The Philippines has just survived another election season. Almost everything is new in government. There is a new president, a new set of cabinet members and new officials in national and local posts.

The Philippines has just survived another election season. Almost everything is new in government. There is a new president, a new set of cabinet members and new officials in national and local posts. But the challenges faced by the new administration are old —poverty, corruption, debt, insurgency and a host of other enduring problems that mark government inefficiency and inadequacy.