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| ON THE OTHER HAND |
| Leadership Crisis By Antonio C. Abaya Written Sept. 16, 2004 For the Philippines Free Press, September 25 issue Yes, we have a fiscal crisis, a financial crisis, a debt crisis and, soon, a power crisis as well. But underlying all this is a graver malaise, and that is a leadership crisis. More and more Filipinos are having less and less confidence in the ability of the political leaders of this country to come up with solutions to our many and multiplying intractable problems. For some reason or reasons that I will not go into now, our political culture seems incapable of bringing to the fore a Lee Kwan Yew or a Mahathir Mohamad or a Ho Chi Minh or a Park Chung Hee or a Deng Xiaoping. Instead, all we get is a succession of one mediocrity after another, election after fraudulent election. Are we a mediocre people because we have mediocre leaders? Or do we have mediocre leaders because we are a mediocre people? In the past 39 years, we have had a brilliant lawyer who gave authoritarianism a bad name by failing to provide economic prosperity in exchange for diminished political rights; a walking saint who could not institutionalize a moral compass; a girlie general who �punished� military mutiny with 30 push-ups, thus encouraging more military adventurism after the first; an illiterate drunkard whose brains got embedded between his two big toes, and a trained economist whose profligate sovereign borrowings and spending, coupled with poor tax collection efforts, are driving us to the poorhouse. What have we done as a people to deserve all this? Is there a way out of our rut? There are hopeful signs here and there. Our economy grew by an annualized 6.3% during the first half of 2004, the highest since 1989. Gringo Honasan ruined all that by launching his coup attempt in December of that year, from which the economy never recovered until 1997. In 2004, Honasan (or anyone else) does not look like he is in a position to do an encore. The caveat here is that , as the experience of our successful neighbors shows, it takes GDP growth rates of 8 to 12% per annum for at least 20 years, and a continuously diminishing population growth rate in that time span, for a country to finally free itself from the shackles of poverty. In 1997, our economy was also on its way to a 6.0%+ growth, but the Asian financial crisis intervened and brought almost the entire region to its knees. In 2004, another Asian financial crisis is not looming in the horizon. But something else is. The price of petroleum remains high, at more than $42 a barrel, and could impact on the world economy this winter when demand could conceivably outstrip supply. We are gratified to read that Speaker Jose De Venecia has managed to twist the arms of business people who had accompanied President Arroyo to China to contribute to a fund to help bail the government out of its financial difficulties. But is the pledged amount of P350m a realizable goal? President Arroyo is also asking the top 50,000 taxpayers to give P1m each to the government, or a total target of P50 billion. Since such donations are tax-deductible, will similar amounts be written off from the tax liabilities of the donors? So how much would be the net gain for the government? We also applaud the move in Congress to reduce by 40%, or to wipe out altogether, the pork barrel allocations of senators and congressmen. Sen. Panfilo Lacson was the first to move in this direction when he made the abolition of pork one of his campaign promises during the run-up to the May elections. But what does this really mean? Senators and congressman do not actually touch the money in their pork; they merely identify the projects that will be funded by it. Those among them who are crooked make money by making sure that the contractors who are awarded the contracts to build these projects give them fat �commissions.� Reducing or abolishing the pork of senators and congressmen merely transfers the privilege of demanding �commissions� to the bureaucrats of the executive departments and/or to the influence peddlers who hover around the President. So what will we have accomplished by this move? And lastly we are appalled at the enormous salaries that executives and board members of government-owned and -controlled corporations (GOCCs) have voted for themselves. And we applaud President Arroyo�s directive for them to reduce their take-home pay or else face dismissal for non-compliance. The Philippine Daily Inquirer (Sept. 16) published a list of 200 executives and board members of GOCCs and their fat salaries and perks. Their milking cows are duly recorded: PNOC, PCSO, SSS, BSP, DBP, BCDA, GSIS, SSS, etc. But conspicuous by their absence from that list are the executives and board members of Pagcor and Napocor. Are we supposed to believe that these entities are citadels of asceticism and self-denial? Like it or not, President Arroyo has to take command responsibility for this gluttonous self-indulgence in the GOCCs. After all, she has been president since January 2001, not since July 2004. It is unacceptable that she knew nothing about these astronomical salaries and perks. She knew but chose to do nothing about them, until only now, for her own, almost certainly political, reasons. The Big Question is: when the fiscal crisis, the financial crisis, the debt crisis, the power crisis and the population crisis finally converge, as they inevitably will, in the coming months or years, will President Arroyo still have the moral ascendancy to continue to lead this country and to ask for yet more sacrifices from an exhausted and demoralized people? Or will her approval rating plunge so low that she will not be able to govern? An SWS survey conducted August 5-22, with 1,200 respondents, showed that 55% believe that GMA�s rival in the May elections, FPJ, was �definitely/probably� cheated, while 41% believe FPJ was �probably/definitely� not cheated. As a direct result of that perception, GMA�s net approval rating (approval points minus disapproval points) has plunged from +26% in June to +12% in August. What will it be in October? There is no longer any doubt that President Arroyo benefited from massive cheating in May, especially after the supposedly neutral citizens� watchdog Namfrel was shown by Roberto Verzola�s statistical analysis to have engaged in selective tabulation of vote counts favorable to her, precisely to mask the massive cheating in the official canvass. (See my article �Namfrel and Fraud�, Aug.12.) My own analysis showed that GMA would have won, though by a slim margin, even without the massive cheating. (�GMA By a Hair�, May 13). And Verzola�s extrapolation from Namfrel�s (deliberately?) incomplete tabulations If President Arroyo stumbles and falls or is pushed by the wayside, like Marcos and Erap before her, can this country expect better leadership from Noli de Castro or Fernando Poe Jr.? If your answer is No, as it is mine, then we may be overwhelmed by the magnitude of our leadership crisis. ***** OOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO Reactions to �Leadership Crisis� Dear Tony, We are well cultured and educated people. What we lost / lack is civic-mindedness which I believe is a result of WW II ..... and our government has unfortunately never thereafter made an effort to develop this so very important social ingredient in our youth. "Are we a mediocre people because we have mediocre leaders? Or do we have mediocre leaders because we are a mediocre people?" Dick Powell, [email protected] September 20, 2004 wwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwww Am attaching my reply to Linda Panlilio on your article which she emailed to me earlier. Thanks for emailing to me the same article of yours. Tita de Villa, [email protected] Former Philippine Ambassador to the Vatican September 20, 2004 What a dreadful pit we have dug for ourselves. All the crises you mentioned - fiscal, financial, debt, power - all come, I believe, from one root, a crisis of conscience. Conscience is the aboriginal vicar of God in each person that distinguishes what is good and what is evil. Conscience is there before religion. I guess we have allowed so many things, destructive things to gnaw at our conscience - individual and collective - that we have come to accept what is evil as part of our dailiness. Worse, what is evil is confused as what is good. And we have lost the energy, more so the vision - individual and collective - to re-form and re-create ourselves, our families, our communties, our nation. But I have not lost hope ... I cannot lose hope because of our faith. And for me, the greatest mystery of our faith is that Jesus lives, that he lives in us. This impels those of us who understand and live our faith towards that generous audacity to re-assert God in our lives, institutions like marriage and the family as guarantors of our future, as well as human values of sharing and solidarity that recognize the other as part of me. Tita wwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwww Very good article, Tony. I'm one of those who you said have no more faith in our leaders. It's not because I campaigned for FPJ. To your leadership crisis, I will add "institutional crisis." The DOJ, PNP, NBI, Comelec, NSO, etc. heck even Namfrel, the CBCP, and Code_NGO - they have lost credibilty in the last elections. Even assuming GMA is now sincere (doubt that), can she collect taxes if an institution like DOJ is headed by a politician and is perceived to be corrupt? Will the DOJ go after tax evaders or just extort money from them? Because I'm so disillusioned with how things are, I have stopped writing. Am trying to concentrate on my own entrepreneurial endeavor, that has nothing to do with government. Regards, Toti Chikiamco, [email protected] September 20, 2004 wwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwww dear mr. abaya, thank you for including me in your mailing list for your articles. your articles are well written, informative, and mind challenging. it is well worth the time spent reading them. in fact, i always look forward for the next one. i have changed my email address. would you be so kind to henceforth send the article to the following email address: [email protected] i always forward you articles to the members of my circle here in alabang. thank you. manuel espaldon, [email protected] September 21, 2004 wwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwww Dear Tony: Congratulations on your great articles, which trigger thinking from your readers. Hopefully, it won't be too late for such thought to be channeled into meaningful action so that we can give our children a safer and better Philippines. Tito Osias, [email protected] September 21, 2004 wwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwww Dear Mr. Abaya, Indeed, the country is in a leadership crisis. This crisis is not necessarily ascribed solely to GMA, or even to Erap but it had been with us since the third republic was inaugurated in 1946. I believe that from President Roxas down to GMA, we have not had a leader who is an embodiment of the lofty aspirations of the Filipino people. Contemporary Filipino leaders have time and again through one-sided treaties, agreements and concessions took the side of foreign interests, as if these were our own. They allowed the degeneration of our cultural heritage and actually stood by as ravaging foreign influence flooded the consciousness of the ordinary Filipino. Worse, our leaders alternately bled the country dry, left it debt-ridden, almost, if not completely bankrupt. Are Filipino leaders really unworthy or is there an explanation to this apparent fraud? Looking at our institutions, we find the ugly head of the colonially-based educational system that Filipinos inherited from the 50 years of American occupation. The system, originally designed to help pacify, subjugate and prepare the Filipinos accept American dominance, with few modifications, continued to be used in educating the Filipinos despite its bias against genuine Filipinos interests. While the system molded the Filipino into a technically and professionally competent person, it left him wanting in patriotism and love for his own country. The defective educational system did not cultivate in him the pride of being a Filipino. He has vague ideas about Filipino greatness. He is not proud that we had Baltazar, Rizal, Bonifacio, Jacinto, Mabini, Del Pilar, great minds of the Malayan race. He is unimpressed by the fact that we were the first Asiatic people to establish a republic, a republic crafted by an intelligent people, a republic bravely defended by a patriotic people faced by certain death, unafraid of the vastly superior army of the United States. Instead, the educational system successfully blurred our glorious struggle for nationhood and planted the seed of subservience and longing for everything foreign. It is not a surprise to find many Filipinos express contempt of their own country of birth. Proof of the turnabout of the character of Filipino leadership from the patriotism of Aguinaldo to the subservient tendency of contemporary leaders can be seen in the fate that the great nationalists - Recto and Tanada suffered in the hands of the electorate. These men, who probably represented the prototype of the patriotic Filipino leaders molded in the ideals of the 1890's were not only maligned but rejected by the very people whom they wanted to lead out of servitude and indifference. So, what lies ahead for Filipinos? We can still bring back the old glory that was when Filipinos stood up and claimed what was theirs. First and foremost let us break the camouflage of history, expose naked the truth and learn from it. The lesson it teaches us is the first principle Filipinos have unconsciously unlearned over the years: no nation on earth will sacrifice itself for another, that there is always something hidden in any magnanimous gesture, some kind of commercial or political gain that one country expects to get in relating with another regardless of what the former claims on the surface. History clearly tells us not to be subservient or mendicant but be resolute, rely on ourselves and be prepared to protect and defend our own interest because another nation will likely be tempted to take it away from us, and we are left to defend it by ourselves alone. If self-reliance and vigilance have become the vision of our future leaders, then we would have arrived as a truly new, independent nation, worthy of the loyalty and support of all patriotic Filipinos everywhere. Yours very truly, Virgilio C Leynes, [email protected] September 23, 2004 wwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwww BEGGARS ARE THE REAL CHOOSERS IN PHILLIPINE ELECTIONS Long before Filipinos became famous for the 1986 EDSA People Power bloodless revolution, we have been known (this notoriety gaining everyday) for having refuted the maxims "Crime does not pay" and "Beggars cannot be choosers." No big fish has ever been convicted much less jailed for grand theft of banks, financial institutions and pre need companies by insiders not to mention the crimes in the highly lucrative business in drugs, smuggling and other forms of economic sabotage. Not content as the power behind police, military and political leaders, some of these shameless fish go on to become politicians themselves. To ensure their victory at the polls, they only have to keep a tight leash on those who directly benefit from their illegal activities and then thru financial assistance (which is a kind term for vote buying) extend their influence on the myopic, selfish lot out to make the most of their ballots. A look at our very small number of individual taxpayers compared to our voting population would not take an Einstein to conclude that beggars by circumstance, choice and habit are the real choosers in Philippine elections. All our elections are bound to disappoint us in our search for leaders who will truly inspire us to attain economic prosperity, social stability and political maturity because the poor and under educated among us who have neither contributed anything to Government nor intend to do so in the near future hold the proverbial key to winning at the polls. They include the lazy that are neither part of the work force nor the labor reserve because they did not study and prepare to be productive members of society. They refer to their votes as sacred but in reality their ballots are simply their best tools to manipulate candidates and elected officials into giving them concessions and favors. While many of them really need Government help, they have sadly developed the bad habit of pleading often demanding so powerfully and incessantly that their collective voice has become the force to reckon with in Philippine politics. Our political leaders realize this only too well that they utilize pro poor advocacies to propel themselves into power. "Those who have less in life should have more in law", "Pabahay para sa lahat", "Pagkain sa bawat mesa", "Katarungan sa mga api", "Erap para sa mahirap" are some of the catchy slogans that have stirred the imagination of the marginalized and oppressed. While they may ask for help too often for the comfort of politicians, the poor and undereducated are the ones easiest to please and dismiss (until elections and mass actions in between). A name, birthday, wedding anniversary, a minor detail remembered especially an autographed picture of a handshake, a visit, etc. are etched in their hearts and minds. They would still give their support in whatever form if the politician-backer were linked to illegal activities even in the light of overwhelming, incontrovertible evidence of his involvement. They would still be counted on in his time of need as long as they had him as a sponsor in a baptism, wedding of a child or a personal comforter in time of grief and need or a benefactor of a favor, however small. The Filipino values "utang na loob" and "pakikisama" have been exploited to the hilt. Corruption has been multiplied a thousand fold because of our feudal practices consistent with these values and traits. Before we can even begin to solve this grave problem, we must first decide to call corruption by its real name- Insult! We must reali zethatwhenweareinfluenced, bribedorcoercedtogothroughaperiodofselectiveamnesiaorcarefullyconsideredrecall, weareinfactbeinginsulted.Whatwearebeingtoldistoignoreoursensesandforgetevery thingwelearnedaschildren.Ibelievemanypeoplebecomesuccessfulbecausetheyhave elevatedthesubtledishingoutofinsultintoanartform.Theyareabletotrampleonotherpeople�s pride,dignityandintelligenceforapricewithbothpartiesfeelingnonetheworseovertheexperience.P Political strategists, media practitioners, etc always play up the mesmerizing term "People Empowerment" in order to maximize support from the masses. The poor, the old, the sick, the disabled, the orphans, the widows, the abandoned, the oppressed and the marginalized have been lumped together with the unruly, lazy and demanding opportunists. They have succeeded in setting up the truly needy with the patently shady people on one hand against the ever trying middle class and successful upper class on the other. Propagandists are never short of tricks to portray a class war where there is absolutely none whatsoever. Rule of the mob may be characterized by a call to action based on an appeal to emotion in lieu of reason. True people empowerment may only come from a well educated, vigilant, courageous, righteous and God fearing populace willing to stand up for truth and justice. Seeking change without violence, EDSA 1 participants were typical catalyst middle class, the educated, the principled, etc. who stood for a cause greater than their own personal agenda. They knew perfectly why they were there unlike the so called hakot crowd whose presence in rallies was often suspicious, trivial and self serving in both nature and intent. Instead of building on the lessons on the futility of an oppressive regime however powerful it may be, Filipino leaders have misused and abused people power to frustrate the search for truth and defy the rule of law. They have alternately done good and evil in the hope that beneficiaries of their good deeds would come out to defend them when they are accused and vilified for irregularities and crimes they actually had a hand in. They deliberately refused compensation for favors granted knowing fully well that recipients would vouch for their magnanimity once their character is questioned. The poor and undereducated may just be too grateful or overwhelmed by a seemingly generous act that they are eager to reciprocate in blind support of a beleaguered benefactor. This brings us to the apparent distortion of the Filipino notion of justice. Even if the proof of wrongdoing is staring us in the face, some of us still doubt the findings and question the manner by which evidence was obtained because our own personal experience with the accused tend to suggest he is incapable of committing such a violation. Our impartiality and maturity are then put to the test. Can we tell fact from fiction, reasonable conjecture from hard evidence, objective analytical thinking from subjective passionate inclination? The Bible says thou shall not show partiality nor take a bribe for a bribe blinds the eye of the wise and twists the words of the righteous. A person who does not have an adequate education is more likely to succumb to bribery because of his tendency to over simplify the consequences of his actions. Typical of a person afflicted with the "What�s in it for me" syndrome, he is so concerned about the immediate or short term, self serving reward and relief for his cooperation that he does not care much about its negative impact on the rest of us. Often, he is too wrapped up in his ignorance and his needs that he considers the agreed compensation as a complement rather than an insult. The potency of education can never be over emphasized as it is the key to nurture the love and care we have for ourselves, our family, our country and our God. I believe the right to vote as enshrined in our Constitution is a major flaw which prevents us from ever achieving our lofty goals of poverty alleviation and overall improvement of our quality of life. All of us must be made tounderstand that Suffrage is first a privilege before it becomes a right. Strictly speaking, we must first satisfy the requirements and possess the qualifications of a voter before we are granted the privilege to vote. Then and only then may we call it our right and demand that our vote be cast and counted. The proof that we sorely miss the point of this most important of all political exercises is our focus on candidate credentials rather than voter qualifications. Let the rich and the famous, the leech and the pompous, the genius and the sourpuss and other egotists and dreamers run for public office. Wealth, experience, competence andintelligence were never guarantees against graft, violence, insolence and indolence. A qualified, enlightened and vigilant electorate holds the lifeline out of the hole we dug ourselves into when we elected our past and present leaders. The aim of this article is neither to belittle the intelligence of the Filipino voter nor frustrate the efforts of advocates of voter education for an illuminated electoral process. Rather, it is to remove the parasites from our electorate so that only those who contribute to Government or at least has intentions of contributing to society may be given the privilege to vote. Justice dictates that only those who have contributed to Government coffers have the right to elect officials who will manage Government spending. Logic tells us that only those who tried to improve themselves to be productive citizens by finishing at least two years of college or a vocational course after high school could be enlightened and taught to really understand the issues. Only then would they be able to seriously consider the short term as well as the long term effects of political stands and platforms addressing these issues. Therefore, only those who have a stake in Government (as income ta x filers if not taxpayers) and in our country�s future (as educated, striving citizens) may demand their right to vote as they realize their choice of leaders would impact on the lives of their grandchildren, too. In my lifetime, I have not heard of a Filipino civilian who in a single act braved certain death for a cause other than his love for his family. Love of country is what each of us would do well to bring back to our lives. While I admire the late Senator Ninoy Aquino, his homecoming was heroic in its bravery but not really suicidal. Had he lived, he would have been President. However, it would surely be a political suicide for anyone to advocate even propose a Constitutional Amendment requiring a genuine high school diploma better yet a vocational certificate or proof of having completed at least two years of college from future voters. Our current fiscal crisis, dire economic condition and worsening political instability call for such ultimate sacrifice, no less. Sent by: Antonio Nantes Guevara, [email protected] September 23, 2004 150 Poinciana St corner Lumbang St. Starosa Village, Sta. Rosa, Laguna OOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO |