Corruption has long haunted Philippine politics. From Ferdinand Marcos Sr.’s authoritarian plunder to post-EDSA (Epifanio de los Santos Avenue) administrations that promised reform but often faltered, graft has remained deeply entrenched.

The greatest tragedy of the Philippine nation may not be its poverty, its corruption, or even its perpetual political crises. Its greatest tragedy is the ruling elite's stubborn refusal to recognize that the institutions governing the Republic are no longer merely dysfunctional — they are approaching systemic failure.

By afternoon, the stretch of asphalt that once carried tanks now carried tension. Forty years after millions of Filipinos flooded Epifanio de los Santos Avenue...