A state of anticipation

“I called on the people to gather the scattered stones of the edifice and build anew.

Despite the great losses sustained, I felt no regret that we had completely restored democracy. For I had not been called to power to achieve economic progress at the cost of the ideals of the Revolution that swept me into office.”

 President Corazon C. Aquino’s Second State of the Nation Address

On Monday, President Benigno S. Aquino III, will deliver his second State of the Nation Address on the exact same date, 23 years ago, as then President Corazon C. Aquino uttered the foregoing words as part of her second SONA.

In many ways, we find ourselves in a similar situation. We continue to recover from the excesses of an administration that was beset by allegations of widespread corruption. News of days past tend to corroborate the theories that there was massive cheating in the 2004 and 2007 elections. Admittedly, it is tempting to get, as when faced with any challenge, battle-weary  if not, downright skeptical and demand “closure” by “moving on.” Just as the fact of these witnesses’ resurfacing demonstrates, the issues that we leave unsettled have a way of bobbing up to the surface.

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Historical tidbits: Our SONA is patterned after the United States’ State of the Union address. But while our President is constitutionally mandated to address the Congress at the opening of its regular session (which occurs on the fourth Monday of July), the American President is not  he does so only “from time to time give to the Congress Information on the State of the Union.”

The first State of the Union was delivered by George Washington on January 8, 1790 in New York City, which at 1,089 words, remains the shortest address on record. Thereafter, it was used as an end of the year recap given in December until the ratification of the 20th amendment in 1934 which changed the opening of Congress to “January 3 unless they shall by law appoint a different date” that led to the current practice of the address being delivered during the last Wednesday of January.

The address is not always given by the President. In fact, in 1801, Thomas Jefferson simply sent his speech to Congress to be read by a clerk, claiming the delivery of the address in person was too monarchial.

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I do not know what this year’s SONA will contain. I hope that, as President Cory did in her 2nd SONA, it will be just as forthright as her statement: “How well we have succeeded, it is my distinct pleasure and pride to report. How far we have fallen short of our needs, it is our unavoidable duty to acknowledge and rectify.”

That being said, I understand where we are all coming from. (And by “we,” I mean all of us Filipinos who are engaged in this task of promoting good governance  ”we,” the people who are now in government service, and “we,” the Filipino people whom we serve.) It is tempting to immediately demand and expect results. It’s been one year, after all. How do we, however, demand without being demanding?

We in the new PCGG inherited a severely damaged institution, nearly 10 months ago. Its reputation was shot, and the morale was low. (Several months later, certain newspaper columnists still criticize “us” on the wrong factual premise  deriding “us” when they meant to say and were actually referring to the “old” Commission.)

Substantial time and effort was spent trying to “clean up” the institution. We discontinued excessive and abusive past practices. We inventoried, audited, and scrutinized past transactions. It was, after all, not enough for us to just stem the tide, we had to proactively seek ways to fine tune and, whenever possible, rectify.

Our experience of the past 10 months is, in some ways, similar to the larger work of the Aquino administration. If our Republic were a construction project, then there would at least be the alternative option of leveling everything to the ground  to start from scratch, and create a brand new edifice. But such is not the case in building a country. You have no choice but to build (and hopefully improve) upon the poor choices of your predecessors.

Nothing really prepares one for government service. Degrees in public administration can only prepare one conceptually. At the end of the day, there is only one way to learn  and that is, to do. And, sometimes, it’s not the easiest thing to do, when there are still many lingering issues (and sinister forces) that get in the way.

We rode upon a crest of hope full of expectations but soon thereafter, such hope was partially transformed into an impatience that started demanding immediate results, and our expectations could only be met with the unsatisfying assurance that these things take time.

But things have happened and goals achieved. Earlier this week, the IMF commented that the Philippines has exceeded their expectations, posting a growth rate of five percent (instead of the projected four percent). The IMF also notes that with “the positive sentiment” in the country, there is a window of opportunity for further reforms that could raise “inclusive growth.”

A philosopher (whose name escapes me now) said that hope can only exist in a state of not knowing. Put simply, it’s only when you can say that “you don’t know” that you can be said to be hopeful. To this, I would add that the challenge of making democracy work is to be that bearer of hope: that is, of struggling to find out the answers and doing them, in order to contribute to the common good.

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Like most Filipinos, I look forward to listening to Monday’s SONA: to pick up on what can be improved and strengthened, and to take comfort that there has been a palpable change in the way our country is being governed.

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“Just pray for a tough hide and a tender heart.”  Ruth Graham

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