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The
grave challenges now facing the nation and the world
make plain that we need strong leadership for our
country today: not popular, movie star-like leadership
that transforms citizens into fans; but gritty,
tough-minded and effective leadership that can solve
problems and meet goals and objectives.
The
problems are not only huge; there seems to be a shifting
of the tides. The unabated rise in oil prices, the
emergence of the food emergency, the surge of inflation
and the threat of a global recession—all of them, taken
together, amount to a period of great instability and
insecurity. And only strong, effective leadership can
ensure that our country will not wind up under the
rubble after its spurt of productivity and growth last
year.
The need
of the times is frightening because if there’s one thing
we have never been lucky at, it is in the quality of our
leaders. The personages who have risen to the highest
office of the land—or the high posts in the
legislature—have been invariably popular politicians.
Once in office, however, most have turned out to be
ineffective, unable to meet national expectations.
How,
then, do we stack up right now before the present
challenges?
Whatever
the level of her approval ratings today, I think the
nation is lucky to have at the helm President Arroyo.
Lay aside the fact that she’s been on the job for seven
years; the fact is, she has always been at her best when
under stress. She’s undaunted in confronting even the
most formidable challenges. She can tune out the howls
of hecklers, protesters and critics in doing what she
believes she must do. And she has the credentials of a
leader who understands economics—the topic on everyone’s
lips today. In short, she is a leader for these
unpredictable times.
In 2005,
under the most powerful challenge yet to her presidency
as a result of the “Hello Garci” controversy, she not
only faced down the threat of impeachment against her,
she used the moment to make some landmark decisions that
put the economy and the nation back on track.
Specifically, she pushed decisively for the approval of
the then-fearsome expanded value-added tax, and proved
that it would enormously help in stabilizing government
finances and licking the fiscal deficit. She rebuilt her
Cabinet after the resignation of the Hyatt 10, and the
new secretaries proved not only loyal but also
surprisingly able. And, just as important, she
consolidated her support within the military and began a
major effort to really solve the decades-old communist
insurgency, setting 2010 as her target date to rid the
country of the menace.
Every
year since, there has been an annual ritual by opponents
to try to unseat her. To no avail. This year there was a
major push for her resignation as a result of the
explosive Senate inquiry into the ZTE broadband deal.
While the GMA-resign effort was well-orchestrated and
well-funded—as it seemingly gathered under one roof
disparate forces from right to left—the President faced
them down with a tough-as-nails policy and strategy,
utilizing, among others things, “the unity walk” as her
signature of support. As things now stand, there will be
no budging her from the presidency now until it’s time
for her to go in June 2010.
Perfect
economic storm
If
analysts are right in saying that the country is headed
toward “a perfect economic storm,” it is, therefore,
just as well that we have a pilot who does not have to
worry about election or reelection, and who is mainly
concerned that she does right by our people and our
country during this difficult time. Her only test is
effectiveness as a leader.
That
kind of single-mindedness is what is most needed to
wrestle down the multiple crises and come up with
availing solutions. Just as this administration summoned
the will to tackle the fiscal deficit starting in 2005,
so could this be the year when the nation began to
address in earnest outstanding national problems and
challenges, such as:
1.
Modernizing public transport and infrastructure—It’s no
mystery that a city like Hong Kong hardly feels the
spike in oil prices because residents and visitors don’t
drive cars; they just take the well-maintained and
modern public-transport system.
2.
Achieving high agricultural productivity and food
sufficiency—In this day and age when mankind has all the
knowledge to produce food in abundance for all, there is
no reason we Filipinos cannot produce enough food not
only to feed ourselves, but also to export to other
countries. The rise in food prices can itself be the
spur to greater productivity because it will attract
investments in agriculture.
3.
Strengthening trade, investment and other economic
links—Our engagement in the global economy should
intensify under the weight of the new challenges. Where
in the past, integration has been halting and patchy,
necessity should now foster a single-minded focus on
strengthening our trade, securing more foreign
investments and securing more cooperation and assistance
in our development efforts.
4.
Measures to ease the pain on the poor—The expected
impact of high food and oil prices on the lot of the
poor should sharpen the government’s efforts to help the
disadvantaged and improve programs on the welfare and
housing fronts. Trickle-down growth policies will yield
to more propoor type of policies and projects.
5.
Strengthening the social technologies that are the
foundations of economic progress: markets, science and
democracy—This could be a period when we finally focus
on bringing our markets, our sciences and our democracy
in step and on a par with the modern world.
The
self-interest of every sector, particularly business,
can be a factor for molding a concerted effort to secure
the economy and the nation from the vicissitudes of
economic crises. I think even the opposition realizes
now that the strategy of destruction and nitpicking from
the sidelines will not do at this time. They, too, have
to think hard about the problems and offer solutions.
‘Presidentiables’ must show their stuff
Which
brings me to my final point. This is also going to be a
proving time for all those bidding to become president
in 2010. The reward for those who hoisted their banners
too early is that they will be under scrutiny and under
questioning this early. The questions will not be the
usual softballs on the tired issues of graft, crime and
morality. They will center on what each proposes to do
about the problems on the economic front, and what each
can do to put the nation on the track to growth.
Any hope
that the economic pain will ease within the year is
bound to be in vain. Something fundamental is changing
in the world economy. Wealth is being transferred from
one part of the world to another on a scale unheard of
in history. The prices of oil and commodities will never
return to what they were before. The emerging economies
are major actors.
“Presidentiables” will, therefore, be asked: Where do
you see our country in this world of seismic change, of
tidal changes in fortune and the weather? What can you
do to improve the overall position of our country in the
world and the quality of life of our people?
This is
a time for vision and probity from political leaders.
Looking good before the cameras will not cut it. |
