Wednesday, August 20, 2008 Carvajal: Pakistan president’s resignation By Orlando P. Carvajal Break Point
PERVEZ Musharraf’s resignation tells me the Philippines lags behind her Asian neighbors not only in economics and politics but also in statesmanship. In fact, what makes us lag behind our neighbors economically is our lack of statesmanship which I define as the ability of a leader to work for a cause bigger than his pocket, namely, the welfare of the nation.
The Pakistani president said he resigned “for the sake of the nation.” Of course, I have no way of knowing what his real motives are but, admirably, he did resign. This is something Filipino politicians, who are more often heard to declare instead that they stay in power for the sake of the nation, consider stupid.
No politician in this country resigns for the sake of the barangay, town, province or nation. More than that, our politicians do all in their power to stay glued to their positions no matter what and by all means, fair or foul. To our politicians, Musharraf’s resignation was not a very smart thing to do.
In this country, an incumbent is considered stupid if he loses his or her bid for re-election. He or she would also be stupid if, when the term expires, he or she does not pass the mantle of office temporarily to a son or daughter or wife/husband. The anti-dynasty provision in our constitution remains a provision because no lawmaker is willing to commit political suicide by sponsoring the implementing law.
About thirty years ago, I became close to the mayor of a small town in Bulacan. He has long been dead but earlier he confided to me the reasons why incumbent mayors will do everything and anything, including evil, just to remain in power. To paraphrase him, power intoxicates and the euphoria it gives you is like a dream you don’t want to ever wake up from. But even more intoxicating is the wealth that power guarantees.
We have bad governance because those who intend to recover all their election campaign expenses and more when in office are invariably the ones that win election contests. When a public office becomes a means of livelihood for the office-holder, good governance must necessarily step out the back door. The ensuing greed for more usually has no limits.
Because it’s all about money, we never even hear of a barangay captain or a mayor resigning for the good of the barrio or town. This country runs, with rare exceptions, on the pure unmitigated greed of people who are drunk with power. Both power and money are addicting and it is this addiction that is dragging this country down.
Something has got to give. Either the suffering citizens reach a breaking point or those who have the monopoly of power and wealth come to their senses and learn how to let go for the sake of the nation.
