How President Noynoy can lead

There has been a spate of criticisms against President Noynoy lately, some of them personal. Those who have sources at the Palace say he allegedly does not want to be disturbed until 10 am and he does not want to work beyond 4pm. They say he is lazy. He has not had a cabinet meeting for the last three months. And as an added fillip he can’t seem to keep close relations with women. Etc. etc. The trouble with these criticisms is that they have come too late. These should have been considered before he was elected.  

There were people who knew him close enough to know his working habits and leadership capabilities. His dismal record in Congress is public knowledge. His colleagues in Congress both during his stint at the Lower House and the Senate had stories to tell but no one dared to inform the public. There was the rush of putting him up as the presidential candidate of the Liberal Party after Cory’s death and cast him as a sure winner. How he relates to women is his business but word has been going around that there is more to it than just his being a bachelor at 50.

Critics claim that it is the job of journalists to be adversarial to any sitting government. The attacks are made so he can improve and change his ways and become the good President the electorate voted him to be.

In my opinion this is wishful thinking and the time to have decided that he does not have the qualities to make a good president was before he was elected. An honest man does not necessarily make a good president. It requires managerial skills, intellect, ability to select the right people for the right job, and all this in the service of a vision. The problem is less about electing wrong persons to be our leaders than having a system of election and structure of government that allows such elections. It is our presidential system that is to blame.

We have had similar problems in the past.

And it is recognized by more intelligent citizens that the system precludes intelligent choice. In a one man one vote the illiterate vote being the many has a built in advantage. But never has this anomalous set-up come in full force than in the last May 10 elections. More are expressing their dissatisfaction with our defective presidential system with the lesson of the last presidential election.

Indeed it would be a pity if we were to throw away this opportunity to confront and find a solution to this systemic problem. As for President Noynoy, I see him more as a victim than one to be blamed for the system that made him president. 

Now is the time focus our efforts to analyze why we elect such ill-equipped persons to run a troubled country. He is probably right that given the problems of the country one will need to be “”Superman and Einstein combined” <http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/asia-pacific/8674853.stm> .

But that is not what we are asking him to be. I think he deserves a more fulfilling life than becoming the failed president that he is increasingly headed for.

President Noynoy should be advised, persuaded to change the political system that made him a victim. He should lead the advocacy for constitutional reforms that would give us a better system to cope with our economic and political problems.

If he does his election would have a worthwhile cause for the people to rally behind him. He would avoid the unhappy fate that awaits him if his government fails. We need to shift to a system that does not elect leaders on the basis of their personal qualities but on the programs promised and fulfilled.

President Noynoy has enough time to lead us to real political reforms that will earn him a place in history, not as a political laggard but one who was wise enough to know what is good for the country.

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Jackie Leavitt wrote in Global Post about politicians around the world all trying to become a Barack Obama despite what he calls “a sluggish economy to a busted lip and a midterm shellacking.” According to Leavitt all have been trying to copy the Obama’s electoral success one way or the other. He names 10 other politicians around the world who have tried to mimic Obama’s political style whether campaigning or governing.

He writes that “when “Noynoy” Aquino ran for president, he campaigned on a platform similar to Obama’s, promising to fix the political corruption introduced by his predecessor, Gloria Arroyo. The people of the Philippines hope that Aquino will bring back clean, honest, committed democracy. And although he may not get a Nobel Peace Prize he smartly played down the expectations piled on him, saying that a president would have to be a Superman and an Einstein to fix all of the country’s problems immediately”.

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With mounting evidence being presented by Filipino computer experts that something went terribly wrong with the Pcos machines electoral system put up by Smartmatic-Comelec it is impolitic to talk about who the next Chairman of the Commission on Elections should be. The issue has to be satisfactorily answered first.

There are other factors to consider apart from how to select the next chairman.It is good that President Noynoy has said he will “personally screen” the applicants for the post. I think it is too optimistic to hope that an interview is enough. The selection committee for chairman in the last elections of which I was a member interviewed candidates as well as former chairmen except Christian Monsod who declined. We interviewed lawyers specializing in elections.

All agreed that it would take more than just putting the “right people” in the Commission. The Chairman can be honest but what about the infrastructure and the rank and file? They spoke frankly about their own experiences and told the committee that ultimately selected Melo that it was an entire culture the Comelec that needed to be changed. Better to scrap it suggested one respected former commissioner.

Something bothered me about the selection of Chairman Jose Melo then who was initially attacked and described as former President GMA’s candidate.Towards the end of the committee’s findings we received a letter from NGO watchdogs including the PPCRV that their candidate was also Jose Melo. Was there a change of heart between the time they turned down perceived GMA’s candidate and their sudden support for him as also their candidate? Why? Just asking.