Political hibernation

First of all, a warm congratulations to Sen. Sonny Angara for his appointment as the Secretary of Education. It is a big job, a major responsibility that could make or break his political career. It is good that Sen. Sonny seems up to the challenge. It is also good that he is finally stepping out of what looks like some kind of political hibernation over the past six years.

For those of us who hold his late father, the late Senate president Ed Angara, in high respect, we have greeted Sen. Sonny’s first election to the Senate with much expectation. He has the credentials to contribute to the kind of national policy making that the Senate is responsible for. The London-educated son of Sen. Ed took his assignments seriously and those were big assignments including working on the national budget.

Sen. Sonny did not disappoint. His performance had been creditable. He showed good political skills in navigating conflicting vested interests not only from the Senate but also from the House on budget items. He had no choice. He had very big shoes to fill. His father had been a legendary force in the Senate who always had good ideas and the ability to see his ideas realized through legislation.

Offhand, I recall his father’s PERA Law that helps ordinary Pinoys save up for retirement; agricultural and fisheries modernization and the promotion of high value crops. He was agriculture secretary in 1999-2001.

Education was a top priority of Sen Ed. He headed the Congressional Commission on Education (EDCOM) that restructured and instituted wide-ranging reforms in the country’s educational system. He championed the Free High School Act, Commission on Higher Education (CHED) and the Technical Education and Skill Development Authority (TESDA).

Best of all, Sen. Ed Angara was UP president. He must be the best UP President in recent memory. Through his initiative, the general education program was strengthened, a seven-year honors medical curriculum installed, the arts and basic science energized and a multi-campus university organization was put in place. He is best remembered for defending the state university’s tradition of dissent, and obtaining fiscal autonomy. His efforts contributed to upholding its reputation for academic excellence as the country’s premiere educational center.

UP’s insufficient budget didn’t faze him. Sen. Ed rallied alumni here and abroad in a massive fundraising drive both for UP’s diamond jubilee in 1983 and centenary in 2008, when he chaired the UP Centennial Commission. Substantial funds raised went into faculty development, scholarships, student assistance programs and massive infrastructure development.

All these have to be mentioned to remind Sen. Sonny that the bar set by his late father is rather high. It is necessary to do this because it seems that the son has not been as driven as the father over the past few years. It is as if Sen. Sonny made a deliberate political decision to go into hibernation when the Duterte administration came into power.

Sen. Sonny seems to have decided to just go with the flow. He must have calculated that he has time to ride out Duterte and there was no need to risk political viability by speaking out even when speaking out for some basic principles was needed. In other words, he became an ordinary politician.

So, the only times I recall seeing Sen. Sonny on social media was when he played basketball with the Senate team and when he attended social events like the annual ball of celebrities sponsored by ABS-CBN. We didn’t hear from him when the Senate investigated Pharmally and he even voted to oust Sen Leila de Lima from the justice committee. He declined to sign a Senate report calling for abolition of POGOs. Buti pa si Tulfo pumirma. It seemed he was out to prove to the Duterte gang that he was one of them. It worked. He kept his Senate seat when the Duterte group edged out all opposition.

Sen. Sonny’s political hibernation reassured the political puppet masters he was not a threat. Actually, when Sen. Sonny first won his Senate seat, many thought he would complete the ambition of his late father by becoming President one day. He might still do that. But no one has attempted to use DepEd as a presidential launching pad other than the late Raul Roco. And Raul’s personality and political presence is so different from Sen. Sonny’s low-key personality.

Actually, as I mentioned in a previous column, the DepEd job is so tough because the problems are so big and entrenched, it is easy to fail. Anyone with political ambitions beyond DepEd must have super human skills to produce discernible accomplishments in the time left to get the work done. I suspect that’s why VP Sara resigned too. She realized that being Secretary of Education jeopardizes her ambition to be President aside from having no qualification and inclination for the job after losing the confidential funds.

Sen. Sonny has more exposure in education than VP Sara, having participated in EDCOM discussions for years. He has a better idea of the problems that need attention. But unlike Senate President Ed who has management experience at UP, DA and ACCRA, Sen. Sonny became a legislator almost straight from graduate school. His management experience, if at all, may be limited to running their resort in Baler. And DepEd is a management nightmare with its bureaucracy of a million people spread out all over the country.

Nevertheless, Sen. Sonny has what it takes to get some of the work done. But he must choose where to focus for immediate impact. Raising the PISA score as BBM wants, is impossible in the next three years.

One last thing… that’s the problem with political dynasties. The son is always compared to the father and it is sometimes tough to measure up. Just ask BBM.

Boo Chanco’s email address is [email protected]. Follow him on X @boochanco