Lessons learned

Two days from today a new set of officials will be sworn in and will take over the reins of power in our country. Filipinos look forward to that day with great expectations simply because a more trustworthy leader in the person of P-Noy will be at the helm of the ship of state. He will be the 15th President who has been given the opportunity to lead this nation; and people are pinning their hopes on him to finally rid the government of the plague of corruption which he has correctly pinpointed as the main cause of poverty in this land when he adopted that captivating campaign slogan, “kung walang corrupt walang mahirap”.

The task really looks daunting and the burden quite heavy especially because the same old faces still dominate the political landscape in the lower government level. Even before assuming office, P-Noy is already beset with problems usually attached to the most powerful position in the land foremost of which is, well, what else but how to properly handle and use that power.

Undoubtedly, the President of this country is more powerful than any other Chief Executive of any other country including the U.S. simply because under our system of government, the power is more centralized and concentrated in the Executive Department. We may have the principle of checks and balances but this is only good on paper because past events have shown that the president can hold sway and almost control Congress and the Judiciary which are the other supposedly independent branches of our government.

Indeed right now P-Noy is already encountering some turbulence in choosing his cabinet, the A-team that will help him navigate the ship of state for the next six years. As usual people are scrambling all over to win his attention and to be in his good graces purportedly because they want to help him in rendering public service. Even before he takes his oath and assumes office, P-Noy is already having a taste of the power of the presidency as the public and media lavishly give him attention and adulation and as great numbers of people troop to his residence asking for all sorts of favors.

There are truly many pitfalls and obstacles in achieving his promised goal of eradicating or even minimizing corruption. But I am sure P-Noy has picked up certain lessons from the past which some former Presidents, particularly the outgoing President, failed or refused to heed. Foremost of these lessons is that everything in this world is just temporary and will sooner or later come to an end. A leader may try to hold on to or retain the power and influence of the office he holds but ultimately he will have to lose them or give them up. The power and glory of this world passes, (sic transit Gloria mundi). This is especially true with regards to our elected president who can only serve for six years only.

Six years is indeed a short time to achieve his goals. Hence from day one, P-Noy must stop playing politics and giving out political accommodations. He should not be distracted by the factional strife within his party mates, relatives and friends or with the elected vice president who is making so much political noise after failing to get the portfolio he wants. There is no reason for him to resort to politics while he is already in power because he could not prolong his stay in office beyond six years anyway. He should concentrate in ensuring that the members of his A-team will share his own vision of a less corrupt government and a more prosperous nation under a regime of justice and peace.

The second lesson that P-Noy must have surely learned is the admonition coming from Lord Acton who warned that “power corrupts and absolute power corrupts absolutely”. He must have seen how his own mother the late President Cory felt so uneasy in having too much power under a revolutionary government established after EDSA I and how she expedited the promulgation of the Freedom Constitution for the immediate restoration of democracy in this country. He must have learned from his own mother how to gracefully and willingly relinquish power after six years of rule even if she could still have sought another term of six years because the re-election ban under the newly promulgated constitution was not yet applicable to her.

Learning from this second lesson, P-Noy will certainly try to resist all pressures to use his power for his own interest or for the interest of those who helped in his campaign for presidency, financially or otherwise. He will certainly not pack his cabinet with people who will promote only their own interest or the interest of others close to them. P-Noy will definitely not use his power of appointment or any other power of the Presidency, to pay back political debts or promote political patronage. In short, P-Noy will use the power of the presidency only for the common good.

Of course, even as we pin so much hope on P-Noy and expect him to deliver on his promises, he also needs our cooperation. We want him to win the battle against corruption so we also have to do our part. For a start, as private citizens we should stop giving in to the demands of kotong cops, patronizing fixers in the BIR, LTO and other government offices or buying smuggled goods.

It is alright to prepare for an elaborate inauguration and make it as memorable as possible complete with a commemorative song for it really signals a new dawn for our democracy and is a good rallying point for unity. But at the end of the day, we should not also forget to pray for our country and for P-Noy so that he may not be overcome by the heady brew of power to which all imperfect humans are susceptible.

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