Treat elections like private sector executive hiring

If nations were judged purely on strategic potential, the Philippines should already be among the superpowers of Asia. Few countries possess the strategic advantages the Philippines has.

For starters, the country has one of the youngest English-speaking workforces while those of major economies are ageing. It has the fifth largest unmined mineral stockpiles. It has a 2.2 million global diaspora which can be leveraged for soft power and cultural influence. And as the world’s ninth largest semiconductor exporter, the country is well integrated in critical supply chains.

Moreover, the country sits on the first island chain which gives it enormous geopolitical value in the competition between the US and China. Wherever the Philippines tilts changes the balance of power in Asia and, by extension, the world.

On paper, the Philippines should possess Singapore’s economic vitality, South Korea’s industrial might and Japan’s geopolitical gravitas. Instead, the country remains trapped in underperformance, institutional weakness and political dysfunction.

The Philippine circus

You see, when clowns are elected into office, you get a circus. And that is what the Philippine government has become. The Senate provides the chaos, tragedy and entertainment. Congress is a chamber of stealing jesters. The President is like the pampered elephant who does nothing but parade when the show starts and ends. This is not me being harsh. This is me expressing disgust over what Philippine governance has become.

Nations rise or decline according to the quality of its leaders. Yet, the Filipino continues to entrust itself to leaders who, in many cases, won’t even qualify for entry level jobs in serious private corporations.

No private company will hand control of their enterprise to individuals chosen for their celebrity status, family name or entertainment value. No competent board of directors will appoint executives with weak academic backgrounds, little managerial experience and no demonstrated record of institutional achievement. No company will hire those with criminal cases and those whose loyalty can be bought. Yet these types find jobs in the highest echelons of government.

The result is exactly what you would expect. The country is governed by politicians who campaign like entertainers, think like influencers and govern like posers – at least the vast majority of them.

At precisely the moment when the Philippines should be aggressively industrializing, modernizing infrastructure, strengthening energy and food security and climbing the technology value chain, the country instead drifts from one political spectacle to another without any coherent long-term national vision. The President seems unperturbed and simply allows the country to drift. He evidently stopped hustling hard after he won the elections.

The deeper problem is not incapacity or incompetence. It is the complete absence of seriousness towards nation building and the total preoccupation with political survival.

History repeatedly demonstrates that great nations are built by highly capable leaders. Singapore and South Korea did not become among the most successful economies by accident. It did so because of the vision, leadership and policies of Lee Kuan Yew and Park Chung Hee, respectively. Both governed with ruthless discipline, strategic clarity and zero tolerance for mediocrity.

For its part, China transformed itself from mass poverty into an industrial and technological superpower on the back of forward looking leadership and fastidious planning. Its system, however flawed, demands technocratic competence, administrative capability, strategic discipline and unquestionable loyalty. China treats governance like elite institutional management. The Philippines treats governance like reality television.

That difference explains why one country builds world-class infrastructure, dominates advanced manufacturing and competes in artificial intelligence while the other still struggles with traffic, flood control and bureaucratic paralysis.

Trash in, trash out

Successful countries are managed into power by disciplined, intellectually capable policy makers. Conversely, a circus will always squander opportunities while being the punchline.

Nowhere is the circus more visible than among the Senate’s new majority of 13. What was intended to be a chamber composed of the country’s sharpest legal minds and most disciplined policymakers now resemble political theater masquerading as statesmen. Hearings often devolve into performative grandstanding designed to go viral. Privilege speeches increasingly sound like hysterical rants rather than thoughtful legislative discourse. They peddle conspiracy theories. They stage dramatic scenarios. It is exactly what you would expect from a group whose members have criminal records and/or are embroiled in cases of plunder, election fraud and even mass murder.

As for the President, he appears to lack the ambition and urgency needed to fix the mess of his government, let alone transform the country into the power it could become. At precisely the time the nation requires aggressive economic, political and social reforms to get the house in order, Marcos offers little more than soundbites and staged appearances. The proof is in the statistics. The economy has weakened every year since Marcos took over, weaker than global conditions justify. Why? Because reforms are simply not happening.

Electoral reforms

If the Philippines is serious about becoming truly competitive, then it must begin selecting leaders the same way high-performing countries and Fortune 500 corporations select executives. Ergo, electoral reform is a must.

Countries like Singapore and China heavily filter their candidates for competence, discipline, intelligence and administrative capability. We should do the same.

The law should be amended to mandate congressional, senatorial and presidential candidates to possess advanced academic degrees in law, economics, engineering, business or public administration; extensive executive or managerial experiences; psychological and cognitive fitness; clean criminal and corruption records; proven leadership achievements; mandatory policy competency examinations and a body of work that demonstrates integrity, strategic vision, diplomatic competence and unwavering commitment to national interest.

The country’s greatest tragedy is not poverty. It is wasted potential on a historic scale. The citizenry should demand electoral reform to finally put an end to the circus.

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E-mail: [email protected]. Follow him on Twitter @aj_masigan