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Ronnie V. Amorado, Ph.DEhem National Coordinator
From conventional ethnography to undercover ethnographycombines ethnography with undercover techniques on feigning deco ys (disguise as fixer or principal) and intelligence collection.
Key Informants Interviews (KIIs) and decoy conversations
Limited institutional immersion and Non-Participant Observation
Accidental non-probability and snowballing sampling techniques
Emic respondents and etic respondents
Basic P-O-E-T techniques: participation, observation, elicitation and triangulation or (validation)
Focus Group Discussions (FGDs)
Idiographic analysis versus nomothetic abstraction (learning from particular experiences; no attempt at gen eralization)
Hermeneutics and semiotics of fixing: words, symbols and metaphors
Coverage of study: selected NGAs/LGUs in various parts of the Philippines
Period of study: late-2002 to mid-2005
Anti-Fixing Research | Notes on Methodology
Exploratory, highly descriptive and non-probabilistic research
Finding FixersChapter 1: Fixing in frontline agencies
Encounter 1: The journey begins Encounter 2: Tales from the gate
Chapter 2: Fixing in the military, business and media
Encounter 3: Fixing in the forceEncounter 4: The pen is mightier in fixing
Chapter 3: Fixing in local government unitsEncounter 5: Fixing from belowEncounter 6: From fixing to whistleblowing
Chapter 4: Fixing in the judiciary and welfare institutions
Encounter 7: Snatch and fixEncounter 8: Fix and claimEncounter 9: Behind bars
Synthesis
Analyzing Fixing
Chapter 5: The structure of fixingWhat is fixing? Who are the fixers?Fixing as a modus operandi of corruption From facilitation to falsification:fixing as a surreptitiously motivated behavior Motivational structure of fixing Elements and types of fixing Network structure and shifting roles of fixers Fixers as networks and networks of fixers
Chapter 6: The capital of fixersSocial capital and corruptionSocial capital prevents corruptionSocial capital promotes corruptionDark side of social capital in fixingCultural dimensionPhilosophical and moral divergence
Analyzing FixingChapter 7: Fixing the problem of fixing
Paradigm shiftsVertical reformsHorizontal transformationResearch agenda
Practical Tips
Dictionary of Fixing
Postscript on Methodology
Major Laws and Executive Fiats on Anti-Fixing
Practical TipsFor the transacting public
For government officials and employees
For fixers who want to stop fixing or become whistleblowers
For law enforcers
For anticorruption groups
For donor agencies
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Aberya
All-in
Ambon
Apprentice
Areglo
Backer
Bahaw
Butas
Barya-barya lang
Big time
BriberyBumbero Bulsa-bulsa lang
Buwaya
Cabinet action
Chinatown
Chocolate Boys
Colorum
Decking
Diskarte
Doctor
Dummy
Flying Squad
Fixcal
Hush-hush
Ikaw na bahalaKobra
BIR
Kuot/Dukot
Lagay
Martial Law
Misdec Neto
Ninoy
No show
Off-season
OsmeñaPait
ParmasyaPatong
Payola Pikoy
Presidente/Abogado
Proxy
RA 1530
Red tape
Show money
Small time
Snack moneyStencil Boys
Stringer
Suki
Sunog
Table inspection
Tip
S.O.P
Violet
VIP
VIP Card
Under the table
Tong
Maninigbas
Tagaloob
Split
ShoppingRunner
Retention
Retainer
Rebate
Quota System
Pyansador
Pro bono
Payroll
Patakbuhin ang papel
Padrino
Multa
Moonlighting
Hilot
Manok
Luto na
Dictionary of FixingKotong
DTR
Broker
Cut
Tito-Vic-JoeyAsul/BluePula/Red
Berde/Green
Quezon
Roxas
Dictionary of Fixing (nonverbal cues, codes and sign language)
Conventional Kotong (extortion)
Dictionary of Fixing (nonverbal cues, codes and sign language)
Dr. Ledevina V. CariñoBureaucratic Corruption in Asia:
Causes, Consequences and Controls (1986)
The book… has something for everyone. It provokes interest on the hazy world of fixing… and inspire participation in… scholarly and crusading pursuits.
For academics and theorists, it dissects the relationship of corruption and social capital… [and] follows the latter to its dark side.
[For] theologians and students of ethics… [the book] delves into moral philosophy and applies deontology and teleology to the society of fixers.
[For researchers], a number of methods advance the understanding and practice of qualitative research [applied] on corruption and fixing: undercover ethnography, decoy conversation, key informants, focus group discussions and institutional immersion.
Tambara: Ateneo de Davao University JournalVolume 24 | ISSN 0117-6323 | November 2007
“ “This whole mechanism of fixing is so well organized and well oiled,
it can rival the most efficient government agency to date.
What is fixing? Why do people fix, and why do people avail of the services of fixers? More importantly, how do fixers view fixing?
How does one become a fixer? What are some of thediscernible patterns in terms of psychographic anddemographic profiles of fixers, their methodologies andstrategies, tools and techniques, ethics and ideology?
How do fixers sustain and nurture their influence in thegovernment bureaucracy? What are their connections,associations and networks in various bureaucratic systems in government?
What damage can fixing do to the government bureaucracy and to the society at large? What can be done to address the causes of fixing and mitigate its consequences?
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Develop a systematic theoretical and practical understanding of fixing in the Philippines by describing and looking into the social capital and informal networks of fixers;
Explore and analyze the unique experiences of fixers and other stakeholders in fixing, their modus operandi, categories of meanings, symbols and techniques;
Find out and analyze discernible patterns from these experiences, meanings, symbols and techniques; and
Generate appropriate policy recommendations and institutional interventions based on the experiences and strategies of fixers. These are aimed to propose more effective and efficient bureaucratic systems that are more prone to corruption and fixing.
Learn from fixers on how to address fixing and combat bureaucratic corruption!
What is the situation?
Fixing has provided alternative routes for people to gain access to government transactions and to seek various public documents from certificates, licenses, permits, titles, clearances, concessions, claims and benefits to passports and visas among others.
Cuenco (2001):
Almost all documents issued by the Philippine bureaucracy have been falsified: birth, death, wedding and baptismal certificates; permit to carry firearms; driver’s license; financial documents such as checks and vouchers; land titles; and many others of an infinite variety.
Santiago 1991:72:
The Philippines is notoriously reputed as one of the “world capi tals for fake travel documents.”
Santiago 1991:108:
Incessant reports of fixing and faking
Forgery and falsification of documents; bouncing checks; sham receiptsFake ages; fake visas and travel documentsFake shampoos, colognes, powder, make up and lotionsFaked degree and fake budget officerFake land titles; fake eviction orders Fraudulent health claims and bloated confinementsFake college diplomas and academic credentialsCounterfeit and fake bills of 100, 200 and 500 in public markets and taxisFake death certificates and faked death claims sold at P15 eachFake pre-paid phone cardsFake jeans, fake t-shirts and fake rubber shoesFake coffee and fake bath soaps; fake liver spreadFake local ordinance and resolutionFake medicines; fake surgical proceduresFake government inspectors and fake professionalsFake car parts and fake electrical productsDoctored Civil Service examination sold at P5,000 eachFake appointment papers for president of SUC
Cañedo (1995:90-93):
Fixing and bureaucratic corruption as bureaucratic dysfunction
Bureaucratic comaThe terminal stage is bureaucratic coma where the organization, for practical purposes, is clinically dead due to wanton failure and incapacity of the bureaucratic organization.
Bureaucratic indulitis Bureaucratic palsied paralysis, a pathologic self-induced infectious and malignant bureaucratic disease that occurs as a result of a chemical reaction when a high concentration of incompetence combines with dullness, which in turn is a result of a dormant disease called indolence.
Cañedo (1995:90-93):
Bureaucratic indulitis
“Injecol” (inject with small reforms)“Bornagin” (spiritual and ethical programs)
Bureaucratic coma
“Surgeonol” (more drastic reforms)“Exterminol” (exterminate the organization)
Symbolic prescriptions
Fixing and bureaucratic corruption as bureaucratic dysfunction
What is fixing?
Middle English concept from the Latin word fixus which means a sense of tamper with a fight or jury.
First usage was recorded in 1790.
It evolved as an intrinsically corrupt behavior associated with deliberate and malicious tampering, altering, meddling, influencing, rigging and manipulating.
Etymological origin:
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Encyclopedia definitions
Reader’s Digest (1975); Webster (1983); American Heritage (1993); Online Dictionary (2004); Cambridge Advanced Dictionary (2004); Bartleby (2004); Free Dictionary (2004)
What is fixing?
Fixing is any transaction, intervention or instance by someone with or connected to an authority for a person in trouble, usually using underhand or illegal methods for a fee.
The intervention or transaction is aimed at arranging a special consideration, such as an exemption, or an illegal outcome, especially by means of bribery.
Fixing is a dishonest activity to make certain that a competition, race or election is won by a particular person or a political party.
To fix is to prearrange or influence the decisions, actions, outcome or effects by improper or illegal means, normally through bribery or collusion.
An act or practice of obtaining special privileges, favors or immunity from the law or of exerting improper or illegal influence on the outcome of something.
A fix is an exemption or favor after an influence or payment is made or brought to bear.
Fixing is a symptom of bureaucratic corruption. Fixing also reinforces bureaucratic corruption.
Fixing and red tape have close family ties!
Red tape was introduced in literature by Charles Dickens and popularized by Thomas Carlyle. Its origin can be traced back to the practice of arranging and tying official documents with red ribbons before working on them by government officials in England in the 17th century. Since then, especially during the start of the 19th
century, the concept of red ribbon (or red tape) has become the symbol of official delays, government delays, bureaucratic layers, bureaucratic sluggishness
and bureaucratic corruption.
Where red tapes abound, fixers thrive!Where red tapes abound, fixers thrive!
Network structure and shifting roles of fixers
Two types of fixers
They persist because they get protection from the insider fixers. They are external nodes in the network of fixing.
Insider fixers serve as the hubs or the main spokes or central operating structure in the network of fixing.
They persist because of the ‘cuts’ or ‘commissions’ from the direct fixing transactions, as well as from the remittances of the professional fixers.
Outsider fixers or professional fixers
Insider fixers or sideline fixers.
Boundary networks of fixers
Network structure and shifting roles of fixers
Public OfficialsGovernment Employees
Fixers
ClientsCustomersPrincipals
Conventional model
Public OfficialsGovernment Employees
ClientsCustomersPrincipals
Emerging model
Fixers
Fixers’ networks and networks of fixers
Basic elements
Boissevain (1974); Nardi et al (2000); Waldstrom (2001); Krebs (2004)
Nodes and links are the basic elements of networks
Prell (2002)Nodes are the actors
Waldstrom (2004)Nodes are the egos or units
Mitchell (1969)Links are the nets
Nodes are the individuals who are members of a network; links are the relationships or
connections between and among nodes.
Node
Node
Node
Node
Node
Link
Net
Fixers’ networks and networks of fixers
Other elements
(Prell 2002)Dyads, Triads, Sub-groups and Groups
(Stephenson 1998)Hubs, Gatekeepers and Pulse-takers
(Allen 1976)Bridges, Liaisons, Stars and Isolates
(Nardi et al 2000)Knots, Subnets and Core Groups
(Krebs 2004)Spokes
(Boissevain 1974)Coalitions, Cliques and Factions
(Barnes in Mitchell 1969)Clusters
These network elements are comparable in terms of their converging and diverging features.
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Fixers’ networks and networks of fixers
Power of networks
• Betweennes• Closeness
• Strength• Reciprocity• Symmetricality• Multiplexity• Appropriateness
of behavior
• Strong ties• Weak ties
Morphological power
• Anchorage• Density• Reachability• Range
Interactional power
• Content• Directedness• Durability• Intensity• Frequency
Krebs(2004)
Waldstrom(2001)
Granovetter(1973; 1978)
Mitchel(1969)
3 ways to understand networks (Monge and Eisenberg 1987)
Positional (roles and positions)Cultural (norms and interactions)Relational (relationships)
Motivational structure of fixing
Continuum of fixing activities:Why people go to fixers
Expedite transactions
Falsify documents
Simple Facilitation Random Fixing Systematic Fixing
Motivational structure of fixing
Fixing is not static. It operates on a continuum that involves the basic components of facilitation and falsification.
The level and rate of these components increase depending on the extent of fixing and the forms involved in the process.
Expedite transactions
Falsify documents
Simple Facilitation Random Fixing Systematic Fixing
Continuum of fixing activities:Why people go to fixers
Expedite transactions
Falsify documents
Simple Facilitation Random Fixing Systematic Fixing
Tools of the trade: connections and pecuniary/non-pecuniary tariffs
low density networksless organized connections and random “tips”
high density networksmore organized connections and regular “commissions”
Network structure and shifting roles of fixers
Continuum of fixing activities:Why people go to fixers
Expedite transactions
Falsify documents
Sideline and insider fixers:Government officials and employees
Full time professional fixers:private individuals and outsiders
FacilitatorAgentSpokesman
BrokerInfluence-PeddlerTroubleshooterBumberoDoctor
BagmanExtortionistSwindler
Simple Facilitation Random Fixing Systematic Fixing
Network structure and shifting roles of fixers
Continuum of fixing activities:Why people go to fixers
Expedite transactions
Falsify documents
Sideline and insider fixers:Government officials and employees
Full time professional fixers:private individuals and outsiders
Permit FixingRecords Fixing Identity Fixing
News Fixing/News Twisting
Case FixingClaims Fixing
Price FixingGame Fixing/Sports- match Fixing
Simple Facilitation Random Fixing Systematic Fixing
Types of fixing and shifting roles of fixers
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Corruption is both an act of individuals and a work of society.
We have to understand how individuals formand transform society, as well as how societyshapes the actions of individuals.
One approach is through the understanding of “social capital” – the people’s connections.
Connections are the building blocks of networks.
The book looks deeper into the networks of fixers through the dark side of social capital.
3 Types of capital (Lin 2001; Milani 2003; Warren 2004)
Physical capital includes wealth, assets and investments in productive physical things such as lands, machinery, equipment, tools and instruments. Also stock of assets through physical and economic capital.
Human capital refers to investments in productive capacities of the self such as education and health. Also stock of skills (competencies, credentials, etc).
Social capital is the accumulated value of people by virtue of their networks and connections with other people. It is productive investment in social relations with expected returns; it is a social asset by virtue of people’s connections and access to resources in the network of groups of which they are members. It is also the stock of relationships and values.
What people have!
Who people
are!
Who people know!
Bjornskov (2004); Uslaner(2001); Bjornskov and Svendsen (2003)
social capital prevents corruption!Because of the social capital elements of trust and honesty in society, social capital is treated as a tool to combat corruption since it promotes and reinforces honesty and trust among people.
In fact, corruption destroys social capital because of reverse causality!
In reverse causality, people tend to lose trust and honesty, thereby destroying social capital, if they see corruption as an effective means to an end.
But social capital also promotes and reinforces corruption!There is a different kind of social capital that emerges in corruption.
In fact, there is social capital between and among the actors and networks in corruption.
It is precisely this social capital that binds and holds corrupt people together in order to carry on their corrupt acts and practices.
““It would not be enough to find social capital and expect good things to follow. As not all push for the public good, and since “governance” is not necessarily “good” or “effective,” so we now find that the dense networks of relationships of trust and solidarity –a standard definition of social capital – may support not only public trust but also its betrayals.
Dr. LedevinaV. Cariño in Foreword
It is not always that social capital is a herald of socially desirable outcomes. It is also a shrewd harbinger of shady and shadowy networks that are not beneficial to the society in general.
Social capital can also have negative effects, specifically through the development of strong cliques and “old boys’ networks” which can also embed social distortion, inequalities and injustice.
Underground networks and dark side of social capital
Warren (2004)
Social goodproduces democracy, education, prosperity and economic development, family cohesion, civil society, good government and people’s empowerment.
Social bad brings about terrorism, organized crime, kidnapping, cartels, corruption and syndicates.
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Cultural breeders that reinforce fixing
Culture of expediency: cannot wait and fall in line
Eleventh-hour culture:pay on deadline
Rent-seeking culture:earn on the side
Culture of personalism: personal accommodation
Culture of predilection towards networks and connections
Culture of mediocrity:cannot learn, do not readdo not follow instructions
Culture of reciprocity:give and take,payback timeFixing
Externalization of Internal and External Actors
Proliferation of Stationary Banditry
Widespread Reverse Causality
Cultural Damage
Major Laws and Executive Fiats on Anti-FixingRepublic Act 9485Anti-Red Tape Act of 2007
Memorandum Circular No. 35 s. 2003/Office of the PresidentPublication of Service Guides and Posting of Work Flowcharts in All Government Agencies and Public Offices
Memorandum Circular No.120 s. 2003/DILGAnti-Red Tape Program for Local Governments
Memorandum Circular No.148 s. 2004/Office of the PresidentProhibiting Fixers in Malacañang Premises
Other applicable provisions: Revised Penal Code of the Philippines/Act No. 3815Anti-Graft and Corrupt Practices Act/RA 3019Code of Conduct and Ethical Standards/RA 6713Government Support Programs: Ombudsman’s Public Assistance Program; CSC’s PASADA and Mamamayan Muna Programs
Major Laws and Executive Fiats on Anti-Fixing
Republic Act 9485Anti-Red Tape Act of 2007declares fixing as a grave punishable offense
mandates for limiting up to 5 signatories only in any document
production of citizens’ charters in government offices
conduct of report card surveys
establishment of complaints’ desks
This book is about fixers, but in the final analysis, it is really about fixing the problems that make our society
vulnerable to fixing!