|
Chairman Bayani Fernando of the Metro Manila
Development Authority (MMDA) has acknowledged his intention to run
for president in the 2010 election as a candidate of the
administration party, the merged Lakas-Christian Muslim Democrats
and the Kabalikat ng Malayang Pilipino (Kampi), founded by President
Arroyo.
With that admission, the people
now see the real reason for the proliferation in Metro Manila of
huge billboards bearing Fernando’s photo, and that is to advertise
himself and his presidential bid.
Confronted by reporters on the
billboards issue, Fernando made a lame denial. “They [posters] are
not for political campaign because I don’t smile in them,” he
said. “When you see me smiling in those posters, then you’ll
know I am campaigning.”
The truth behind the propagation
of those Fernando posters lies in his statement which breathes the
fire of his ambition to level up with his potential presidential
rivals in an image-building race.
“I can’t be shy,” he said.
“I could barely reach 200,000 people in a split second. If I start
two years from now, how will people know me? My rivals are on
television everyday.”
Fernando strikes many people as
an incurable optimist who feels he can win the nomination as the
administration’s presidential candidate in the 2010 election.
There is Vice President Noli de Castro who looms large as the
logical standard bearer, being next in line to the nation’s
highest office, as his chief rival.
In two recent poll surveys, one
by Pulse Asia and other by the Social Weather Stations, de Castro
came out with high marks in popularity rating among presidential
contenders.
Other administration presidential
wannabes should be reckoned with—Quezon City Mayor Sonny Belmonte,
Sen. Richard Gordon and Defense Secretary Gilberto Teodoro.
Fernando has not run for any
national office, his experience limited to his winning the mayoralty
of Marikina many years ago.
What has he to show that he has
what it takes to become president? He has been excoriated as a
“harsh disciplinarian” who puts a premium on law than on people.
The ruthless campaign being waged
by his office against illegal street vendors and estero squatters
has become a major issue against him. His demolition policies have
been hissed down by human rights advocates as “heartless” and
“repressive” against the poor.
His critics concede that the
majesty of the law must be upheld but argue that the law has a moral
basis for its enforcement with justice and compassion. As happened
in many demolition cases, poor squatters were thrown out into the
cold without any preparation for their temporary refuge.
But Fernando stands his ground,
saying he has a duty to perform and has been doing it with
equanimity for the greater good of the greater number of people. His
mandate, he says, is to enhance the flow of traffic (with regard to
the demolition of illegal street stalls) and protect the lives of
riverbank dwellers from floods.
His temperament and leadership
style appear to have been inspired by Singapore’s elder statesman,
Lee Kuan Yew. Like the Singaporean leader, he has a hard-edged glint
in his eyes and a stern face that lends daunting presence.
He has a good reason for
idolizing Lee Kuan Yew, the man who has made Singapore one of the
best-run countries in the world and one of the economic tigers in
Asia. In Lee’s country, cigarette smoking is restricted. The sale
of chewing gum is banned and young men’s haircut is regulated. The
government is hard on drug abuse and sexual promiscuity.
These are the hallmarks of
national discipline that Fernando wants to instill in the Filipino
people.
If elected president, Fernando is
expected to wield a liberating influence on the country’s
political culture of laxity and permissiveness, which has resulted
in the deterioration of moral values, the decline of the economy and
the rise of corruption.
He believes that Lee Kuan Yew’s
brand of leadership will work in the Philippines. He said he had
tried it in Marikina when he was mayor and succeeded in transforming
it from a squalid community into one of the cleanest and finest
cities in the world.
If elected president, he hopes to
replicate that success on a national scale. The key to its
realization, he said, is national discipline.
Will Fernando’s political
philosophy work? Can he be prove himself to the people as really a
new kind of leader not cut from the same cloth as the “trapos”
(traditional politicians)? Will he make a difference in the lives of
the people?
He can only say, “try me.” 
agr0324@yahoo.com
|
