Wake up call

Becoming President of a country and running the “Ship of State” is undoubtedly one of the most difficult tasks for any person to tackle. And the task is rendered more demanding and burdensome if the ship is leaking all over and in a state of disrepair like the Philippine ship. Hence it is quite queer and something seems fishy when so many people want to become President of this country. And the weirdest yet is when a priest who has temporarily shed of his frock also aspires for the position. Sometimes it looks funny yet I could not even manage to smile.

Of course any natural born citizen and resident of this country for at least ten years before the election who is 40 years or older, a registered voter and able to read and write can aspire to become president. But if the main vocation of that citizen mainly involves ecclesiastical and non-secular affairs, it is obvious that he is the most unfit or the least fit to cope with the immensely political and extremely secular affairs of the State. From all points of view, his ambition to become President is simply and clearly inappropriate. Such is the case of Fr. Ed Panlilio, the incumbent Pampanga governor who wants to transfer to Malacañang next year.

To be sure, governorship of a province is also a good stepping stone to reach Malacañang. But even his track record as Pampanga governor for less than three years readily shows that he is not prepared and fit to deal with a much larger constituency and to manage a huge bureaucracy. His performance as Pampanga governor is not as spectacular as to capture the people’s imagination of a leader who can save the nation from its present predicament. Indeed his leadership has even been rocked with dissension as his own province-mates once petitioned for his recall as governor.

Undoubtedly, Fr. Panlilio has made tremendous in-roads against graft and corruption in his province. He has substantially increased the province’s income from the quarrying business which had previously gone into the pockets of officials. Reports also say that he has been uncompromising and unrelenting in his crusade to eliminate jueteng in his territory. It seems that he is likewise sincere and has all the good intentions in entering public service. But these qualities are not enough to make him fit for the presidency. So far he has not shown the ability to lead and unite the people and the capacity to govern a nation.

May be too much media attention has influenced him in his decision to run for president. Media has indeed made him a celebrity with an easier name recall. This early, he has shown his tendency to become another typical politician. He has in fact already adopted the usual tack of politicians running for office especially presidential candidates who always used to say that their candidacy is a call from God. This is lamentable.   

Most Filipinos have had enough of the present leadership and the ruling party after almost ten years of bad governance and they are pinning their hopes for a change on the political opposition. But with so many from the opposition salivating for power, chances are the incumbent president will still hold sway simply because her candidate with almost unlimited resources and well oiled machinery will still win the election over so many other candidates fighting for and dividing the opposition votes. The entry of Fr. Panlilio who already announced that he will definitely file his certificate of candidacy for President on November 30, 2009 will definitely boost if not clinch that administration victory. It is intriguing to note in this connection that the President’s own son Congressman Mikey Arroyo seems to be encouraging Panlilio to run.

Fr. Panlilio’s entry into the Presidential race however has some positive aspects. It brings into focus the Catholic laity’s indifference and lack of involvement in politics. Hopefully, Panlilio just wanted to dramatize this apathy when he announced his candidacy. He may just be trying to wake up the lay men and women in this country who seems to be “dozing”. As one Italian Bishop and Vatican aide said, “Catholics need to wake up when it comes to politics and stop leaving God in the pew”.

This is the same observation of Pope Benedict XVI who earlier called for “the birth of a new generation of Christians involved in society and politics” as he addressed Christian communities “who, as far as the formation of new generations involved in society and politics is concerned, seem to be sleeping”.

Indeed Christians should have active role in politics because secularization which is “God’s ejection from the world to the point that he ceases to speak to it” seems to be an unstoppable process. But such role and function belong to the laity rather than the clergy. Lay people are really more qualified and capable of entering the political arena and injecting the needed changes that would make our politics an honest to goodness enterprise for the common good rather than for the vested interest of a few.

And there is still time between now and the next election for the laity to organize and put up a candidate who has not been infected with the harmful political virus polluting our nation now. We have so many capable, dedicated, sincere and honest professionals, businessmen and even public officials who can really make a difference and bring about the changes that Filipinos have been longing for. The distressing developments in our political scene may just be the necessary wake up call.

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