Good governance mocked!

One of the saddest realities that confronted me while serving the government for sixteen solid years is seeing with my two naked eyes, supposedly government “servants” turn abusive, arrogant, high-handed, and totally unprofessional individuals mocking good governance.

Look around you. Look around your work place. They are lurking there. Plain-looking people pretending to be important to cover up for deep-rooted insecurities and utterly lack of skills. Pathetic. Why are they in government in the first place? Your guess is as good as mine. What a disservice to the government.

You can be sure their favorite past time is sowing and peddling intrigues poisoning the environment of the work place. I totally pity the office they are in. What a rotten office atmosphere they would create and inhabit. Woe to the rest of mankind.

Not only that, they congregate in small groups to form a power base. Ah, people and their insatiable love for power. These small-minded mediocre supposedly government servants think that by creating a power base through a group of like-minded scoundrels, they have become a powerful clique and a force to reckon with. Such insipid thoughts.

With their lack of brilliance (will they ever have one?), they will never know that power comes from within. But what do they really know apart from name-dropping, passing second-hand information, and exploiting government resources? Small wonder the younger employees – those who are supposed to be guided and mentored – get totally disillusioned about good turned “bad” governance. Poor kids.

What a sad reality in government. Public servants turned rotten eggs. Good governance mangled, mocked, and ridiculed by the very people working in it. And how do they do this? Simple. By conveniently leaving the office during office hours, in groups served by a government vehicle to do their personal errands including a visit to the parlor! Not only that. They have themselves driven to their homes in the guise of official trips. And mind you, a one-way trip to their hometown consists of a two-hour land trip from Gen. Santos City. Calculate the fuel consumed for these so-called official trips to serve the whim and caprice of abusive government personnel (to transport them to their hometown), multiplied by the number of days a government vehicle is used for a year, and you will see how much they have corrupted government funds.

On top of that, these erring government servants also use government vehicles after office hours and during weekends for their “other” activities. And they stay in government facilities as well, in the guise of being itinerant workers for years! Give me a break. Seven years of government aid because you can’t find your own boarding house? Pathetic. Always at the mercy of government? They are probably our modern day nomads.

Oh well, that is good governance mocked. Rotten government workers paying lip service to good governance. What a shame. You should be ashamed of yourselves! In fact, you should resign from government. The government sector does not deserve you.

You are a mockery to good governance.

Note: This article was originally written as a newspaper column in February, 2007.

Core values

What is the essence of leadership? Integrity. It’s as simple as that. I have read so many books on leadership written by both female and male authors, and their dissertation all boils down to one basic ingredient of leadership – integrity.

The past many weeks, we have been bombarded with attacks and counterattacks, offense and defense, call it whatever you want, on television, print and radio, by either the opposition or administration camp, and all because of a recorded conversation between two persons.

I do not wish to explore the issue. It’s an overkill, to say the least. What I care about is the integrity of the leader, the first person referred to in the recording.

Why it took the leader so long to admit that she was the first person referred to in the recording is beyond me. Perhaps lack of courage. Perhaps waiting for the opportune time – after all, timing is everything. Perhaps waiting for the right public relations spin.   Whatever maybe the reason, it is moot and academic now. Everything is in the open. In fact, it’s like a market place now. It’s a circus. It’s very lamentable.

The leader has apologized to the country. It must have been an excruciatingly painful moment to admit one’s mistake after having been silent for a time. After the public apology, the circus has expanded.

Integrity cannot be compromised. When one occupies the highest position of the land, there are certain core values one has to uphold. A close friend of mine who occupies a position of leadership himself says, “all elections are dirty”; “all politicians do dirty tricks”; “is there a better substitute?”; “what we can do now is unite, support and contribute for the welfare of the country”; “the Filipinos are not politically mature as a people”, etc... I remember saying, “is that an excuse for us to condone lying and compromising integrity?”

I know that elections are perceived to be dirty in this country; all the more the lot of politicians, which is really unfair given the fact that there are many good women and men in politics, but maybe this is the beginning of maturity. Who knows? If we must walk on our bended knees to grow as a people, so be it. There is always a reason for everything. The good book says that. And I do not believe that we lack for good people to lead this country. That’s totally unacceptable. It’s a slap on the face of the Filipino.

I always respect righteous indignation. This comes out when deception is uncovered or a wrong is exposed. Naturally, people get angry when they are taken for a ride.

Time and again, we have always been asked to unite, support and contribute for the welfare of the country. I have heard this appeal since I was a kid. That’s why most of my professional life is devoted to government service because I want to contribute to society. But that is no excuse for compromising the truth.

John Maxwell, an author specializing on Leadership books, puts it bluntly, “it’s lonely up there”. True, it’s lonely to occupy a position of leadership for you are viewed from a magnifying lens, and everything you do or not do, will be interpreted differently by different people. Most of the time, you are alone. That’s how lonely it can get. But that is part and parcel of the sacrifice if one aspires a position of leadership. One will not become a leader if he or she does not aspire it. You have it because you aspired for it. It’s as simple as that.

That’s why it is essential to be surrounded by good men and women with impeccable character to consult with; supported by a group that consistently prays for the leader to be guided by wisdom and discernment when decisions are made on issues that affect the country and its people.

It’s not easy to be a leader. It can break one’s heart. It is a big sacrifice. But no matter how gargantuan the sacrifice is, there is still no compromise on integrity.

Note: This article was originally written by the author in 2005 for her newspaper column.