P-Noy creates guiding coalition for change

Today the Phiippines is undergoing major transformations. In economic terms, the country has become the second fastest growing economy in Asia after decades of being the “sick man of Asia” – a legacy from the Marcos martial law regime. In the war against corruption, tremendous progress has been made, although much still needs to be done.

The rule of law is being strengthened.  A former president is in jail and a Chief Justice has been impeached. The transformation of the Philippine education system with programs like the K to 12 will positively change the lives of future generations.

The  high satisfaction rating of P-Noy cuts across income classes and regional boundaries. These major transformations are often associated by most people with one highly visible individual – President Benigno “Noynoy” Aquino. While it is true that P-Noy has provided the kind of leadership so critical to this change effort, this perception has also led most people to underestimate one of the biggest leadership accomplishments of P-Noy.

In the book Leading Change,  John Kotter says that a necessary element in any effort to transform society requires creating a powerful, guiding coalition. This is what P-Noy has managed to do. The biggest failure of US President Barack Obama has been his inability to build such a coalition which has led to his failure to enact the major changes he wanted to accomplish.

In putting together the kind of team that can direct a change effort, Kotter says that four key questions need to be answered.

Are enough key players on board...so that those left out cannot easily block progress? In terms of expertise, are the various points of view – in terms of discipline, work experience, etc. – relevant to the task at hand adequately represented so that informed intelligent decisions will be made? Does the group have enough people with good reputations...so that its pronouncements will be taken seriously? In terms of leadership, does the group include enough proven leaders to be able to drive the change process?

The answer to the first question – key players on board – P-Noy has built a powerful political coalition composed of almost all the political forces that have major following. This includes the Liberal Party  which remains the biggest political grouping in the country. The coalition also includes the Nacionalista Party, led by the Villar and Cayetano families and is potent enough to field its own presidential candidate in 2016. Then there is the NPC whose godfather is Danding Cojuangco; the PDP-Laban led by Nene and Koko Pimentel and other independent groupings.

Another major pillar of this coalition is the business sector led by visionary leaders like Ramon del Rosario Jr. of the Makati Business Club and Greg Navarro of the Management Association of the Philippines. Then there is civil society, especially those associated with corporate foundations, People Power movements and the “yellow forces.”

Among the groups left out, no single force is strong enough to block progress. During the first three years of P-Noy’s administration, the Estrada-Enrile axis was still a major force. However, after the plunder cases, Enrile and Jinggoy Estrada are now in jail. It is not being in jail that has made them lose political influence. After all, when Ninoy Aquino, Jose Diokno and others like them were in jail, they remained potent political forces. It is the fact that there has been no populist movement to demand their release that is evidence they have lost political influence. In addition, their remaining leaders like Sotto and Honasan are either silent or seem lost without the guidance of their political mentor who is in jail.

The forces identified with the candidacy of Binay is in a political dilemma. Their legislative leaders – Nancy Binay in the Senate and Toby Tiangco in Congress – are identified with the opposition. But its main leader, Vice-President Jejomar Binay remains in P-Noy’s Cabinet and remains part of the coalition.

There are three other groups that are now on the fringes of the Philippines and have, at best, negligible influence. There is the group still loyal to Gloria Macapagal Arroyo. Its political heir apparent – Bong Revilla – is also in jail and every time Congressman Suarez is asked whether they will join any coalition, his answer is that nobody seems to want them. Perhaps the congressman is being humorous but there is a kernel of truth to what he says.

The second group is the Marcos-Romualdez family. Foreign observers have said it is truly amazing that these people who were responsible for turning the Philippines into the “sick man of Asia” and of allegedly killing and torturing thousands of dissidents during martial law have the gall to dream of resurrecting the Marcos dynasty to again rule this country. But then how can this be surprising when a broadcasting station had, as its guest, Bongbong Marcos, defending martial law on the eve of 42nd commemoration of that Day of Infamy – the declaration of martial law. This was the same station taken over by the military on that night and its owner put in jail.

The third group, the so-called Left,  is apparently not really interested in change through the political process. Its leaders do not seem interested in legislation. Whenever its leaders give a speech in Congress, they are apparently speaking more for the cameras and microphones rather than trying to convince fellow legislators. Their greatest allies are in media who are more interested in confrontations and fiery speeches than analyzing policy deliberations. In a recent meeting of the energy committee on the issue of emergency powers for the President, the vote was 18 in favor and only 1 opposed. But the only speech given coverage by the media was that of the one person who opposed. BAYAN’s agenda says it does not engage in armed struggle but “respects the right of others to take such an option for the just redress of grievances.”

Even the motherlands of Marxism – Russia and China – have given up on Marxist ideologies and armed struggle. But we have a group in this country that clings to that old internationally discredited ideology even though its leaders continue to live in Western capitalist countries they continue to condemn. The leaders of the Left in the 60s and 70s had the courage and commitment to go to the countryside to fight  for their beliefs unlike today’s batch which prefer to prance around in pink colored barongs and ternos. While others do the fighting they stay in airconditioned offices.

I have covered only the first of the four factors that P-Noy has used in building an effective guiding coalition. I shall write about the next three in a future column.

One of the biggest questions in the 2016 election is whether we can find another person, like P-Noy, who can create a powerful, guiding coalition that can continue to effect change in Philippine society so that our people will have the opportunity to live a life of human dignity.

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St. Scholastica remembers Tacloban

Ryan Cayabyab invites everyone to the Ryan Cayabyab Christmas Concert for the Totally Tacloban Rehabilitation effort of the St. Scholastica’s Alumnae Foundation, Inc. for the Benedictine Community schools and neighborhoods in disaster-ravaged areas in Tacloban.  Cayabyab’s personal note:  “I do only one public concert a year and it is usually a fund raising event for a very worthy cause. This year I have chosen to share my talent with the St. Scholastica’s Alumnae Foundation Inc. and the scholars and communities assisted by the Benedictine sisters…. This is the concert the Ryan Cayabyab Singers staged at the Esplanade in Singapore.”

The concert will be staged at St. Cecilia’s Hall in St. Scholastica’s campus at Leon Guinto, Manila on Dec. 11, at 7:30 p.m. P3,000 and P2,000 tickets are available.. Call Noemi at 5241559 or 5677686 ext. 55, or through [email protected]

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Email: [email protected]