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That the Philippines is not re-ally a state is not a new argument.
From the time of the founding Katipuneros, across countless
revolutions, to the present struggles for justice and equality, the
big black gaping hole is the utter lack of sense of the common good.
Putting economics as the centerpiece of any
administration may be popular given the poverty thresholds. From a
practical perspective, building bridges, connecting farms to markets
and opening airports are the easier parts of governance. Regardless
of the rate of completion of infrastructure or reforms in value
added tax, the missing element is the care of the ordinary citizen
for the res public: the notion that we are citizens together in
betterment, of pride in ourselves, for the purpose of transforming
material well-being to civic-mindedness.
A leader’s first task then, whether in the
beginning of the term or the last years in office, ought to be the
weaving of a single simple narrative that persuasively makes the
case for the Philippine state.
When parochialism and family and personal
interests rule, the state and the people suffer.
When public good prevails, it overrides the
culture of indifference, the cycle of corruption and the tradition
of nepotism. This is the essential message necessary in any state of
the Nation address.
Imbedded into these systemic problems is the
absence of any sense of urgency in the business of government. It
takes seven years to open an international airport—longer than its
period of construction. Permits and licenses and the bureaucratic
processes that come with them still take an eternity of hassles to
secure. Bureaucrats sit on cases and civil servants go on daily task
without an eye for the bigger picture. The state of governance is
directly linked to the quality of its governors.
We have always maintained that the only task of
a president is to find, recruit and keep good people in key posts in
government. They will cascade to create a culture of excellence, a
tradition based on reason, objectivity and merit. For this
administration, each appointment needs be justified to mask
mismatches and any personnel movement scrutinized reflecting a deep
public distrust.
On the latter score, this is where social
capital comes in—that level of trust that exists and takes place
for common stakeholders; of a mutual willingness to trust each other
knowing that ultimately we are dependent on the other—the
beginning of a change in societal mindset that is the cornerstone of
a true Philippine state.
The state of the Nation is thus empty and hollow
in the meantime. We can only take these notes for the President and
to hasten and to move along.
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