THERE has been an aversion to the word “consultant” in public discourse. It has been associated with a highly paid superfluity, of an unnecessary expense, of being imposed by foreign funding agencies. It has also been associated with corruption, with public officials using it as a blanket label for those unqualified relatives, friends and supporters that they hire. The Commission on Audit (CoA) has repeatedly red-flagged the expenses incurred to pay for these kinds of services.