Integrity Philippines --------Pinoy Solutions to Corruption

SPECIAL ARTICLE: TRANSFORMING LEADERS

Pinoy Solutions to Corruption
Media reports & editorials about " PINOY SOLUTIONS"
GUIDE FOR OBSERVING & EVALUATING COURT PERFORMANCE
CONFRONTING THE CULTURAL DIMENSION OF CORRUPTION by Gerald E. Caiden
OPEN GOVERNMENT PARTNERSHIP
SOURCES OF INFORMATION ON CORRUPTION IN THE PHILIPPINES AND ACROSS THE WORLD
DOCUMENTS AND STUDIES ABOUT CORRUPTION IN THE PHILIPPINES
NATIONAL SURVEYS
PINOY SOLUTIONS TO CORRUPTION *** Speech by Ex-Governor Grace Padaca at Silliman University
PINOY SOLUTIONS TO CORRUPTION *** Speech by Senator TG GUINGONA at Silliman University
"A CULTURE OF INTEGRITY" - THE INTEGRITY INITIATIVE & PLEDGE
THE CHIEF JUSTICE SPEAKS ON JUDICIAL REFORM
THE NEW OMBUDSMAN
The New Commission on Audit
NEW COMMISSIONERS AT COA
COA COMMISSIONER HEIDI MENDOZA IN WASHINGTON
COA PARTICIPATION IN MIAMI INTERNATIONAL ICGFM CONFERENCE
EXAMPLES OF COA NEWS AND FINDINGS
HISTORIC CORRUPTION CASES
USING TECHNOLOGY TO FIGHT CORRUPTION
KEY SPEECHES & ARTICLES ON CORRUPTION
SPEECHES AND MORE
WHISTLEBLOWERS
POLITICAL PARTIES
US$434-million Millennium Challenge Corp.Grant
ANTI-CORRUPTION VIDEOS
New Book: KAKISTOCRACY
BOOKS
QUOTES & NOTES
INTERNATIONAL CORRUPTION NEWS -EVENTS-SURVEYS
Good Practices
YOUR INTEGRITY PROFILE
2150 MUSEUM OF POVERTY & CORRUPTION
Ideas from & Comparisons with Other Countries
SPECIAL ARTICLE: TRANSFORMING LEADERS
FINAL NEWS - SEPT. 16 - 23
NEWS - Sept. 1 - 15, 2011
NEWS - AUGUST 23 - 31, 2011
NEWS - AUGUST 15 - 22, 2011
NEWS - AUGUST 9 - 15, 2011
NEWS - AUGUST 1 - 8, 2011
NEWS - JULY 24 - 31, 2011
NEWS - JULY 16-23, 2011
NEWS - JULY 9 - 15, 2011
NEWS - JULY 1 - 8, 2011
NEWS - JUNE 22 - 30, 2011
NEWS - JUNE 11 - 21, 2011
NEWS - JUNE 1 - 10, 2011
NEWS MAY 25 - 31, 2011
NEWS - May 14 - 24, 2011
NEWS - MAY 1 - 13, 2011
NEWS - APRIL 17 - 30
NEWS - APRIL 11 - 16, 2011
NEWS - April 1 - 10, 2011
NEWS - MARCH 22 - 31
NEWS - MARCH 14 - 21
NEWS - March 8 - 14
NEWS - March 1 - 7
NEWS - FEB. 20 - 28
NEWS - FEB. 10 - 19
NEWS - FEB. 1 - 9, 2011
NEWS - Jan. 23 - 31, 2011
NEWS - JAN. 16 -22
NEWS - Jan. 8 - 15
NEWS - Jan. 1 - 7
NEWS DEC. 16 - 31
NEWS - DEC. 1 - 15
NEWS - Nov. 16 - 30
NEWS - Nov. 1 - 15
NEWS - October 15 - 31
NEWS - OCTOBER 1 - 15
NEWS September 16 - 30
NEWS - Sept. 1 - 15
News August 16 - 31
NEWS AUGUST 1 - 15
News - July 18 - 31
News - July 1 - 17
NEWS >>> JUNE 27 - 30
NEWS >>> JUNE 20 - 26
NEWS ... JUNE 13 - 19
NEWS >>> JUNE 6 - 12
SPECIAL: GARCIA PLEA BARGAIN CONTROVERSY
SPECIAL: THE GEN. REYES TRAGEDY
SPECIAL: CORRUPTION IN THE MILITARY
SPECIAL: IMPEACHMENT TRIAL
MAP - MAPping a Culture of Integrity
MAP RECOMMENDATIONS IN RESPONSE TO THE PRESIDENT
EHEM! --- Anti-Corruption Initiative of the Philippine Jesuits
iPro - The Philippines Integrity Project
iPro PROJECT ACTIVITIES
ANTI-CORRUPTION EXPERT TONY KWOK IN MANILA
AIM-HILLS SYMPOSIUM: ANTI-CORRUPTION AGENCY FUNDAMENTALS
iPro Project Photos
2011 REGIONAL ANTI-CORRUPTION COLLOQUIUMS

Transforming leaders”

By: Dr. Jose V. Abueva
Philippine Daily Inquirer

Saturday, June 25th, 2011 &

 

(Global studies show that leadership is a key component of education quality, but there are many kinds of leadership as there are leaders. Dr. Jose V. Abueva, the esteemed educator, shares his views on the subject.)

President Aquino should uphold the honor and example of our heroes and martyrs, including his revered parents and over a hundred others memorialized in the Bantayog ng mga Bayani, for resisting the tyranny and corruption of Ferdinand Marcos and his authoritarian regime. Their message to our incumbent President is to be a “transforming leader,” not merely a “transactional one.”

James MacGregor Burns describes “transforming leaders” as those who – with their purpose, vision and example – do much more than just bargain with fellow leaders and followers and “purposely achieve substantial and real change in the direction of ‘higher values’.” I’d say that these would include our lofty constitutional ideals of democracy, justice, good governance, the rule of law, truth, love, human rights, public accountability, and the common good.

Notable examples include Ramon Magsaysay, Emmanuel Pelaez, Benigno S. Aquino Jr. and Corazon Aquino, Jose W. Diokno, Raul Manglapus, Francisco Soc Rodrigo, Jovito R. Salonga, and Jessie Robredo.

On the other hand, “transactional leaders” use their power and patronage to gain the support and loyalty of their followers, and little more.

Ferdinand Marcos was – and remains – our most notorious “transactional leader.” In 1965, Marcos vowed: “This nation can be great again.”  Set against this vision of national progress and effective leadership, he virtually admitted his own failure by 1972 – the third year of his second term – when he proclaimed martial law purportedly “to protect the Republic of the Philippines and our democracy” that were “imperiled by the danger of a violent overthrow, insurrection and rebellion” and “criminality and lawlessness…[and] anarchy that had paralyzed the functions of the national and local governments.”

As unraveled by the Presidential Commission on Good Government (PCGG), the schemes and techniques of presidential plunder by Marcos are mind-boggling. They include creating monopolies in vital industries and placing them in the control of his cronies; awarding huge behest loans to favored individuals; outright takeover of public or private enterprises for a minimal payment; direct raiding of the public treasury and government financial institutions; issuance of presidential decrees to enable his cronies to amass wealth for their joint benefit; skimming of foreign aid and other forms of assistance; and depositing money with the use of pseudonyms and numbered accounts in domestic and foreign banks to conceal its real ownership.

Through martial law, Marcos effectively extended his presidency indeterminately under the 1973 Constitution tailored for his self-aggrandizement. As revealed in Jovito R. Salonga’s memoir, Marcos needed to destroy the democratic institutions of constitutional governance and the rule of law established for the public welfare and the common good – Congress, the judiciary, the free press and media, and the citizens’ political rights and civil liberties—in order to indulge his unbridled dual passion for unlimited power and wealth. The state of the nation that he depicted merely rationalized his inner motives and overt actions.

Lord Acton is often quoted for his famous dictum: “Power corrupts, and absolute power corrupts absolutely.” He saw corruption as the consequence of the unbridled exercise of power. But that is not always the case.

It appears that Marcos’ corrupt nature preceded his acquisition of absolute power and apparently motivated him into seeking it. This political cynicism makes some politicians assume that everyone has a price, and a person’s loyalty or acquiescence can be bought at that price.

Therefore, with enough wealth, you could gain power and indefinitely enlarge and perpetuate it. You could then use such power to force the people’s submission and obedience to your will, with some degree of trade-off and incentives. You can also try to keep them ignorant of the real condition of the nation and the government, or fool them with lies and propaganda. Never mind morality, the human spirit, and social conscience.

The cumulative outcome and the costs of the Marcos dictatorship that added over 13 years to his seven years as a constitutional president are incalculable. However egregious, his plunder of the nation’s wealth is only one of the costly consequences of his evil rule. During his two decades in power the Philippines fell far behind several neighboring countries in East Asia in the pursuit of development, and became “the basket case” in the region. Democracy was destroyed, the economy was in ruins, and the culture of corruption, violence and cynicism aggravated.

The Philippines was arguably better off than our neighbors in East and Southeast Asia as we emerged from the devastation of World War II and centuries of colonialism. Our rampant corruption and bad governance, and social and economic backwardness today have been brought about mainly by leaders whose drive for power and wealth make them mostly self-serving in office, instead of being loyal public servants and moral leaders as well.

FERDINAND E. Marcos—the transactional leader —betrayed our country. This is manifest historical truth. And yet,  his family wants him to be buried as a national hero in the Libingan ng mga Bayani.

Under Marcos, we were a garrison state with war zones where human rights were regularly violated by the combatants from both sides. In addition to the suffering and misery of so many, the nation lost priceless years, ultimately its scarcest, most irretrievable resource. The hopes for the future of innumerable young men and women were crushed forever. The careers of some of the finest political leaders were aborted, while a number of unworthy politicians flourished, as well as minions of the dictator and unrepentant officials and loyalists in the post-Edsa era.

Truth be told, some of the difficulties and compromises in the drawn-out efforts to recover the Marcos ill-gotten wealth reflect the ambivalence, contradictions and corruption of self-serving transactional leaders in resolving transcendent issues of public morality and illicit private gain.

Without public discernment and virtue in these aspects that would epitomize the community’s high-minded sense of right and wrong, the Filipino nation and government cannot command honor, self-respect and credibility among its own citizens, much less in the international community. For this, Filipino leaders are much more to blame than the citizens, for it is the challenge and responsibility of leaders to lead and uplift the people toward a national vision of “a just and humane society” and a vibrant and effective democracy.

Failure of Filipino political leadership is one of the best explanations for the country’s persistent problems of poverty, injustice, ineffective governance and corruption—and its continuing underdevelopment when compared to other countries since the late 1960s.

To be able to choose better leaders and improve our government, our people must be empowered by their education, their improved practical skills and earning capacity, and their political participation. We all have to learn from our experience; from study and reflection on our recent history and national development; from the teaching and guidance of our religious and lay leaders; and by our involvement in the work of various organizations in business and civil society. We should also learn from the example of the leaders in the more advanced and progressive nations.

Good governance in a democracy requires the involvement and enlightened participation of all citizens inspired and challenged by the vision, idealism and morality of transforming leaders. We sorely need such leaders to free our people from continuing poverty, corruption, violence, injustice, bad governance, and flawed institutions begging to be reformed. We must develop such transforming leaders from the local communities upwards to gradually replace the many self-serving members of our ruling class or political elite who perpetuate our dysfunctional presidential government, centralized unitary system and political parties at the people’s expense.

As long as Filipinos, and especially their highest leaders, avoid resolving those issues in favor of basic moral principles, the national interest and the common good—and get away with it—no clear national standards of right and wrong can be established and consistently enforced, much less prevail. This is evident in regard to the issues of loyalty to the nation and collaboration with the enemy, whether Filipino or foreign; graft and corruption vs. honesty and integrity in public office; the inviolability of human rights and their violation and abuse by officials and functionaries; public accountability and the impunity of corrupt government officials; civilian supremacy over the military; mutual accommodation and protection among members of the political elite; and so on.

While commendable in itself, President Aquino’s passion for restoring morality and rationality in the conduct of public service, known as “ang daang matuwid,” is not enough. He can do much more as a transforming leader in his remaining five years, a very short time actually.

In truth and in our experience these past 24 years, our presidential system of government,  centralized governance and party system under the 1987 Constitution have failed us terribly. These have  blocked progress toward  our constitutional vision of building “a just and humane society” and an effective government and democracy “under the rule of law and a regime of truth, justice, freedom, love, equality and peace…”

President Aquino should lend his invaluable support to overdue Charter change proposals that did not have a chance under the Arroyo presidency. In this way the President will greatly enhance the Cory Constitution of 1987 for the benefit of our people now and in the future. Along with “daang matuwid,” reforming and revitalizing our system of democratic governance can be the President’s greatest and enduring legacy as a “transforming leader.”  He will fulfill our urgent need for structural and institutional change in addition to curbing corruption.

We end as we began this  commentary, by respectfully urging President Aquino to be a “transforming leader” like Ramon Magsaysay, Emmanuel Pelaez, Raul Manglapus, Jose Diokno, Jovito Salonga, Fidel Ramos, Antonio Meloto and—most especially—his  revered parents.

Dr. Jose V. Abueva is the president of Kalayaan College and UP Professor Emeritus of Political Science and Public Administration, a trustee of the Eggie Apostol Foundation, and a former president of the University of the Philippines.

http://opinion.inquirer.net/6862/%E2%80%98transforming-leaders%E2%80%99

http://opinion.inquirer.net/7421/%E2%80%98transforming-leaders%E2%80%99-conclusion

mabuhayph.jpg

Partner organizations in this website while it was actively publishing news excerpts:

ehemx.jpg

Ehem -- the anti-corruption initiative of the Philippine Jesuits echoes the urgent call for cultural reform against corruption in the Philippines.
Ehem aims at bringing people to a renewed sensitivity to the evil of corruption and its prevalence in ordinary life. It seeks ultimately to make them more intensely aware of their own vulnerability to corruption, their own uncritiqued, often unwitting practice of corruption in daily life.
Ehem hopes to bring people, in the end, to a commitment to live the way of Ehemplo --- critical of corruption, intent on integrity!
 
Management Association of the Philippines 
MAP is a management organization committed to promoting management excellence. The members of the MAP represent a cross-section of CEOs, COOs and other top executives from the top local and multinational companies operating in the country, including some top officials of government and the academe.

iPro supports the process of reducing corruption by seeking synergies between Government of the Republic of the Philippines agencies and civil society at all levels.

 
 
This website primarily serves to gather for research and educational purposes in one single place news and information specifically pertinent to integrity and corruption in the Philippines. The news items, views, editorials and opinions summarized or reported on this website are taken from the general media and reputable blogs, websites, etc., and are exclusively the responsibility of the original sources and/or authors. In accordance with Title 17 U. S. C. Section 107, any copyrighted work on this website is distributed under fair use without profit or payment to those who have expressed an interest in receiving the included information for nonprofit research and educational purposes only. Ref: http://www4.law.cornell.edu/uscode/17/107.html
                                               E-MAIL: IntegriNews@aol.com                                       iPro
                                                                      

Loading

Free Website Counter
Free Website Counter

tumblr analytics

tumblr tracker