Friday, November 16, 2007 Editorials: Need for political re-orientation
WHEN President Arroyo averred the other day that our national leaders are playing too much politics, she may have hit the nail of our national dilemma right on the head.
However, her laying the blame entirely on our propensity to indulge in politics may not really be fair and acceptable, since in a democracy, politics is a sine qua non.
The President was guest speaker in a National Anti-Poverty Commission activity the other day.
When she spoke, she must have in mind the 12-year old girl from Davao who committed suicide for failure to submit a school project.
She pointed out that “instead of political wrangling, lawmakers should buckle down to work on pending legislations urgently needed to move the country forward.”
Values
However, the real problem of the republic is essentially political behavior and moral values of its leaders.
These political virtues should lend dimension to the setting of personal priorities among leaders who are committed to the imperatives of a common collective vision for development and growth.
Ironically, this behavior and moral values is not matched with true sincerity.
Our political leaders, the President included, should take the collective agenda above their personal interests.
More often than not, overriding political aspirations distorted political perspectives, thereby subverting altruistic social and economic goals in favor of selfish political considerations.
How often have we observed this scenario unfolding before our people’s eyes?
Positive light
All that the country’s citizenry should do right now is watch in trembling dismay the way our senators and representatives behave in Congress.
The country is lucky our lawmakers found time enough to pass the Appropriations Act.
Of course, they had to find time to deliberate on the national budget or they would not have money to support the daily operation of their respective offices in 2008, and to defray the cost of their incessant politicking.
Nevertheless, the President’s statement can be taken in a positive light.
Being aware of the existence of a problem is a first step towards its solution.
The President’s cognizance and denunciation of harmful politicking should be taken as the first long step towards political reorientation.
