ENDEAVOR
Sonny Coloma
Last month, I was invited to speak to students of a Bacolod city-based college that included many youthful first-time voters. The forum focused on the importance of making informed choices during the coming elections so that good governance may be put in place.
To provide context, I showed the picture of Joel Abong, a severely malnourished five-year old child who was confined at the Negros Occidental provincial hospital before he died in 1985. Another picture was that of Riza Casarmel, 10, as she was spreading fertilizer in the sugar cane field at Hacienda Carmen, near Murcia, Negros Occidental on April 20, 1985 — one of many who had been forced into child labor due to abject poverty.
Widespread poverty was the outcome of mismanagement of the economy and corruption. The Aquino assassination in 1983 also triggered massive capital flight. This was the scenario prior to the holding of the snap election that led eventually to the triumph of EDSA People Power and the overthrow of the Marcos dictatorship in February 1986.
Prior to the forum, I met with a representative group of students to know their views on the state of the nation and how this could be improved. They regarded education as a passport for enabling the masses to climb out of poverty — and that corruption in government is a formidable stumbling block that must be overcome.
During the forum, they asked me to tell them what are the leadership qualities and values of the candidate who deserves to be elected as the country’s next President. I shared with them my insights based on my experience as Communications Secretary to President Benigno S. Aquino III for the entire duration of his six-year term of office, from which I gathered valuable insights.
PNoy’s winning campaign slogan was ‘Kung walang corrupt, walang mahirap.’ (If there is no corruption, there would be no poverty.) This morphed into an advocacy for the straight path (‘ang daang matuwid’).
The “straight path” is primarily defined in the Philippine Constitution — as well as in the laws of the land — that every President swears to defend and uphold. PNoy kept a well-worn copy of the constitution on his desk in Malacañang; it was in the portfolio carried by his aide whenever he traveled to conduct state affairs. Although not a lawyer, he could cite relevant provisions whenever important policy decisions required diligent review and vetting.
“Kayo ang boss ko,” one of two well-remembered applause lines from his Luneta inaugural, is based on the Constitution’s Declaration of Principles: “Sovereignty resides in the people and all government authority emanates from them.”
He had an abiding respect for the common people. His other slogan was ‘Walang wang-wang’; no sirens blaring whenever he traveled on city streets. He was punctual in fulfilling public speaking engagements, following his mother’s example of respecting other people’s time.
He performed his duties with competence and insight. This was most evident when he decided to challenge China’s nine-dash line theory in asserting its claims in the South China Sea. He led the move for fleshing out the ASEAN declaration on a Code of Conduct so that adherence to the UN Convention on the Law of the Sea (UNCLOS) could be assured.
After China conducted extensive reclamation work and established facilities in disputed areas in the South China Sea, he brought the case to the International Arbitral Tribunal at The Hague. He viewed the arbitral tribunal’s landmark decision in July 2016 upholding the Philippine position as an affirmation of the principle that indeed, right is might.
He had a strong work ethic that arose from a deeply embedded sense of responsibility. Despite his aversion to air travel, he needed to perform official and state visits to foreign countries and attend regular ASEAN and APEC meetings. He ensured that his plane would arrive only a few hours before the start of the first official function in a foreign land — and that he and his entourage would go directly to the airport after the last official function was accomplished. He did not want prolonged hotel lodging or idle time abroad.
In summary, PNoy exemplified five leadership qualities and values well worth emulating by the next President: integrity, humility, servant leadership, competence and insight; patriotism and devotion to duty.
He imbibed the principle, “Public office is a public trust.” Integrity implies wholeness, or consistency of thought and action. A person with integrity is anchored upon moral values and ethical behavior. The credibility of PNoy’s advocacy of the straight path was founded on the widely held perception that he himself was incorruptible. He also demonstrated the humility of a servant-leader who truly valued people and exemplified listening, trust and caring.
For his competence and insight, world leaders held him in high esteem. US President Barack Obama invited him to the launching in the United Nations of the Open Government Partnership for accountable and responsive government that involves 64 countries and hundreds of civil society organizations.
His patriotism and devotion to duty is best embodied in this excerpt from his 2014 SONA: “Habang nagsisilbi tayong lakas ng isa’t isa, patuloy nating mapapatunayan na, “The Filipino is worth dying for,” “The Filipino is worth living for,” at idadagdag ko naman po, “The Filipino is worth fighting for.”