Abstract / Excerpt:

Deep in the core of corruption in the Philippine bureaucracy is the phenomenon of fixing, which continues to remain unexplored in anti-corruption discourse and intervention.

Drawing from the theoretical constructs of dark social capital and network analysis, the study establishes how fixers operate and influence the bureaucratic procedures in government, as well as how they reinforce and are being reinforced by bureaucratic corruption. The study also offers a schematic framework on the anatomy of fixing in the Philippines that shows the continuum and dimensions of fixing activities, shilling roles and networks, indigenous terms and signals used in fixing, and various types of fixing that emerge through informal, shadowy and sometimes syndicated networks of fixers. The author duly suggests several recommendations along vertical reforms and horizontal transformation, as well as areas for further research, to help address the problem of fixing in the Philippines.

This study neither offers an illusion that fixing will stop nor takes delight in narrating the stories of those involved in it. But as the title suggests in a double meaning (fixing society), ours is a country of fixers and there is a need to fix the problem of fixing.

Info

Source Institution	Ateneo de Davao University
Unit	Social Science
Authors	Ronald V. Amorado
Page Count	34
Place of Publication	Davao City
Original Publication Date	July 1, 2005
Tags	Ethnographic Research, Fixers

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