THE TROUBLE with our present government is the lack of responsible leadership. It was different decades ago when we had in fact a surfeit of that virtue.
The American colonial administration recognized the statesmanship of such Filipino stalwarts as Quezon, Osmeña, and Sumulong. After the Pacific War, Laurel, Roxas, Recto, Rodriguez and others kept our democracy alive. Our Republic was later graced by the likes of Magsaysay, Garcia, Tañada, and Diokno, among many others. Aquino was slain because he would not surrender defiance to dishonor. Marcos could have been in our firmament of patriots had he not opted for greed rather than greatness.
This is not to say that our past leaders were paragons of political perfection. They were not, nor did they pretend to be. Many of them had extra-marital relations like Joseph Estrada although not as scandalously as his harem. Vote-buying and private armies maintained a number of them in elective office. Presumptuous candidates won elective positions that later exposed their gross incompetence. And there was also graft and corruption albeit not in the present astronomical dimensions.
Fortunately, the bad apples did not contaminate the rest in the basket. The bulk of Philippine officialdom continued to regard public office as a public trust even before that cliché was incorporated in the Constitution. Many of our past political leaders honored their positions with the strong and sincere resolve to truly serve the people. They did this honestly, to the best of their abilities, and with full fidelity to the paramount public interest under the rule of law.
Regrettably, those exemplary public servants have not motivated their present successors. Where their principles and courage could have inspired the current leadership, their altruism is now derided as impractical and even foolish. Politicians today place more value on pragmatism and its obvious not-so-secret rewards. Selflessness only takes second place, if at all. This attitude cannot be more apparent than in the present condition of the country as emasculated by its immature and irresponsible leaders.
Many who rejoiced over Erap’s ouster are back in the slough of despond. We are again in square one with little hope for our increasingly bleak future. The children are especially threatened because they are especially defenseless. There is no assurance from our present crop of public officials that this land of the morning will ever see the dawn Rizal envisioned. Malacañang, Congress and even the Supreme Court are steadily losing the people’s confidence.
One if not the principal cause of the growing distrust in the government is President Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo herself. Many saw her as the redeemer from the shambles of the past misrule, but that illusion lasted only for a fleeting moment. That is the lifespan of many of her urong-sulong pronouncements that have confused and disenchanted many of her earlier supporters.
Easily the most questionable of her current brainstorms is her announced amiability toward some suspect figures from the Erap years. The remnants of that shameful period are thrilled by the projected appointment of Sen. Blas Ople as the premier member of her Cabinet. Ople was a pillar of the Marcos tyranny and a steadfast defender of the disgraced Estrada. The new President is also welcoming the Puno brothers and Jim Policarpio, earlier rejected as Erap’s courtiers, to be her own advisers — on what?
Although she denies it, the offer of the Cabinet post to Ople is intended to defuse the conflict in the Senate. I like to think that its supposed reorganization was triggered by the effort of the opposition senators to prevent the release of the adverse findings of three Senate committees against Sen. Panfilo Lacson for drug trafficking. I had nagged the Senate in this column about that matter until its disclosure could no longer be delayed. The so-called “new majority” has rejected the report and ordered a new investigation, which will likely be a whitewash.
As unacceptable as La Gloria may be, the opposition under Sen. Edgardo Angara is no less dismissible. His minor talents mock his major ambitions. The two are in fact political clones as unabashed opportunists. Worse, some of their respective companions in the political hierarchy are not even intellectually qualified; they are there because of the bakya crowd, the most malignant bane of Philippine politics.
It is said that in times of crisis, someone emerges to displace the weak leadership and rescue the nation from disaster. During the Great Depression in the United States, Franklin D. Roosevelt became president and brought America back on its feet. Charles de Gaulle rebounded from obscure retirement to restore the pride if not the grandeur of France. Winston Churchill rose from the backbenches of Parliament and made England survive and prevail.
Let us pray that from our present confusion and helplessness there will arise a benevolent and dynamic leader who will point to us the way to better days. I do not believe there is “no credible alternative” among all of us 80 million Filipinos, who cannot be that doomed or beyond salvation.
Justice Isagani A. Cruz 