamper-proof and publicly auditable — not privately "allocable".

Putting every peso on a blobkchain means receipts that never die, searcheable and immediately viewable.

This means: turning public spending into public, tamper-proof digital ledgers — from confidential funds to DPWH projects.

Every contract, payout, and liquidation is searchable by anyone with a phone.

It turns "diskarte" into digital dead-end, it instantly becomes digital evidence, not a clever move.

Every transaction (bids, releases, receipts) timestamped forever → no "ghost projects" or deleted kickbacks. It makes data more compelling than soc-med drama.

Example: Colombia/Peru's supplier tracking slashed graft by 30%+. It means real-time citizen audits: Public blockchain explorers let any Pinoy verify any funds flow.

No COA delays — its transparency at light speed. Smart contracts auto-execute: Funds release only when GPS/satellite verified milestones are hit (e.g., 80% road complete → payment). No "extra work" shakedowns. Example: Indonesia pilots cut procurement corruption 25%.

Competence wins when outcomes are measurable, data is public and failure has consequences.

It's a real challenge when thieves get away while lawyers and judges game the system, dismissing cases for "insufficient evidence", when there's a preponderance of it, justice becomes the casualty.

When corruption is glossed over through social media drama, the truth becomes collateral damage.

When sloganeering is rewarded more than competence, when personality tops performance, when drama trumps data, no nation can get ahead.

Slogans are good. They are a call to action. Except that in the Philippines: they're a call to inaction. Slogans only succeed when metrics are weak, accountability is emotional, not factual; and leaders are brands, not managers.

For penalties to be real, jail time must be livestreamed, not just hearings.

This means: high-profile grafters don’t just get Senate drama — they get swift cases, real convictions, and visible punishment.

The moment people see that stealing millions actually ends in prison (and asset seizure), the “OK lang, ganyan talaga” mindset starts to die.

End the cycle where the same families buy votes then “recover investment” in office. This must also include lifestyle checks, and quick action from Ombudsman to track the money trail.

Enforce strict campaign finance rules, cap political dynasties, and make vote buying a high-risk crime with citizen whistleblower rewards.

When voters feel their vote actually changes something, they stop treating elections like a one-time cash-out.

Everyone belongs to a tribe and a family; it's something to celebrate. The family is society's basic unit.

Wrongdoing, especially within a family, should be corrected. Every wound must be disinfected, before it afflicts the whole body.

Crass tribalism thrives where institutions are opaque, justice is slow and data is hidden.

Radical transparency, digital governance (including the administration of justice), and real audits (including lifestyle checks of taxmen and police bodycams), make slogans lose their power — because performance becomes visible.

Filipinos are not uniquely tribal nor uniquely corrupt — rather, we're all rational actors in a low-trust system.

For now, welcome to diskarte Disneyland.

In truth, diskarte is just laziness in clever costume.