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Based upon on-site observations and field interviews in the northwest coastal region of Mindanao of the southern Philippines, this paper presents a typology of bribery and extortion. The manner in which payola is paid under-the-table in the routine life of locals is discussed along with how such activity appears to be approaching normality. Of concern is how a payola-abundant landscape affects the fieldworker. Several of Donald Black's propositions are given further clarification.
Key words: bribery, extortion, Philippines, Mindanao, Donald Black
Introduction
In earlier years while conducting fieldwork on the northwestern coast of Mindanao, it did not occur to me that as an outside researcher I would be forced to come to grips with the constant barrage ofbriberous and extortionate relationships that pervade the marketplace, public utility companies, government operations, and elsewhere.1 Giving and receiving some sort of payola is second nature to locals, and many would find such near normalized activity rather odd as an object of study. Certainly payola has flourished for a long time and not just in the Philippines. Bribery and extortion are cited in the most ancient documents to include the Codes of Hammurabi, the Old Testament, and the earliest of Egyptian, Aztec, Greek, and Roman texts (Lasswell 1963:690). The following observations were written during a brief research venture in the summer of 2006 and reflect cross-referencing of side comments and anecdotes made in fieldnotes about bribery and extortion over the past twenty years in the southern Philippines (see Austin 1999).
What is Payola?
Actually, the word payola is not commonly used in the research setting. Rather, the term "hip-hip" (to hide or to secretly put something away) is widespread in the Visayan language at the research site. The term "hip-hip" may have originated with a reference to placing a hand on the hip near the wallet to suggest money hidden away in the back pocket. The term "lagay" (to put) is more typical in the national language of Tagalog. "Lagay" can mean to put something (i.e., cash) under-the-table as in a bribe. Also, "lagay" is sometimes used at the research site as street slang for male genitalia that, as with payola, occasionally pertains to covert deviance so the context of word usage becomes important.
In the southern Philippines, one...