This country needs transformation

The Institute of Corporate Directors (ICD) held a meeting at the Marco Polo Plaza Hotel initiated by Good Governance Guru Prof. Jess Estanislao hosted by Marco Polo’s General Manager Hans Hauri who is also an ICD fellow to talk shop and see what we can do to help the people in Northern Cebu to get up on their feet. I initially thought that this was supposed to be the job of rehabilitation czar former Sen. Panfilo “Ping” Lacson, but then we Cebuanos just cannot wait for Lacson even to come and visit Cebu. For sure, his mindset is for the rehabilitation of Tacloban City. So we decided that we ought to do these ourselves.

One suggestion that surfaced amongst the many suggestions was to help the beleaguered poultry industry in Bantayan Island. So the question is whether the poultry industry has an association whom we could talk to. If anyone knows if such an organization exists please email me so we can sit down with this group and find out how best we could help this industry. Dr. Estanislao wanted our group to showcase something that the private sector can show to the world, that we can do things even without government help.

Also discussed on the table was about the book “Why Nations Fail: The Origins of Power, Prosperity and Poverty” by Daron Acemoglu and James A. Robinson whose byword was “inclusive growth,” and ever since this book came out of the press, soon everyone was using this byword in order to ensure that everyone gets on board the economic success of our country. Sadly, for as long as the political elite are in control of our government, I don’t see anything in the horizon for the last three years of the Aquino regime.

In short, this nation will be coasting along for the next three years without any hope or improvement in sight because Pres. PNoy Aquino has already proven to the nation and the world that he cannot rise up to the challenges of nation building. In short, Pres. PNoy is just taking things in stride trying to survive in the Office of the Presidency. But in so doing, he is wasting our precious time. Our country needs to be fixed and we needed it yesterday. But then we know that Pres. PNoy doesn’t really give a damn.

Dr. Jess then gave us a Powerpoint for our country to embrace a new byword… and he used the term “transformation.” Mind you, this is not the first time that I encountered people using this word. But think deeper about this word because this is what our nation needs today. As we wrote several times in the past, the 1986 EDSA Revolt was an unfinished revolution that was hijacked by the political elite who feasted themselves into the nation’s coffers… and corruption has only gotten worse.

Pro-Aquino people may tout about the improvement of the corruption index, but then learned about those fake Special Allotment Release Orders (SAROs) that were uncovered by the National Bureau of Investigation (NBI) under the Aquino Regime, which many people believe is just the tip of the iceberg. So at this point we must all embrace this new order called “transformation,” otherwise it will always be “same as usual” for the Philippines.

If there is any group that has adopted the “transformation” mode, it is the Catholic Church. No less than Pope Francis has called for “Big Chances” in the Catholic Church when he said “The church needs to rethink rules and customs that are no longer widely understood or effective for evangelizing. I prefer a church which is bruised, hurting and dirty because it has been out on the streets, rather than a Church, which is unhealthy from being confined and from clinging to its own security. I don’t want a Church concerned with being at the center and then ends by being caught up in a web of obsessions and procedures.” Transformation is what the Catholic Church needs. But will the clergy respond positively? We’ll soon find out.

I read that Freeman news report that the Commission on Elections (Comelec) annulled the May 2013 proclamation of Baybay City Mayor Carmen Cari because of an illegal composition City Board of Canvassers (CBOC). So in the end, this Comelec resolution effectively withdrew the proclamation of Mayor Carmen Cari (LP), but it did not install contender Marilou “Malot” Glendora to the Office of the Mayor.

I’m writing about this case because I recall that a few days after the elections, Malot Galenzoga accused the newly-proclaimed Mayor Cari for doing terroristic acts and violence and illegal arrests. It just makes me wonder if the Department of Justice (DOJ) has taken cognizance of that case, after all, Cari belongs to the Liberal Party (LP). So now the City of Baybay has been rendered “headless” while a new City Board of Canvassers would have to be convened. Again, this case gives you an insight of how bureaucratic the Comelec has been because it is too centralized. What the Comelec also needs is a complete transformation, just like everything else in the government.

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