The arrogance of power

“The attitude above all others which I feel sure is no longer valid is the arrogance of power, the tendency of great nations to equate power with virtue and major responsibilities with a universal mission...” These are words taken from J. William Fullbright,’s speech in 1966. He was a distinguished Senator from Arkansas and chairman of the Senate Foreign Relations Committee.

As the world sees the leaders of nations disagree with one another creating more havoc instead of world peace and harmony amongst men, our own country also experiences how local and national leaders abuse their positions resulting to human misery and degradation.

Last week, our local government offices changed guards. The new mayors, vice mayors, district representatives and councilors took their oath of office. They promised to preserve, protect, defend the Philippine Constitution – so help them God!

The oath of office goes this way, unless minor changes have been made: “I, (______) or (______), after having been elected/appointed to the position of (_____), with God as my witness, do hereby solemnly swear and affirm that I will faithfully and conscientiously fulfill the duties of my present position, obey, defend and preserve the Constitution of the Philippines, laws, rules, official issuances, regulations and ordinances, commit myself to the tenets and ideals of democracy, do justice to everyone, fairly and appropriately exercise the powers, rights and prerogatives of my office, renounce and suppress all forms of graft and corrupt practices in government, confine my income to the salary and emolument which by law I am entitled to receive, and consecrate myself to public service. Aware of the dire consequences of God’s wrath upon me and my family for contumacy and excesses, I will not break this vow. So help me God.”

After taking their oath of office in beautiful ternos and barong Tagalogs with their families, friends and the public as witnesses, they celebrated and went straight to work. But the first major agenda for the day, the first Monday came in very early in the morning when all the partying mayors and their team were asleep or maybe not. This was the coming in of Tropical Depression Egay, the 5th cyclone that entered the Philippine Area of Responsibility (or PAR) this year. As usual netizens and the general public were awaiting the possible “suspension” announcements from the city mayors. But confusion in this arena persisted.

 For decades now, Pagasa hasn’t really given a good, solid advice on the weather to prepare the people for any disaster caused by weather disturbances that may come their way. Pagasa usually is able to give a general overview of the coming of cyclones but fails on the details of it at the local level (to advise each municipality). As a result, some local governments especially the ones that can afford, purchased their own Dopplar Radar systems. Sanamagan!

Our mayors must realize that they have to take this problem seriously. If they rely on Pagasa, they will keep on cancelling work and classes to the detriment of the city’s progress and development. If our local officials want their cities to thrive, they must become more efficient in their actions. So, for agenda # 1, many failed because they suspended classes especially in Metro Manila but the heavy rains did not come.

May I suggest that you review the team who advises you on the weather? They need to have a better approach and a more systematic way of addressing such issues. As I said before, we live in a tropical island where rains come and go. If the rains are not life threatening, life must go on.

Anyway, I’m sure many of our newly installed officials are fresh from the oven. They’ve already made it to office and now are ready to work, work, work. Their zest and energy can surely be felt by their constituents except or a few who were absent on the first day. This brings me now to the reason why I entitled this column, “The arrogance of power.” I hope that the mayors carry a code of ethics with them. They must train their officers and staff members to be more professional in their dealings with us, the public.

I actually just encountered an arrogant city administrator who summoned a group of dignified and well respected people to his office as if they were criminals. Don’t forget that the paramount role of the common citizen is the life, the strength, the progress and the greatness of a nation. Do not ever treat the public this way with disrespect – rich or poor. As Abraham Lincoln put it: You are government of the people, by the people and for the people.

A true leader is fair and is honest in his convictions to serve the country. He should never allow passion or self-interest to disturb his composure. He will respect other views and will not bear the slightest grudge or bias against those who have differed from him. Always stand for law and order, maintain immaculate the mantle of responsibility, uphold the best of your ability, the prestige, the honor and the dignity of your Office even when it means that you need to sacrifice some conveniences or personal inclinations. Render the best of public office. You will not only be respected but admired and loved.

City Mayors and their officials must avoid anger-eliciting situations. If you know the real purpose of your commitment of which you swore by and vocation of public service, you will not use arrogance to threaten, humiliate, exploit, abuse and hurt the public. You must show us true compassion of being a public servant. Clean up your mess and shape up. The public, on the other hand, must learn to speak up and expect a higher ascendancy of their public officials.

Now, let’s see what these new officials have got to give us. Will they be able improve their city, town, barangay? Can they sustain the initial work output? As the old proverb goes: Seeing is believing. Abangan!

If we can bring ourselves so to act, we will have overcome the dangers of the arrogance of power. It will involve, no doubt, the loss of certain glories, but that seems a price worth paying for the probable rewards… J. William Fullbright