"Where there is no vision, the people perish•••"
– Proverbs 29:18

FROM official Philippine perspectives, the island of Guam – which is US territory – is one of the most overlooked and underestimated destinations in our Asia-Pacific region. Last week, I had the good fortune of visiting Guam again, after a three-year lapse. My interest in Guam dates back to July 1946 when I first passed through that war-devastated island on the first leg of a long voyage from Manila to New York. I was on my way to the US Military Academy at West Point as the first Filipino cadet after WWII. That trip took 12 days, with no airlines yet in operation, but only US Air Force C-47s which had to island-hop due to limited range. Literally, I "hitch-hiked on space-available" basis. In 1946, Guam was a community of Quonset huts and tent installations, like most US military camps in the Philippines after liberation. Over the years, I was able to visit or transit through Guam, the last being in June, 2005 as Guest of Honor at the Philippine Independence Day celebration in Agana, the capital.

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Ironically, but fittingly, the US government in Guam accorded special honor with a handsome monument to eminent Filipinos like Apolinario Mabini and 57 other revolutionary heroes who were exiled thereto in 1901 – having refused to take the oath of allegiance to the US. Much like thousands of Filipino pioneers in Guam and the Marianas, Mabini and his compatriots endured hardships in a foreign land in the middle of the vast Pacific, far away from their loved ones. Mabini et.al. were detained in Agana’s Asan seaside district where he wrote La Revolucion Filipina, his seminal work recording Filipino struggles towards independence and nationhood.

Hope for change

A "Leadership Forum" at which I was keynote speaker was organized last week in Guam by the ABS-CBN Group led by CEO "Gabby" Lopez and its Pacific counterparts: The Sorensen Media Group, Lotus Media and Marianas Media Services. The conference was well supported by Guam authorities headed by Governor Felix Camacho.

It was an eyeopener for me to see Guam’s visible progress evidenced by new hotels and shopping centers. Amidst the anxieties of global recession, particularly the failure of well-known American corporate heavyweights, the people of Guam – even if they have not been spared the impacts of the US meltdown – continue to be cautiously optimistic. Of its 170,000 population, 45 percent are of Filipino ancestry who constitute a swing-vote in territorial politics. Two significant factors are cited for their hopeful outlook:

(1) Ongoing build-up of Guam as the new forward platform for US military power in the Pacific, Indian Ocean, Arabian Gulf, and beyond – as far as Africa.

(2) Anticipation of change and hope for a better future represented by the incoming Obama Presidency and his people-empowering directions – manifested by his choices of key Cabinet members.

Developing leaders with vision

The fundamental question raised at the Forum was: "What kind of leaders do we need in our time?" Perhaps, the better question was: "What kind of leadership do we need now and for the next generation?"

The latter approach I used in my speech, partly because of the immediate rescue actions needed in some situations, and precisely because it is more important to now visualize and conceptualize long-term reforms needed within each national society. The development of good leaders – like planting and harvesting – is a generational process required to attain a safer, healthier and more caring and sharing world community. Isn’t this God’s message in Ecclesiastes 3:1-8?: "For everything there is a season, and a time for every matter under heaven: A time to plant and a time to pluck what is planted..."

The vision of a better future from which nations and peoples can benefit equitably – regardless of political ideology, religious faith, cultural background, socio-economic condition, and ethnic origin – is the unceasing, ultimate aspiration of all. It is every country’s permanent national interest. That universal hope of humankind, therefore, should provide strategic guidance to the decisions and policies of today’s leaders and their successors, with each administration able to advance peoples’ quality of life to a higher level.

The trouble in most communities, corporations and governments is that leaders are in a hurry to harvest without first planting and nurturing. Our current problems of poverty, deprivation, corruption, and injustice arise out of someone’s greed, selfishness, and inordinate ambition. In too many places, it is still the law of the jungle that prevails – instead of the equality of opportunity to reach one’s full potential.

Beyond today’s troubles to tomorrow’s possibilities

What kind of leaders do we need in our time?

We need leaders who put the interest of the many above the few. We need leaders of vision who see – far beyond today’s economic crises, violent extremism and territorial conflicts – tomorrow’s brighter possibilities• The capacity to instill hope is a critical part of leadership. We need leaders who can restore hope – especially to the youth and those mired in poverty.

Each country clamors for leaders who can mobilize the best from each citizen – in return for the best they can give of themselves to the citizenry. Today’s rulers are the custodians of political and economic power that must be put to good use for the majority’s benefit.

Global leadership

At global level, humankind’s need is for consistent and intelligent leadership capable of controlling the prevailing "de facto anarchy." To replace this "rule of the strong," we must organize a caring and sharing international community, and for it to become a family of truly principled nations daring enough to take concerted action against the threats to our survival.

The challenges are: Mass poverty, endemic diseases, environmental degradation, international terrorism, nuclear proliferation, and the gap between the "haves" and "have-nots" both within and among countries. In the world, the Asia-Pacific included, there continue to exist "rebellions" of social groups whom development has left behind.

Today, pessimism is rising about the potential benefits from globalization. More and more people believe the globalized economy is merely widening the divide between the rich and the poor. The former seem to favor free markets and free trade only when it suits them, in the same way that the massive bailouts we’re seeing appear to favor big business at the expense of jobs and livelihood of ordinary people.

Coming soon: Barack Obama

To overcome these challenges, we need leaders who can see beyond the gloom and doom of the moment to the brighter possibilities of the future because of their visionary qualities – with the convictions and political skills to carry out painful reforms.

Despite all the piety we hear about the benefits interdependence brings, the world order is still basically coercive. The strong will do what they have the power to do; and the weak will accept what they have to accept.

Once upon a time, countries could afford to stay basically self-sufficient – heedless of whether others sink or swim. Nowadays, no nation can remain an island apart from the others.

Obviously, today’s complex and delicate world must be managed through efficient transnational governance. And we know how valiantly the UN – under Ban Ki-Moon’s leadership – is trying to cope with the world’s crises and conflicts.

The most historic happening of the recent past was Barack Obama’s election as incoming US President. Besides being the first African-American to lead the world’s most powerful nation, he represents the triumph of Americans hopeful for change. Globally, Obama carries the prayers for economic salvation of peoples who anticipate a bleak future because of recession in the US, most of Europe and the Americas, and parts of Asia.

Philippine governance: Now to 2010 and beyond

At the very least, our world must construct a more compassionate kind of capitalism – that reconciles open-markets and social justice. We must re-engineer the social structure underlying globalization, so that it will produce an economic system that is effective and fair.

Those who lead us must create a new universal order which all humankind can share with dignity, sufficiency, and equity. And it is toward such a world that political leaders – in their roles as "custodians of the nation’s ideals, the beliefs it cherishes, and its permanent hopes" – must lead their peoples.

In his victory statement, President-elect Obama asserted: "Let us summon a new spirit of patriotism; of service and responsibility where each of us resolves to pitch in and work harder; and look after not only ourselves, but each other••• we shall overcome. Yes we can."

This is exactly the kind of governance the Philippines needs. Kaya natin ito!

Please send any comments to fvr@rpdev.org. Copies of articles are available at www.rpdev.org.

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(December 14, 2008 issue)
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