“Every so-called political party will field anyone with the trait that we have taken to calling ‘winability’ without regard to how he stands on any and every issue or how he got to be where he is.”
by Ducky Paredes
Sometimes one wonders whether anyone ever reads the Constitution, which says: “Public office is a public trust. Public officers and employees must at all times be accountable to the people, serve them with utmost responsibility, integrity, loyalty, and efficiency, act with patriotism and justice, and lead modest lives.”
Is this the actual standard by which our public officials live by? Do we as voters elect only those we expect will live by this standard? If we vote into the highest offices persons who cannot be expected — by any stretch of the imagination — to think of themselves as being ”accountable to the people” or will “act with patriotism and justice” or “lead modest lives” are we not being unfair to our own country and countrymen?
Yet, how often have we voted into office the wrong kind of people because of friendship, popularity and other silly considerations, instead of looking at their core values to check if they are the right kind of persons deserving of higher office?
A study on the Philippine public service by Ariel Ronquillo: notes: “In addition to graft and corruption, the high vulnerability or susceptibility of the Philippine civil service to patronage politics is another serious cause of concern.
“Concededly, many political leaders regard positions in the government as a political largesse to be dispensed to their political allies and close supporters. Thus, instead of merit and qualifications, political connection becomes the overriding, if not the sole, consideration on matters of appointment and even career advancement.
“The situation is particularly acute or pronounced in the local governments every after election, where the poll winners make it their first agenda upon assumption to office the placement of their own people into the service, even if this means the unjustified removal of tenured incumbents. Unfortunately, the reality that the appointing power to many of the key career positions in the Philippine bureaucracy lies with the President, a political figure, only serves to ensure the perpetuation of this unenviable situation.
“Without any doubt, the strong influence of politics contributes to the erosion of the principles of careerism and meritocracy that are the lynchpin of the Philippine civil service.”
When I was in the government service during the last part of the Cory years, I remember being deluged by applicants with endorsements from politicians and others in high office. One, a long time friend, even felt that he had to find godfathers to make himself more acceptable. He came to my office at a bad time. Tartly, I asked him if he was applying for the job because it was something he could do well or did he prefer to be hired because some politician endorsed him? Too bad that he walked away and never came back because his credentials were actually his best endorsement.
Our problem, of course, is that, while a lot of us pay lip service to the constitution and its principles, more often than not, we tend to play the game, as we see how everyone else plays it.
In choosing a President in May 2010, is there any way that we can make sure that the person we choose has principles enough so that he can actually institute changes that will result in a change in our attitudes and the way we regard government, public service, our country and our being Filipino?
Everything begins with culture. We would have successfully changed the day we choose the culture of productivity – where we judge each other by the work that we do and success as excellence at what we do – over what we now have where having wealth, no matter how ill gotten, seems to be what we admire most in others.
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At present, we have no real political parties. What present themselves, as political parties have no commitment to principles – even to processes for deciding on issues and candidates. Every so-called political party will field anyone with the trait that we have taken to calling ”winability” without regard to how he stands on any and every issue or how he got to be where he is.
Politics based on personality alone will not move this country to anywhere good. Every winner will never do anything to institute basic changes in the system, because they won the only way they knew how — by using the values of present system.
Our politicos are so crass that they will do anything and use anyone to gain popularity, which they see as the main ingredient to political success. Sadly, all too often they are absolutely correct.
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An e-mail from “Steady Eddie” (FVR) reads: “By the way, ‘amoy lupa’ tayong dalawa because we like to play golf – not because of age. Mabuhay.”
Like I wrote in an earlier column, FVR is different from GMA. Besides a lot of other things, FVR can see the humor in situations even when he is the butt of a joke. That is a big part of what makes him a great man.
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hvp 08.30.09)
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