I DON?T KNOW HOW MUCH FURTHER THE Philippines has to sink before Filipinos of goodwill realize that we?ve got to plug the holes in the ship and start rowing like mad for terra firma. Or sink with it unless, of course, we act like rats and abandon ship. We are renowned for our patience, but doing nothing about the situation is not an option.

We are witness to a Supreme Court where eight justices?a majority (who are nameless, unfortunately)?have listed Agnes Devanadera as worthy to become a member of the highest court of the land, even though her competence and integrity are under a very large cloud of doubt. How does this choice reflect on their own competence and integrity? Are they thinking of what is best for the country, or what is best for themselves? Because if they are saying that Devanadera is the best of a bad lot, one is ready to supply any number of names?Portia Hormachuelos and Josefina Salonga among them?who have proven competence and integrity.

We are witness to a Senate where 12 members?a majority (who are at least identifiable)?have signed a resolution clearing Sen. Manny Villar from charges involving unethical behavior (at the very least), without waiting for the evidence to be weighed and evaluated, and ignoring rules of procedure if not of courtesy. Their haste in leaping to their conclusion that Villar is clean brings a kangaroo to mind. That Senator Villar is one of the 12 signatories does not speak well of his sense of delicadeza. That Jinggoy Estrada has announced that he is withdrawing his signature doesn?t really help either, even if that means there is no longer a majority, because it merely underlines the fact that a decision was made prematurely.

He says he read all the testimonial and documentary evidence? Gee. When did he have the time? And with whose legal help? Senate President Juan Ponce Enrile, chair of the Committee of the Whole, whose neutrality in this issue is unquestioned, is still sifting all that evidence, and he is a lawyer par excellence.

Alan Peter Cayetano claims that the charges were brought against Villar for political reasons. That may well be. But that doesn?t mean that corruption was not also involved. As a Filipino, I would like to be convinced that he isn?t being cleared for political reasons either. Which is why it would be best to see what the committee report being prepared by Enrile has to say after going through the evidence.

We are witness to politicians changing parties the way they would play musical chairs. In the case of those who benefited from being administration stalwarts, it smacks of political opportunism, wouldn?t you say? And what does that make of the parties that welcome these opportunists?and military coup attempters?with open arms? Politics makes strange bedfellows, one is told?so where are the new politics, the white knights who will finally change, cleanse and reform our society? Does anyone remember when politicians changing parties were so rare that it was considered news? And when the term ?political butterfly? was derogatory?

What do the above situations have in common? Answer: People whose concern for the welfare of the country is far below their concern for their own private interests. It is just such attitudes and behavior that have brought the country to its knees?pardon the metaphor shift.

We have sunk so low that the Millennium Challenge Corp. (MCC), a US foreign aid agency, classified us as a low-income country in 2006, in the same category as Afghanistan, Chad, Nepal, Pakistan, Republic of the Congo, Laos and Bhutan, for heaven?s sake. I realize that the definitions for these income categories may change, but as far back as I can remember?at least since 1965?the Philippines was always classified as a lower-middle-income country. To be considered low-income should be an indictment of our performance and a source of shame.

Ironically, and more shamefully, in spite of the fact that we were classified as ?low income,? we still couldn?t qualify to be a ?compact? country (i.e., eligible for five-year grants) because our performance in the areas of Ruling Justly, Investing in People, and Encouraging Economic Freedom was below the median in at least half of the indicators in these three categories. We also could not qualify because our performance in the Control of Corruption, which was a necessary condition for eligibility, was below the median.

Worse, we have sunk so low that the Philippine government actually seems sorry that the country can no longer be classified as a low-income country so that it can deal with less stringent qualifications.

And worst of all, we seem concerned that we may not get aid from the MCC more than about why we are performing so poorly in the first place: in the Ruling Justly category, we fail miserably in the control of corruption and the rule of law (the median for both these indicators, by the way, is the same whether a country is low-income or low-middle-income); and in the Investing in People area, we fail in four of the five indicators (including girls? primary education completion rate and immunization rate).

So why did we perform so poorly? It should be obvious, but let us emphasize it anyway: because our leaders, in all branches of government, put their welfare above that of the country. And because we, the people, allow them to.