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Sunday, October 21, 2012

PROMISES, PROMISES

Chaff From The Grain
By HECTOR R.R. VILLANUEVA Former Press Secretary

Never fight fair with a stranger, boy, you’ll never get out of the jungle that way.”
Arthur Miller
DON’T make promises if you cannot deliver.
Former Department of Transportation and Communications (DOTC) Secretary Mar Roxas, who had not accomplished much at the DOTC owing to the sudden and unexpected demise of DILG Secretary Jesse Robredo, should not make too many ex-cathedra promises and commitments as Secretary of the Interior and Local Government (DILG) lest he will be compared to President Noynoy Aquino who still has to make good on his election promises.
It seems that every new and incoming department head has the tendency and compulsive urge to promise heaven on earth by deprecating and disdaining the “bata-bata” synchrome, and wanting to reform the Philippine National Police of scalawags and rogue cops, by eradicating “jueteng,” stamping out corruption in the force and local government units, and restoring integrity and pride in the department. Well and good.
By the same token, President Noynoy Aquino’s reform agenda rested on the hypothesis that without the culture of corruption, there would be no poverty, hardship, and unhappiness.
Alas, the world is not that simple.
Handsome, naïve, and well-meaning Secretary Mar Roxas is reminded that the “bata-bata” culture is deeply embedeled in the Filipino psyche in the same manner that the extended family and “kumpare” system is an unavoidable and integral part of the Filipino anthropological culture.
It is recalled how past PNP Chiefs and AFP commanders have vowed to eradicate and defeat NPA insurgency within one year, and that was many moons ago.
The communist insurgency, albeit not a direct threat to the State, continues to thrive as long as there is abject poverty, injustice, and below-subsistence living in the countryside.
Jueteng” will also continue to flourish as the means to instant fortune and freedom from poverty without hassle.
For these reasons, Secretary Mar Roxas’ sincere and earnest efforts to reform the LGUs and the ranks of the PNP rest on the same premise as President Aquino’s straight-path reform agenda. Both depend on the ability to change the psyche of the people from a culture of corruption to honest ethos  whence honesty and goodness will inevitably follow.
If truth be told, eradicating corruption, narcotics, or jueteng is like abolishing prostitution and promiscuity.
It cannot be done, but the evil can be contained, diminished, and statutory restraints attempted.
Lest we are misunderstood, the reform agenda of President Benigno Aquino is commendable and generally supported by the Filipino nation.
However, if the mindset of the people on the ground is not changed, fundamental reforms will not succeed.
When all is said and done, President Benigno Simeon Aquino III is unlike any Philippine President before him. He is a different species.
It will be a mistake for Secretary Mar Roxas to ape or simulate the performance and actuations of President Aquino. Secretary Roxas should track his own destiny.
Hence Secretary Mar Roxas is advised to anchor his feet firmly on the ground, and be real.
As Thomas Fuller would aptly put it, “Zeal is fit for wise men, but is found mostly in fools.”
You be the judge
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(For comments and views please e-mail chaff_fromthegrain@yahoo.com.ph)

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