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| ON THE OTHER HAND |
| And No Real Choices By Antonio C. Abaya June 12, 2003 When I first met then Indonesian State Minister for Research and Technology, Dr. B. J. Habibie, in 1989 (he eventually became vice-president and later succeeded Suharto as president after Suharto was forced out of power in 1998), his staff gave me a one-man tour of Indonesia�s industrial infrastructure in Jakarta, Surabaya and Bandung. The tour included factories that fabricated (not just assembled) helicopters, twin-engine fixed-wing aircraft, diesel engines, electric generators, telecom exchanges, armaments and munitions, railway equipment, and naval warships and maritime vessels, capped with a visit to a 1,000-hectare science and technology research center manned by 700 Indonesian PhDs and MSs in science and engineering. This in a country that had a literacy rate of only 9% when it won its independence (from the Netherlands) in 1949, compared to the 67% literacy rate that we Filipinos enjoyed when we got back our independence (from the US) in 1946. Dr. Habibie subsequently invited me back to Indonesia three other times, but that first meeting was the eye (and ear) opener. During our one-on-one in his Jakarta office, Dr. Habibie let on that what he and his staff had built in (then) 13 years, �you Filipinos could have built in less time.� Why is that, I asked. �Because the quality of your human resources is superior to ours,� he said. And he rattled off the foundation years of the University of Santo Tomas (1611) and the University of the Philippines (1905). In 1949, all Indonesians with university degrees could have fitted in one, maybe two, buses, with room to spare for their luggage. In 1946, we Filipinos already had tens of thousands of university graduates, including several hundreds with degrees from American universities. (My father and his friends graduated from Cornell University in 1926.) �What you Filipinos lack,� said Dr. Habibie, �is good leadership.� My friend Fil, and another friend, Ding, have on separate occasions assured me that �someone� will eventually emerge who will provide that �good leadership� that this country aches for but has been tragically denied so far. But those assurances have largely been based on probability theory, that out of 80 million people there must be at least one person who can fill that void, rather than on any empirical evidence that there is someone waiting in the wings, waiting to be given a chance to prove his or her worth. ***** As for an �imagined community� that nurtured �deep, horizontal comradeship,� the only Filipino politician I am personally aware of, who had a gut feel for this sense of nationhood and at the same time had the superb communications skills in both Pilipino and English to reach out to the broad mass of Filipinos, was the (unfortunately) erratic Miriam Defensor-Santiago. In 1992, Presidential Candidate Miriam asked me to draft for her her program of government, which I did, the centerpiece (flagship) of which was a program for low-cost housing for the poorest of the poor, to be built by battalions of student volunteers, as I recounted in my article �GMA Revolution Stalling� (February 29). What I did not mention in that piece was that Mrs. Santiago had also asked me to co-author with her a book that would have summed up her personal political philosophy, and she even had a title for it: Shared Destiny. Shared destiny. Imagined community. Deep, horizontal comradeship. They are variations on the same theme. What a book that would have been if she had won, considering her sharp intellect and her genuine appeal to the young people then. Unfortunately for me, I had to beg off from the project. And unfortunately for her, she lost the elections. Or rather, as many believe, she won in the voting but lost in the counting. Since then, of course, Mrs. Santiago has shot herself in the foot, the mouth and the armpit, and few now care what destiny she would have wanted to share with anyone.. ***** What about Gloria Macapagal Arroyo? Can she provide the good leadership that has eluded this nation for decades? Is she capable of nurturing that �deep, horizontal comradeship� among the eternally bickering Filipinos? What choice or choices do we have in 2004? I realize this may not be a popular assessment, but I sincerely believe that, weighing the pluses and the minuses on a balance, GMA has been the best president this country has had since 1965, which, I also realize, may not be saying much, considering the quality of her predecessors. Being president of a fractious and contentious people like the Filipinos is a continuous balancing act that involves divining human nature and defying the law of gravity. In this context, survival in itself becomes a victory of sorts. The title of my article of October 3, 2001 � GMA: The Best There Is, But Her Best May Not Be Good Enough � summed up my impression of her at that time. With some modifications, it holds true for me even now. Readers of this column know that I have egged her on to aspire to be a revolutionary leader in order to bring about some fundamental changes in Philippine society. She has since declared that she wants �a revolution in the way we do and the way we think politics and economics.� Somehow, though, those words are too far ahead of the corresponding actions. Despite the presence of a perceptive resident intellectual in the person of chief-of-staff Bobby Tiglao, she has not gotten around to conceptualizing or articulating an internally coherent, politically focused, economically viable, socially efficacious program of governance that can help bring about that revolution. She and her key lieutenants seem to be just improvising as they go along. But given the appalling choices we face in 2004, the prudent option may be to help her move towards that goal, assuming she is willing to be helped, rather than to give up on her and to give up on this country. The last time I looked, the possible, declared or assumed presidential contenders for 2004 were Eduardo Cojuangco, Panfilo Lacson, Noli de Castro, Fernando Poe Jr., Raul Roco, Teofisto Guingona, Juan Flavier and Ramon Magsaysay Jr. By my old-fashioned standards of political fitness, I consider Cojuangco and Lacson to be morally unfit for the presidency, and De Castro and Poe to be intellectually unfit for it. Roco, Guingona, Flavier and Magsaysay all seem to be decent individuals who more than meet the minimum requirements for high public office. But none of them is inspired or inspiring, none of them is a visionary or claims to be one, and none of them has the personal charisma of a Ninoy Aquino or a Ramon Magsaysay Sr. I am afraid that as the May 2004 election approaches, neither Roco nor Guingona nor Flavier nor Magsaysay Jr. will be able to match the money and the media manipulation that will be unleashed by Cojuangco or Lacson; certainly none of them is likely to be on par with De Castro or Poe in rallying the squealing masa to their colors. Like it or not, as things stand now, the only person who can prevent the election in 2004 of the morally and intellectually unfit is Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo. I do not mind being proven wrong, but I do not see what real choice we have on the matter.. ***** The bulk of this article appears in the June 21, 2003 issue of the Philippines Free Press magazine. |
| OOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO Reactions to �And No Real Choices� Tony, I don't know if you are being serious. But as McEnroe would say, "You cannot be serious." Or are you just being plain optimist? Or maybe you are writing a humorous piece? The thing of it is, if there is not much of a choice in electing a president, why go through the motions? Why not scrap the elections and go on with a charter change? Of course, people like Teddy Benigno will howl. For scrapping the elections would deprive the fun-loving Filipinos of their fun. Tuloy ang ligaya hahit kumakabag and sikmura. Sick! Gras Reyes, [email protected] June 18, 2003 MY REPLY. It�s my turn to ask if you are being serious. Since you are negative towards everything I write, why do you bother to read it at all? Since you think nothing can be done to improve anything in this country, why do you bother to stay here at all? Why not just move to the US, which seems to be your favorite place? Yes, why not scrap the elections and go on with charter change? Why not, indeed? Because you have to convince enough people to your point of view to create a critical mass in favor of what you propose. What have you done to propagate your views? And how many have you convinced so far? ������������������������ a very good article...but why can we not have more choices? we need you who has a sizable readership following to enumberate and help set a criteria for a good leader. I personally am tired of year after year of poor leadership. and if you read boo changco today, this is reflected by the amount of respect we get from our passport. we can not capitulate and encourage more OCWs as this is in reality the new diaspora of our people. the graft is reflected by our society's lifestyle. forget government data...focus on marketing data..its tells us that 90% of our people are poor. 60% in NCR and 96% in the countryside. AB is only 1% nationwide. the middle class is decimated. the lower class is only 9% and the underclass is so huge... and what do we get from the dof and the dti? excuses excuses excuses. our leadership has no vision..no imagination. capital formation is this country is hampered when hundreds of billions each year has to be sucked away to service our foreign debt..but in the world of finance, $54 billion is not a whole lot of money. we just need imagtination, discipline and hard work to pay offour foreign debt. hordes of young men in their thirties are jobless. incredibly stupid..considering we have terrific weather and such rich fertile lands. and contrary to what a lot of government functionaries are saying, still significant amounts of natural resources. at this time and age, we still have fruits rotting in trees and yet people not having enough to eat. dang, its not difficult to run the country, what is difficult is to get elected. we have oodles of resources that our elite and that includes you and I, have lost focus and squandered. the church and the elite have failed this country....time for them to step aside.. but enough of my grousing... what are you going to do about it? [email protected] June 18, 2003 MY REPLY. I can do only what I am in a position to do, write about the problems, offer solutions, which the government and the politicians ignore, and wait for the day when we finally get good leaders�..if I live long enough to reach that future indeterminate day. In the meantime, we have to keep on raging against the night. ��������������������������� Tony -- I agree. so, the wife and i think if there are no other choices, we might as well vote that way. so do a number of friends. regards Johnny Mercado, [email protected] June 18, 2003 ����������������������������� Dear Tony My good friend Peter Wallace introduced you to me one time in Manila: As a an eight year "guest" I must be careful in my commentary: I have been arguing with my friends that GMA must remain and provide a "continuity of leadership" while cleaning the nest of wayward ones -- those with a personal and hidden agenda that cannot see beyond the next sop or how to create it. You mention Indonesia in this commentary and I have seen how that country has developed; how the greatest of risk takers - oil, gas and mineral explorers operate successfully: that is explore: what is more, in business, once you pay the agreed amount, that is the end of it: no more coming back. It is said that in Thailand you pay under the table; in Indoensia you pay on top of the table -- in the Philippines they want the table too! In toursim I have witness and experienced the birth of Bali and the growth of tourism: I have sat a Jim Baran (sic) beach cafe and counted the planes landing and taking off at Denpasar Airport -- one time about 12 and just imagines the number of people coming and going and the money being poured into the local economy. I too felt very sad at the bomb that destroyed people; but Bali will recover. Will the Philippines recover and be in the arce with its neighbors? I guess that too explains why the country of some 90m people is going backwards: there is no 20 year visison with short, medium and longer term plans. And there is even less leadership and action to make it happen! There is singer in the USA called Willie Nelson who, when strumming his 40 year old guitar with a couple of additional holes, sings a song called: "standing still is still moving to me" and perhaps this describes the Philippines. In the next eight years I hope that the country moves forward.... Brett Taylor, [email protected] June 18, 2003 MY REPLY. Yes, I do recall meeting you. At the Tower Club in Makati, wasn�t it? Thank you for the info you have sent me over the past weeks. Will we ever have the good leadership that we have ached for but never got? Highly unlikely, given the present political system and political culture, which seem to guarantee no more than a succession of mediocrities. Will we ever recover and be in step with our neighbors? There�s always Bangladesh and Cambodia and Laos to feel superior to. Don�t worry, we will continue to do what we do best, muddling along to kingdom come. ���������������������������� Dear Mr. Abaya - I read your thoughts on matters since you seem to have gotten me on your list. Which is pleasing since you always offer something to think about and react to. Now this - on the presidency and the lack of candidates, and echoing a phrase that we always use - "eh sino pa?" which to my mind is the same as another common pinoy expression - "puede na". Underlying these phrases is mediocrity of the thinking process which borders on an exhausted and beaten spirit. Which I do not think suits you. yes it is a leadership issue. and so much more. but why give up? GMA was seen as boring, heartless and cold in the beginning. she changed. now, may continue to read on... Chuki Feria Miranda, [email protected] June 19, 2000 .................................................................................................. You say that Cojuangco and Lacson are morally and intellectually unfit to be President. By implication, you are saying that Arroyo is. Look again! And while you are at it, take a quick glance at her sleazy husband and his cohorts. Sabrina Roces, [email protected] June 19, 2003 MY REPLY. What I wrote was that, in my opinion, Cojuangco and Lacson were morally unfit, and that De Castro and Poe were intellectually unfit, for the presidency. Does that mean that I believe Gloria Arroyo is intellectually fit for the presidency. Yes. Morally fit, also? Yes, relatively speaking. It is a matter of degree. The last time I looked, GMA had not yet been suspected of masterminding the assassination of anyone, or of grabbing billions of pesos of public funds, or of engaging in drug trafficking, money laundering and the torture and murder of activists. She is no angel, true, and neither is her sleazy husband, but no one else in the presidential race and their sleazy spouses are.. OOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO |