MINDANAO
MANILA, APRIL 18, 2012 (MANILA STANDARD) Written by Bong Austero -
The President and about 200 of our leaders were engrossed last Friday in a
summit held in Davao City to purportedly arrive at a consensus on how best to
address the worsening power problem in Mindanao.
Three things came out of the summit.
First, that we like to throw around big words like "consensus" but
don't really understand what it means and those who do understand that it means
arriving at a solution that is acceptable to all lack the sincerity to stick to
the process when the emerging agreement does not suit them.
As it was, the summit was already hobbled by disproportionate representation
from the consumer and civic society groups (they were given two token seats).
But what was worse was that it seemed the summit was called mainly to "launder"
issues, not to arrive at any agreement.
Someone who was at the summit told me that most of the participants, who
represented various stakeholders, came to the summit armed to the teeth with
empirical data and discussion papers but were stumped cold when it appeared that
the administration representatives were already hell bent on certain courses of
actions that were apparently non-negotiable.
This was made very evident when the President delivered his keynote address,
which basically extinguished any hopes of further consensus seeking because what
he said clearly shut out the positions of a number of the stakeholders present
in the summit.
Second, the summit painfully brought the fore just how easy it is to
resort to blaming when discussing problems in this country.
I am not a great fan of this administration, but I must stress that I believe
the President did not intend to cast aspersions on the people of Mindanao when
he appeared to insinuate that a large part of the problem was that Mindanaoans
have become spoiled because they have gotten used to lower power rates. But that
was exactly the impression that the rest of the country got.
He could have toned down that rhetoric about how people in Mindanao should
pay more and how everyone should be willing to shoulder the cost because he
rubbed salt on open wounds.
Mr. President, let's stick to the issue. The problem is that the people in
Mindanao are suffering from a power crisis – it's not that they are unwilling to
pay more, or are complaining about power rates.
His call for understanding if and when power rates inevitably shoot up in
Mindanao, was really unnecessary and uncalled for. Most people in Mindanao who
suffer from rotating brownouts in this infernal season (you just have to be in
Mindanao, which is closer to the equator, in the middle of this very hot summer
season to be able to empathize with the suffering Mindanaoans have to go through
every single time there is a brownout in the middle of the day) would fork out
any amount just to get their electric fans or refrigerators working.
The insinuation that Mindanaoans are spoiled because they pay less for
electricity compared to the rest of the Philippines is unfair because the
comparison needs to be put in context.
This is a region that, traditionally and historically, has been getting so
much less input from the national government compared to what the country gets
out of it.
This is also where a sizable part of the poorest of the poor in this country
can be found. Besides, the whole country is already paying so much more for
electricity compared to our neighbors.
I know that the President covered other points in his keynote speech that
were glossed over, that it was a bit unfair for media to simply focus on the
"Mindanaoans should pay more" angle, and that the hurt taken over the unintended
slight are a bit unfair.
But it was a summit called for various stakeholders to come to an agreement
and therefore called for more listening, sensitivity, and yes, leadership.
A little more empathy would have been paved the way for more collaborative
approaches.
And finally, the summit once again illustrated this administration's
penchant for justifying everything it does with the all-encompassing mantra of
"good intentions."
When questioned or criticized, most people in this administration go into an
impassioned discourse about how we should all be grateful even for incompetence
simply because they are more moral, or that they are doing what they are doing
for the common good.
In various pronouncements before, during, and after the summit, most
administration people deflected criticism by virtually striking their chests in
mock hurt and by proclaiming to all and sundry about how they are blameless just
because their hearts are in the right places.
Cabinet Secretary for Mindanao Development, Lualhati Antonino even suppressed
protests by doing that drama about how this administration and she herself does
not deserve being embarrassed because… well, you already know the script.
(Published in the Manila Standard Today newspaper on
/2012/April/16)
ABOUT BONG AUSTERO:
BONG AUSTERO: Bong C. Austero, also known by the rather unwieldy name
Schubert Caesar C. Austero. Human Resource Management practitioner, currently
Senior Vice President and Head of Human Capital of a major universal bank.
Lecturer at several universities and colleges. Columnist (Are We There Yet?),
Manila Standard Today. President of the Board of Trustees, Remedios AIDS
Foundation.
Most of the people out there who are closely watching the Philippine
political blogosphere will probably know who Bong Austero is.
For those who don't know him yet, he was the blogger who published the "Open
Letter To Our Leaders" last February 27, 2006 which became so popular it might
have been passed from one email to another thousands of times over (I got one
but didn't read all of it).
The email was eventually used by opposition groups and published on major
newspapers. Mr. Austero even got a TV interview on The Big Picture (ANC) with
Ricky Carandang.
That 60 minutes of limelight has made the previously unknown Bong Austero
from a mere blogger to a columnist at the Manila Standard Today (officially
starting June 19, 2007):
"Starting today, and every Monday and Wednesday thereafter, my byline will
appear in the opinion pages of the Manila Standard Today. My maiden column is
about something close to my heart as a Human Resource Management practitioner:
wages.
Although it was that letter that gave me my 10 minutes of notoriety, it
was this blog that caught media's attention. Yup, bloggers out there, it looks
like mainstream media is indeed keeping a keen eye on the blogosphere. Manila
Standard Today has another blogger on its roster of columnists, Sassy Lawyer.
I know that there are bloggers out there who will see this move as a form
of selling out. I don't." BONG AUSTERO
Employers:
Philippine National Bank
Senior Vice President .
Philippine Bank of Communications
Grad School
University of Santo Tomas
College
Leyte Normal University, Tacloban
City, Philippines .
De La Salle-College of Saint Benilde
High School
Abuyog
Academy
Hometown
Abuyog, Leyte, Philippines
Languages
English, Tagalog, Filipino, Cebuano,
Waray Waray and Ilonggo
SOURCE: FROM MR.
AUSTERO'S FACEBOOK PROFILE
THIS WAS THE OPEN LETTER (in full) TO OUR LEADERS BY BONG
ASUTERO:
Blog of Bong Austero Monday, February 27, 2006 Open Letter To Our Leaders
Dear Tita Cory, Senators, Congressmen, Businessmen, Media people, Leftists,
and all Bleeding Hearts Out There:
I am angry. And I know that there are many out there who are angrier than I
am for the same reason. And that reason is simple. I am sick and tired of all
you guys claiming to speak for me and many Filipinos. I feel like screaming
every time you mouth words about fighting for my freedom and my rights, when you
obviously are just thinking about yours.
You tell me that the essence of democracy is providing every citizen the
right to speak his or her mind and make his or her own informed judgments, but
you yourselves do not respect my silence and the choices I and many others have
made. In other words, your concept of democracy is limited to having your rights
and your freedoms respected, at the expense of ours.
I am utterly flabbergasted that you still do not get it: we already responded
to your calls, and our response has been very clear - we chose not to heed your
calls to go to EDSA or to Fort Bonifacio not because we do not love our country
or our freedoms or our rights, but precisely because we love our country even
more.
Because quite frankly, we are prepared to lose our freedoms and our rights
just to move this country forward. You may think that is not correct, you can
tell me all the dire warnings about the evils of authoritarian rule, but quite
frankly all we see is your pathetic efforts to prop up your cause.
You tell me that you are simply protecting my freedoms and my rights, but who
told you to do that? I assure you that when I feel that my rights and my
freedoms are at a peril, I will stand up and fight for them myself.
You tell us that GMA is not the right person to lead this country because she
has done immoral acts.
As someone who sees immorality being committed wantonly in many ways every
day and by everyone (yes, including the ones you do), I may have become jaded.
But you have not been able to offer me any viable alternative, while GMA has
bent over backwards many times to accommodate you while continuing to work hard
despite all the obstacles and the brickbats you have thrown her way.
From where I sit, she is the one who has been working really hard to move
this country forward while all of you have been so busy with one and only one
thing: to make sure she does not succeed. So forgive me if I do not want to join
you in your moral pissing contest. Forgive me if I have chosen to see things
from another perspective.
You say she is the problem. I say, we are the problem, more to the point, I
think you are a bigger problem than she is.
Taking her out may solve part of the problem, but that leaves us with a
bigger problem: you. That is right, YOU!
While I felt outraged that she called a Comelec official during the elections
and that she may have rigged the elections, I have since then taken the higher
moral ground and forgiven her. Yes my dear bishops, I have done what you have
told me to do since I was a child, which you say is the Christian and moral
thing to do: forgive.
Especially since she has asked for forgiveness and has tried to make amends
for it. Erap certainly has not apologized and continues to be defiant,
continuing to insult us everyday with his protestations.
Cory has not apologized for her incompetence but we have forgiven her just
the same because like GMA, she has worked hard after all.
I know you do not think that GMA's apology was not enough, or that she was
insincere, or that that apology should not be the end of it, but please spare me
the hypocrisy of telling me that you do so for the sake of protecting the moral
fibre of society. The real reason is because you smell blood and wants to go for
the kill.
Well, I have news for you. I do not like her too. I did not even vote for
her. I voted for Raul Roco. But as much as I do not like her, I do not like you
even more. I may not trust her, but guess what, I do not trust you even more.
You know why?
Because all you do is whine and sabotage this country.
You belittle every little progress we make, conveniently forgetting that it
is not just GMA who has been working so hard to achieve them.
Every single day, we keep the faith burning in our hearts that this country
will finally pull itself out of the mess and we work so hard to do that.
Every little progress is the result of our collective effort, we who toil
hard everyday in our jobs.
Yet, you persist in one and only thing: making GMA look bad in the eyes of
the world and making sure that this country continues to suffer to prove your
sorry point.
In the process, you continue to destroy what we painstakingly try to built.
So please do not be surprised that I do not share your cause. Do not be
surprised that we have become contemptuous of your antics. You have moved heaven
and earth to destroy her credibility, you have convened all kinds of fora and
hearings and all you have done is test our patience to the core.
For all your effort, you have only succeeded in dragging us further down. I
say enough. Don't get me wrong. I am not asking that we take immorality lying
down, or that we let the President get away with anything illegal.
But you have tried to prove your accusations all these time and you have not
succeeded, so it is time to let things be.
Besides, you are doing something immoral as well if not utterly unforgivable.
The Magdalo soldiers are consorting with the communists - the same people who
have been trying to kill democracy for years. Cory has been consorting with Erap
and the Marcoses.
So please wake up and take a reality check.
In the absence of true and genuine moral leadership, many of us have decided
to cast our lot with the President, even if we do not like her.
A flawed leader is better than scheming power hungry fools who can not even
stand up for their convictions in the face of an impending arrest.
Your coup attempts and the denials that you have consequently made only
underscore what we think is true: you are spineless and unreliable people whose
only defense is to cry suppression when your ruse do not work. You are like
bullies who taunt and provoke, but cry oppression when taken to task for your
cruelty.
I would have respected you if you took the consequences of your actions like
real heroes: calmly and responsibly instead of kicking and screaming and making
lame excuses.
You say you are willing to die for us, that you do all these things for the
country and the Filipino, but you are not even willing to go to jail for us.
Come on, you really think we believe that you did not want to bring down the
government when that is the one and only thing you have been trying to do in the
last many months?
We love this country and we want peace and progress. Many among us do not
give a f*&k who sits at Malacanang because we will work hard and do our
share to make things work.
If you only do your jobs, the ones that we elected you to do, things would be
a lot simpler and easier for every one.
The events during the weekend only proved one thing. You are more dangerous
and a serious threat to this country than GMA is.
We have seen what you are capable of doing - you are ready to burn this
country and reduce everything to ashes just to prove your point.
If there is something that we need protection from, it is protection from
you.
Chief News Editor: Sol Jose Vanzi
© Copyright, 2012 by PHILIPPINE HEADLINE NEWS ONLINE
All
rights reserved
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