Osborne and Gaebler wrote this book nearly two decades ago yet its ideas have yet to have a toehold in the Philippines. Some of its ideas, like school vouchers, have been implemented in developed countries and have yielded success. Here, however, bureaucratic sclerosis is still the norm.
For six months, I worked for the government as a defense analyst and there I saw firsthand how taxpayers' money was being wasted. I worked for an office that employed more than fifty people, but spent most of its time providing poorly researched advice to the chief of staff and to other government offices. Officers went on an annual junket to the US ostensibly to discuss the mutual defense treaty, but I heard more about stories of late night drinking. Taxpayers paid for a monthly team-building/drinking session and for two lechons to celebrate the promotion of the big boss. Communication was so inefficient they had to be cleared by five layers before they reached my supervisor's desk, and my own response had to go through the same number of layers before it reached its destination. Worse, instead of email, it had to be hard copy documents with a disposition form on top, and they were hand-carried by enlisted men who either slept or surfed for porn when they had no messenger duties. I myself was guilty of wasting the very taxes I paid by coming in late most of the time and suffering no consequences at all.
I am fortunate to have found a better job after a few months, but I saw how corruption, mediocrity and a sense of entitlement slowly afflict the soul even of the most idealistic of college graduates.
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