Good intentions
I do not subscribe to the idea that good intentions are a fair and sufficient substitute for lack of preparedness or qualifications, especially on the matter of leadership, be it of a country or something smaller, like a province or a city. The only time such an otherwise fallacious idea might work is in love. But even then the numbers of those willing to put their money on "bahala na'g saging basta loving" is rapidly shrinking.
Leadership requires exacting standards. The higher up the leadership ladder one goes, the more demanding the measure of someone's mettle. It is never the other way around. It should never be the other way around. In fact, I can find no greater contradictory proposition than the one that suggests it is perfectly all right for an unqualified person to lead the country for as long as that person is fired by the best of intentions.
In the first place, a person who knows he is not qualified to lead a country will be the last person to aspire to lead that country if he is a person clothed in the best of intentions. A person with the best of intentions will not miss seeing the pitfalls that lie in the path of a nation led by a person with absolutely no idea of what he is getting into.
This is what Filipinos should think long and hard about 2016. It is imperative that they do because they made the same mistake once already when they put all their eggs in the basket of one Noynoy Aquino. In 2010, Filipinos deliberately ignored the fact about Noynoy's incompetence and lack of qualifications, mesmerized as they were by the promise of his supposed good intentions.
Unfortunately for all 100 million of us Filipinos, not only was Noynoy's incompetence promptly proven, his so-called good intentions were exposed as a sham as well. His vaunted anti-corruption campaign falls flat in the face of the rampant and wanton cases of corruption being committed left and right, many even by those he considers as members of his own official family.
But it is too late now to arrest the continuing slide of this country, a slide precipitated by our 2010 folly. The only hope now is not to repeat the same mistake when 2016 comes around. Filipinos must no longer allow themselves to be mesmerized by promises of good intentions alone. That "the road to hell is paved with the best of intentions" rings true not so much for its rhyme but for its reason.
Not only in 2016 but in all elections thereafter, Filipinos should start making a conscious effort to vote into office, especially for the highest positions in the land, only those who are most qualified for the offices they are seeking. This will not only help ensure that expectations of real performance can be met, it will also help bring back dignity to public office.
Putting back dignity to public office helps earn respectability for the nation. And a nation that enjoys a high degree of respectability will have a people who feel good about themselves. People who feel good about themselves will be more honest, respectful, productive. One cannot imagine the great lengths to which this country can leap forward by simply feeling good about themselves.
But first we have to start somewhere. And the good thing about that somewhere is that it requires no haphard guessing to pinpoint where it is. We know where it is. We know what is required to make the first step. All that is needed is the resolve to make the right choices instead of the popular ones. Come 2016, Filipinos must elect the person they think is most qualified to become no less than the president of the land.
This is not to say we do away with good intentions. But take a look at all the problems that await the next president in 2016. Foremost among them is the runaway drug problem, followed closely by crime. Then there is the looming power shortage. There too is China and the South China Sea, as well as the BBL and the MILF, BIFF and MNLF, not to mention the good old NPA. Climate change and natural disasters are at the door. Clearly, these require something more than just good intentions.
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