So it remains by no means clear that the required two-thirds majority of the senators are ready to convict. He's hopeful that Congress will soon pass an amendment to the bank secrecy law to allow regulators to examine suspicious accounts. Both the amendment and an anti-racketeering law must be passed before the world's seven leading industrialized nations will remove the Philippines from a list of countries named in July as uncooperative in fighting money laundering. Politicians were frustrated by how long it took the Senate to gain access to the accounts presented at the trial. Ironically, the very link between politicians and businessmen that fostered cronyism could be the path to change.
Election campaigns are expensive.
For the businesses that finance them, winning privileges in return may no longer be enough. They may begin to ask the government to run the economy efficiently. That would be a change indeed. Review Publishing Company Limited, Hong Kong. All rights reserved.