Theres The Rub
by Conrado de Quiros
from Philippine Daily Inquirer
WHEN CORAZON Aquino flew to the United States in July 1986, she was coming off a high point. The euphoria from the Edsa People Power Revolution was still there, and despite opposition from Left and Right, the rebels in the hills and the rebels in the camps, she pretty much had the nation behind her. When her son Benigno Aquino III flew there last Monday, he was coming off a low point. Despite having the nation still behind him, he was being buffeted by criticism right and left, at home and abroad, his enemies openly questioning his ability to rule.
When Cory flew to the US four months after she came to power, she was coming off a high note. Her popularity was so immense people were telling her to repudiate the fraudulent debts, or at least get the banks to condone them, the US would be at pains to refuse her, or go against her. When P-Noy flew to the US last Monday, he was coming off a low note. His justice secretary had just given the world to understand that that based on the results of her investigation heads truly ought to roll, some of them belonging to close friends of his.
When the icon of democracy flew to the US after toppling a tyrant, she strode upon the world stage and performed brilliantly, aided in no small way by brilliant speechwriters, and came home in triumph. When the hope of decency went to the US last Monday after dislodging a tyrant, he was at pains to find a message that would appease the world, let alone bring it to its knees, little helped by a lack of brilliant speechwriters.
There is a bright note to all this, which is no small irony. Cory came home in triumph, but a few months later met with a coup by Juan Ponce Enrile and company, former allies who resented the fact that she, and not they, were the toast of the world. P-Noy will come home in triumph or disappointment (we will know soon enough) but he can at least be assured no armed group will try to wrest power from him. He can be assured further that if one does, Juan Ponce Enrile and company, former foes, will be there to see him through.
P-Noy’s trip abroad is an especially good time to ask where his government is going. I myself remain confident that despite the slings and arrows of outrageous fortune that have darkened his sky, he will still do this country proud, he will still make this country proud of him. The decency is there, the earnestness is there, the willingness is there, and those are ramparts that can stand the most strenuous sieges. But surviving is one thing, prevailing is another. He wants to go beyond the first and do the second, he will have to solve two particular problems that have brought his government to a crawl, if not a standstill. And he will have to do it soon.
The first is to stop having two groups of horses pulling his government in opposite directions. That was a horrendous form of execution in ancient times, which resulted in the criminal quite literally being torn limb from limb. The problem is not just that P-Noy has crowned too many heads in several departments—Communications and the DILG are the egregious examples, shown up by the hostage crisis—which is bad enough. You have too many people in charge, you will have no one in charge. You have too many people being responsible, you will have everyone taking the credit and no one accepting the blame. If the hostage crisis had ended well, you think anyone of them would be saying they had nothing to do with it, they were out of the loop?
But worse, P-Noy has crowned too many heads in several departments who violently dislike each other. It’s not just petty jealousies, though there’s that too, and though there’s more pettiness than jealousy. It’s also that they belong to two camps that want to take over government. The division, and enmity, between the “Balay camp” and the “Samar camp,” between Mar Roxas’ boys and P-Noy’s chums, which the media have reported, are real. A policy of appeasing both sides won’t work. Never has. You try to please everyone, you won’t please anyone. Least of all Juan de la Cruz, who should really be the only one a president—especially a People’s President like P-Noy—ought to be pleasing.
The second, which is far less obvious, is for him to recover his Edsa roots. It’s not just that I’ve raised this criticism from Day One of P-Noy’s government, it’s that I’ve raised this criticism from Day One of P-Noy’s campaign. From the start, the temptation to succumb to trapo politics was there, and today’s squabbles between the two parties inside P-Noy’s government is a particularly ugly case of it. This is a war between trapos, or between two groups of people who have lost their sense of something bigger than themselves, if at all they had it to begin with.
If that war reveals anything in fact, it is the sheer and utter lack of representation in P-Noy’s government of the volunteer groups that were the heart of his campaign. The same volunteer groups that saw P-Noy as the right candidate: If not for them, Butch Abad and company would have campaigned to the bitter end for Mar Roxas for president, and truly found a bitter end. The same volunteer groups that saw Edsa as the right cause: If not for them, P-Noy would not have become larger than life, he would have become smaller than Gibo. The same volunteer groups that made the Impossible Dream possible once more: If not for them, P-Noy would not be president.
The first in fact is just a symptom of the second. It’s not just that P-Noy’s government is losing its motor, it is that it is losing its GSP. It’s not just that it is losing its capacity for motion, it is that it is losing its sense of direction. P-Noy’s trip to the US is truly an especially good time to reflect on the bigger journey of life and government, and ask:
Quo vadis?
by Conrado de Quiros
from Philippine Daily Inquirer
WHEN CORAZON Aquino flew to the United States in July 1986, she was coming off a high point. The euphoria from the Edsa People Power Revolution was still there, and despite opposition from Left and Right, the rebels in the hills and the rebels in the camps, she pretty much had the nation behind her. When her son Benigno Aquino III flew there last Monday, he was coming off a low point. Despite having the nation still behind him, he was being buffeted by criticism right and left, at home and abroad, his enemies openly questioning his ability to rule.
When Cory flew to the US four months after she came to power, she was coming off a high note. Her popularity was so immense people were telling her to repudiate the fraudulent debts, or at least get the banks to condone them, the US would be at pains to refuse her, or go against her. When P-Noy flew to the US last Monday, he was coming off a low note. His justice secretary had just given the world to understand that that based on the results of her investigation heads truly ought to roll, some of them belonging to close friends of his.
When the icon of democracy flew to the US after toppling a tyrant, she strode upon the world stage and performed brilliantly, aided in no small way by brilliant speechwriters, and came home in triumph. When the hope of decency went to the US last Monday after dislodging a tyrant, he was at pains to find a message that would appease the world, let alone bring it to its knees, little helped by a lack of brilliant speechwriters.
There is a bright note to all this, which is no small irony. Cory came home in triumph, but a few months later met with a coup by Juan Ponce Enrile and company, former allies who resented the fact that she, and not they, were the toast of the world. P-Noy will come home in triumph or disappointment (we will know soon enough) but he can at least be assured no armed group will try to wrest power from him. He can be assured further that if one does, Juan Ponce Enrile and company, former foes, will be there to see him through.
P-Noy’s trip abroad is an especially good time to ask where his government is going. I myself remain confident that despite the slings and arrows of outrageous fortune that have darkened his sky, he will still do this country proud, he will still make this country proud of him. The decency is there, the earnestness is there, the willingness is there, and those are ramparts that can stand the most strenuous sieges. But surviving is one thing, prevailing is another. He wants to go beyond the first and do the second, he will have to solve two particular problems that have brought his government to a crawl, if not a standstill. And he will have to do it soon.
The first is to stop having two groups of horses pulling his government in opposite directions. That was a horrendous form of execution in ancient times, which resulted in the criminal quite literally being torn limb from limb. The problem is not just that P-Noy has crowned too many heads in several departments—Communications and the DILG are the egregious examples, shown up by the hostage crisis—which is bad enough. You have too many people in charge, you will have no one in charge. You have too many people being responsible, you will have everyone taking the credit and no one accepting the blame. If the hostage crisis had ended well, you think anyone of them would be saying they had nothing to do with it, they were out of the loop?
But worse, P-Noy has crowned too many heads in several departments who violently dislike each other. It’s not just petty jealousies, though there’s that too, and though there’s more pettiness than jealousy. It’s also that they belong to two camps that want to take over government. The division, and enmity, between the “Balay camp” and the “Samar camp,” between Mar Roxas’ boys and P-Noy’s chums, which the media have reported, are real. A policy of appeasing both sides won’t work. Never has. You try to please everyone, you won’t please anyone. Least of all Juan de la Cruz, who should really be the only one a president—especially a People’s President like P-Noy—ought to be pleasing.
The second, which is far less obvious, is for him to recover his Edsa roots. It’s not just that I’ve raised this criticism from Day One of P-Noy’s government, it’s that I’ve raised this criticism from Day One of P-Noy’s campaign. From the start, the temptation to succumb to trapo politics was there, and today’s squabbles between the two parties inside P-Noy’s government is a particularly ugly case of it. This is a war between trapos, or between two groups of people who have lost their sense of something bigger than themselves, if at all they had it to begin with.
If that war reveals anything in fact, it is the sheer and utter lack of representation in P-Noy’s government of the volunteer groups that were the heart of his campaign. The same volunteer groups that saw P-Noy as the right candidate: If not for them, Butch Abad and company would have campaigned to the bitter end for Mar Roxas for president, and truly found a bitter end. The same volunteer groups that saw Edsa as the right cause: If not for them, P-Noy would not have become larger than life, he would have become smaller than Gibo. The same volunteer groups that made the Impossible Dream possible once more: If not for them, P-Noy would not be president.
The first in fact is just a symptom of the second. It’s not just that P-Noy’s government is losing its motor, it is that it is losing its GSP. It’s not just that it is losing its capacity for motion, it is that it is losing its sense of direction. P-Noy’s trip to the US is truly an especially good time to reflect on the bigger journey of life and government, and ask:
Quo vadis?
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