Perks

This has to be the news of the day.

Eleven Saudi princes were eventually detained after staging some sort of sit-in at the Royal Palace in Riyadh. They were protesting the decision of the Saudi government to halt state subsidies covering the electricity and water bills of the royal family.

The princes also demanded compensation for the 2016 execution of a cousin convicted of murder. Saudi authorities described the demands as unconstitutional.

The disgruntled princes were hauled off and detained at the Al-Hayer prison near the capital. That represents a massive drop in the quality of the accommodations from that accorded a few months ago members of the royal family investigated for corruption.

Last November, dozens of Saudi royals were detained at a luxurious 5-star hotel while being questioned on shady business deals. This was part of a broader investigation into corruption undertaken at the instance of reformist Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman.

The Crown Prince was appointed head of a new anti-corruption committee last November 4. He has taken to the task with great zeal. It is estimated that the Saudi state has lost at least $100 billion to corruption over the past so many years.

Being the kingdom that it is, much of the corruption in Saudi Arabia is attributed to royals. Members of the royal family head both the key ministries as well as the large conglomerates in an economy where the boundaries between what is private and what is public has been historically blurred.

Several royals formerly detained at the luxurious hotel are said to have paid back billions of dollars to settle their accountabilities. The Saudi state is beginning to behave like a modern government. The process of coming to the 21st century is not evenly welcomed, surely not by the royals who enjoyed power without accountability for as long as anyone can remember.

This latest sit-in gig by Saudi Arabia’s spoiled princes will not be the last incident. The Crown Prince seems determined to drag his country into the 21st century, whether or not this pleases members of the royal family.

By defending their perks and resisting efforts to curtail their entitlements, these princes are behaving exactly like Filipino congressmen.

Spectacle

Today we will witness once more that peculiar spectacle of faith: the procession of the Black Nazarene through the crowded streets of Quiapo. The whole city will be at a standstill for a day or two as a million or two devotees of the Black Nazarene defy the usual norms of comfort to participate in the procession.

The Black Nazarene’s millions of devotees believe that by participating in the grueling procession, their requests will be granted. Many attribute the cure of their illnesses or the good fortune they enjoyed was due to the acts of the Nazarene.

The procession normally takes up to 22 hours to negotiate what is really a very short route. But because devotees try their best to wade through thick crowds to touch the figure of the Nazarene or wipe their towels on it, all the hustling and jostling slows the movement of the procession to a snail’s pace.

Every year, dozens are hurt and many have died in the crowding that goes with the ceremony. The procession is always a test of endurance and the barefoot devotees are pushed to their physical limits to participate.

There are many such processions across several religions elsewhere. But there is none that matches the scale nor the physical challenge of the Nazarene procession in Quiapo.

Everywhere in the country, attendance in masses appears on the decline. Yet every indication shows that participation in the Black Nazarene procession is increasing. Replicas of the Black Nazarene are now available in other places in the archipelago where similar processions will be held. Folk religiosity seems to have trumped conventional religious ceremony.

I have yet to see a comprehensive sociological and anthropological study about why something like this, which borders on mass frenzy, happens. The official hierarchy of the Catholic Church is always hesitant to endorse mass behavior that borders on fanaticism. But it cannot stand against the force of popular faith such as this annual ritual at Quiapo is.

80%

The latest Pulse Asia survey puts Rodrigo Duterte’s trust and approval ratings more than head and shoulder above everybody else. Eight out of ten Filipinos approve of the way Duterte is doing his job and trust him with the responsibility of leading this country.

Considering all the issues thrown his way, Duterte’s poll ratings are remarkable. After 18 months on the job, popular support for the leadership he offers has not waned. The support has, in fact, firmed up.

For a man who disdains self-promotion and the cultivation of a personality cult, for a leader who never hesitated firing loyalists from their jobs and never feared recruiting complete strangers to senior portfolios, the man seems to be defying gravity. The latest poll numbers are bad news for the likes of Leila de Lima, whose only New Year’s wish is to see Duterte go, or Antonio Trillanes who expended his own political capital trying to smear the President.

With his awesome poll numbers (and the meager trust and approval numbers for everybody else), Duterte stands as a singular force defining the course of the nation’s politics. The political opposition is weak and flustered. Duterte’s numbers can only encourage his followers to be more audacious in the changes they want to see.

With Duterte’s dominating numbers, stability should not be an issue this year.