Beyond leaders and personalities

Over the weekend, it was announced that President Ferdinand Marcos, Jr. had accepted the resignation of DPWH Secretary Manuel Bonoan. DOT Secretary Vince Dizon, who will replace Bonoan, has been tasked with carrying out a "full organizational sweep" at the DPWH following the corruption scandal in flood control projects that has stirred the whole nation.

What is happening is remarkable because even in conversations with otherwise apolitical friends over the weekend, topics about dynastic politicians, DPWH contractors, and “nepo babies” linked to the flood control projects dominated our discussions. This growing awareness has exposed what was once hidden in the dark corners of our patronage and rent-seeking governance.

Alongside this growing awareness have emerged promising names whom people see as alternatives, or at least as personalities capable of addressing the systemic rot in our governance. The appointment of Dizon to head the DPWH, for example, brings the promise of major reforms. In his previous government assignments, Dizon has shown that he can act decisively and dynamically to address well-entrenched entanglements in the bureaucracy.

Other prominent names, such as Pasig City Mayor Vico Sotto and retired police general, Baguio City Mayor Benjamin Magalong, have been hailed as models of clean and effective leadership. Even the recently-relieved PNP chief Nicolas Torre, whose removal from office was seen as a loss to the country, shows that people yearn for these kinds of leaders and pin their hopes on them.

But if public service depends on personality and virtue alone, and not on systemic change and cultural shift in our politics and institutions, sustainable and meaningful reforms will never come. Personality-driven leadership, no matter how hands-on or credible, cannot be sustained if our institutions are weak and our communities are ruled by apathy and tolerance for bad actors in government.

We’ve seen this in Cebu City over the past decades since the post-EDSA years. The no-nonsense and competent leadership of the Bando Osmeña-Pundok Kauswagan (BOPK) hinged on the personality and character of one or a few leaders. This eventually led to the deterioration of city governance once these leaders were replaced, even by their own allies who later became rivals. We’ve witnessed the mismanagement in the post-BOPK years and how the city has deteriorated.

Clearly, we need to develop an “honest and competent majority” in Philippine governance, where reforms, though often initiated by a single or a few charismatic and reformist leaders, are ultimately rooted in the idea that any system --whether financial, technological or political-- requires a critical mass of honest participants to maintain its integrity.

The problem is that honest and competent people accept positions in government with little zeal or some hesitation because they know bad actors will eventually clobber them. Even well-meaning politicians are surrounded by sycophants and “sipsips” who whisper in their ears and influence them to make poor decisions and sideline the good people.

This need not always be the case. We need not look far to see examples where personality-driven leadership eventually gave way to institutional reforms. In Singapore, the great Lee Kuan Yew led the country’s rapid transformation through his personal leadership and integrity, but he himself stressed that without strong institutions and an engaged citizenry, such progress would inevitably collapse after him.

Today, as corruption in flood control projects sparks discussion across a broad cross-section of society and in coffee shops and dinner tables, we have an opportunity to draw the same lesson: lasting progress requires more than the rise of good leaders. We must demand a system of governance that outlives personalities and egos, built on institutions and communities strong enough to outlast election cycles.