Change of heart
President Duterte hit the nail's head when he said in his inaugural address that change must start with every Filipino and in every Filipino. Change of heart is meant here. Change was the center piece of the new president's campaign promise and each of the more than 16 million voters who chose him to lead the country anchored their choice on such promise. Will that change really happen in the six-year watch of the 16th president of the country?
The answer depends upon what kind of change is expected. If it is a change in the form of government - from presidential to federal -there's a great possibility that this can be realized because there now exists in the Lower House a so-called super-majority while a majority too has evolved in the Senate. With this the required legislation for the convening of a constitutional convention can be easily passed in both houses.
With the federalized governance operating in full swing other changes can be effected, such as expansion and equitable distribution of infrastructure projects, including state of the art roads and bridges, fault-free mass transport system and communication facilities, sufficient power and water supply and others.
These imply a robust and inclusive economy which positively affects the quality of life of underserved Filipinos resulting from a radical rise in the number of employed people and an equally radical reduction of the number of marginal families.
These developmental changes, if we call them so, were not specifically mentioned in Duterte's speech, but he talked of serving his countrymen to the full, and what better service is there than to make their lives "better, safe and healthier"?
With reduction of poverty and the availability of more employment opportunities lawlessness and criminality, including the selling and use of illegal drugs will of course be reduced. Corruption however both in public and private sectors may not be completely controlled at once. Corruption is a function of congenital greed. Its source is a twisted mindset, a kind of psychological disorder, which afflicts both the rich and the destitute alike. We don't know of a study on the effects of one's economic status on the tendency towards corrupt practices. But looking at the incidence of corruption in our bureaucracy where the workers have better than average incomes and at high-profile cases of corrupt practices, it appears that income does not seem to be a factor in the tendency to commit an irregular act.
The assumption is that the higher one's income the less likely is one to commit corrupt acts. But the many published cases of corruption involving high government officials including legislators disprove their theory.
Duterte is therefore correct when he says that change must start "with us and in us." The implication is that any socio-political and economic changes can be attained only if these emanate from the mind and heart of the citizenry and is founded on internalized moral values such as love of country and (for us Christian) loved of God!
Formation of belief and conviction is therefore the focus of this kind of change. But how to effect such formation is the most difficult challenge for the change advocates. Formation which includes values development takes years. Hence, the agents of change (parents, teachers, peer group, and the society itself) must operate within a protracted span of time before results can be at hand.
Politicians such as the president have limited terms of office. Therefore their advocacy of whatever change they want to pursue is limited. Nevertheless, they can serve as catalysts of such change which if consistently pushed through can really take root and thrive even after their watch.
The assumption here is that the major agents of change work hand in hand with the existing leadership in its transformational task. When this happens the scenario is set for a country-wide renewal phenomenon involving the mind and heart of Filipinos.
Will this ever happen?
We can only hope and pray.
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