Imagine Leadership.
Imagine yourself leading.
Who is your leader?
Watch this insightful video.
Source: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TuuTlQ0FzEU
NOw, it's for you to decide who you want to lead your life?
Be a responsible citizen, choose wisely.
Be the change of the world.
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Zombies, Trapos and the Merchandising of Political Patronage
ZOMBIES, TRAPOS AND THE MERCHANDIZING
OF
POLITICAL PATRONAGE
By
MANUEL E. VALDEHUESA JR.
OF
POLITICAL PATRONAGE
By
MANUEL E. VALDEHUESA JR.
Mr. President, Mme. Executive Vice President, School Deans, Department Heads, Faculty & Staff, Director, Editors & Staff of Capitol University Press, Honored Guests, Friends:
Thank you all for helping launch this modest volume. It used to be that one had to go to Manila to get a book published. Not so anymore. So I am thankful for the visionary leadership of Capitol University. As an old hand in development and publishing circles, I can say that it is a good sign when a university undertakes a publishing program; for it is the universal mission of a university to advance knowledge. It does this through research, then seeing to its utilization, or by publishing the research findings.
To advance knowledge was what drove me to write this book. I wanted to share my observations about our political culture -- which is under siege from all quarters by modern-day barbarians, charlatans and despoilers of our common wealth. They are better known as traditional politicians, or trapos. Some of what I write may be a hard to swallow; but I share them to provoke discussion, perhaps action. It matters little whether you agree with me or not; what’s important is that our ideas, yours and mine, can now form a stream of consciousness that might lead to building a consensus.
Consensus is important in a city. It is important in the same way that a vision and mission statement is important in a corporation. Consensus is what binds a diverse, multicultural community. It provides the basis for a common vision towards equitable sharing of burdens and rewards, towards peace and development, towards progress.
Consensus is important for a sense of community to develop -- the sense that tells us we have common interests, we belong together, that therefore we need to work together. Out of consensus arises political will, a sense of direction, or a purpose for cooperation. Without it we can hardly call ourselves a community; we are just a bunch of people thrown together by accident of geography, or by the lure of Piso-Piso land grants.
Consider the condition of our city. It is in the throes of anarchy and chaos: squatters everywhere, filthy sewers and public facilities, unruly traffic, poor sense of law and order, rampant discontent accompanied by rampant gambling. We have no coherent vision or direction as a community. Huge projects get built and no one knows why except that it’s the mayor’s or the vice mayor’s fetish; no one knows how much it costs, either; not least, no one knows how much is pilfered or pocketed. This is a government that does things in defiance of rather than in pursuance of the people’s wishes. It is an oligarchy.
It is happening because the popular will is not articulated and the citizens fail to protect their interests. It is abetted by the breakdown of consensus-building mechanisms such as the puppet City Council and the inert City Development Council. So the citizens are not heard or represented in decision making. They are simply manipulated, pushed or pulled every which way without consultation or consent. The oligarchs are in control. They hold the key to the treasury and the apparatus of the bureaucracy.
Wielding the power of patronage and dole out, they keep the majority of our populace under their spell. So the rule of law is no match against the tyranny of numbers. They can legitimize illegal acts. They can railroad legislation and rig elections. Because the majority encompasses squatters, people that vote but do not pay taxes, taxpayers are marginalized or taken for granted.
Pandering to the squatter majority emboldens them to purchase land at market rates, then give the same away at the ridiculous fee of one-peso per lot. This dole out strengthens trapo stranglehold on government even as it weakens the city’s economy. Giving the lots away to the penurious and underemployed decommissions large tracts of land and places them beyond the reach of the taxman. Since there’s no way one-peso can reimburse the fabulous rates at which the land is bought, the city is bled financially. This cavalier handling of our common wealth is irresponsible and ill-motivated profligacy.
But no one complains except a solitary voice or two. Everyone else is silent, everyone feels helpless, or defenseless over a class issue that prejudices all taxpayers, saddling them with the burden of government upkeep while the rest get a free ride for their votes.
The taxpaying citizens are voiceless, so they are helpless. They lack political will, so they are readily manipulated. They labor under a captive system, so it is open season for abuse, opportunism, and corruption. That’s how these trapos launch huge projects like markets and bridges without consultation or due process. That’s how it turns out that the criteria is based on how much in kickbacks and commissions a project will earn. That’s how public interest is betrayed year after year! The government is privatized.
The abuse has become so pervasive and shameless that even pigs are roasted, cakes are baked, and priests and churches are contracted to snare unwed couples into mass weddings. No one seems to realize how this hypocritical gimmick yields a bonanza of grateful supporters, followers, campaigners, and voters on Election Day.
Lets face it: A whole new trapo industry has emerged around the merchandizing of political patronage. Every bit and morsel of public works and social services is converted into private tokens bearing the names and faces of the trapos.
They have brought corrupt practices to unprecedented heights of shamelessness. Hardly a week passes but that there’s a political gimmick in progress – a medical mission, a feeding program, a mass wedding, distribution of health cards, circumcision or haircut, name them! These instruments of patronage and corrupt electioneering are a plague upon our political system. No road, pavement, or building is built but that it must bear the name and face of a trapo or the label of a company that donates big to campaign chests. Now anyone can avail of medical services by simply signing away his vote to a trapo patron.
Our lawmakers are accelerating our social deterioration down the depths of corruption and retrogression. And their conniving partners in the executive branch are serving as pimps, pushers, and merchandizers of pork barrel. Everywhere there is credit-grabbing – for what? -- for squandering the people’s money! How we have gone far far away from our role models like Pres. Ramon Magsaysay, Vice Pres Emmanuel Pelaez… and yes, Ninoy and Cory.
They had integrity, delicadeza, gravitas. They made us feel decent; they made us hope in democracy; they made us believe in autonomy and self-help; they made us care about duty and honor, about God and country. Who do we have today? Demagogues, charlatans, free-loaders, plunderers, power-greedy oligarchs. In their posturing, they only succeed in portraying our society as Asia’s most corrupt. Instead of instilling pride, they make us feel dirty, indecent, and embarrassed about our nationality.
In the 1950s, Ramon Magsaysay “The Guy” stirred up the masses and awakened their sense of sovereignty, including mine while I was still in high school. He opened our eyes and made us aware of our dignity, our rights, and our inherent power. In doing so, he empowered us and brought us the light of hope during that dark period in our history.
After we lost Magsaysay in a plane crash, others picked up his torch – notably, our Maning Pelaez, who showed how a provinciano from a small town called Medina can be a class act on the world stage and rise to the pinnacle of national politics without resort to guns, goons, or gold as many did and do to this day. He was our beloved congressman, senator, vice president, secretary of foreign affairs, peace negotiator, representative to the United Nations, and ambassador the United States: the quintessential statesman.
Close to home, we had Tinying Borja, beloved mayor of Cagayanons. He showed how even a lowly City Hall can be a staging point for statesmanship and win respect not only for himself but for his constituents. Although our city then was still a fledgling urban community, it hosted ambassadors and Magsaysay Awardees who came to see what sort of people lived in the nation’s best managed urban center of that time. Justiniano R. Borja was and is the pride of Cagayan de Oro.
Not long after Tinying Borja died prematurely came Reuben Rabe Canoy. Reuben helped us define a vision for a friendly city. He gave the neighborhoods of our nation a sense of identity and power by conjuring up their ancient roots as self-governing barangays. He then reinforced the barangay’s role by his broadcasting mantra that “an informed citizenry makes democracy strong, while indifferent and neglectful citizens imperil freedom and liberty.” The rebirth of the barangay is Reuben Canoy’s enduring legacy to Filipino nationhood.
Where are there leaders today with a vision and statesmanship such as they had? Who is there that we can look up to as an icon for good, honest, honorable governance? Is there a leader in our city, in our region, in our nation who makes us feel proud, who makes us feel honored, or inspires us by his honesty, ability, or statesmanship?
Trapo leaders are not entirely useless, however, if only because they serve as examples of how not to govern and whom not to vote for. They have their uses. They inspire journalists to write of corruption, of manipulation, of dynastic ambition and monopoly, of greed or lust for power. They provide for their families and enrich their cronies. I don’t even have to name them here, for they are already well-known.
They save us the trouble of identifying them by their habit of plastering their names and faces on billboards, streamers, vehicles, even garbage bins. They reveal themselves by festooning our sidewalks, the overhead cables, and the sidings of government-supplied vehicles with their shameless names and faces. Their postings and hangings hang like dirty laundry throughout the landscape. And to add insult to injury, these are produced and installed entirely at our expense. Let those tarpaulins and billboards be your reminder not to re-elect them!
But, to be realistic, my suggestion may serve no practical purpose. With all the flattery and lionizing they get from civil society groups in hopes of getting a share of their pork barrel, they’ll probably get re-elected. They’ll win again because people who claim to dislike abuse or betrayal pander to them, surrender governance to them, and let their minions get away with corruption right in the community’s backyard -- in their own barangay, where the election precincts are staked out long before elections so the zombies can be herded smoothly into them.
So who are the zombies? They are us! They are our neighbors! They are everyone else, devout or unbeliever, who surrenders the government of his barangay to trapos big and small! These zombies, starting with ourselves, need to wake up and snap out of the spell cast by the trapos using patronage and graft and corruption
We cannot afford to let this privatization of government and the appropriation of its resources for personal vainglory go on without risking decline into a failed state.
Thank you for listening. God Bless you. God bless Cagayan and Misamis Oriental, God bless the Philippines!
_____________________________
6 November 2009, Museum of Three Cultures, Capitol University, Cagayan de oro City
May this article, provoke discussion and perhaps action that might lead to building a consensus to all of us Filipinos. May we be enlightened.
Comelec extends registration hours
In anticipation of last-minute registrants, the Commission on Elections will be extending by at least four hours the daily voters' registration being conducted across the country until the end of the month.
"We are aware that a lot of Filipinos choose to register at the last minute. So in order to accommodate them and also address the growing crowds at our field offices as we near the registration deadline, the Comelec en banc has ordered the extension of office hours in all registration centers nationwide," said Comelec spokesman James Jimenez.
Jimenez said that starting October 22 until October 30, registration hours in Comelec field offices will be open from 8 a.m. until 9 p.m. Registration on October 31, the last day for registration, will be open until 12 midnight.
Jimenez was quick to clarify, however, that they are only extending the registration hours, not the registration days.
Continue Reading, click here!
Source: http://www.gmanews.tv/story/175191/comelec-extends-registration-hours-nationwide
This is a great chance for those not yet registered so, go now to your nearest registration centers.
"We are aware that a lot of Filipinos choose to register at the last minute. So in order to accommodate them and also address the growing crowds at our field offices as we near the registration deadline, the Comelec en banc has ordered the extension of office hours in all registration centers nationwide," said Comelec spokesman James Jimenez.
Jimenez said that starting October 22 until October 30, registration hours in Comelec field offices will be open from 8 a.m. until 9 p.m. Registration on October 31, the last day for registration, will be open until 12 midnight.
Jimenez was quick to clarify, however, that they are only extending the registration hours, not the registration days.
Continue Reading, click here!
Source: http://www.gmanews.tv/story/175191/comelec-extends-registration-hours-nationwide
This is a great chance for those not yet registered so, go now to your nearest registration centers.
Applications to Country Programs Against Corruption
A campaign against corruption must go beyond words, indeed beyond new laws. Institutional adjustment is needed to limit the scope of corruption (and more generally, to enhance efficiency).
A rough formula holds: we will tend to have corruption when there is monopoly plus discretion minus accountability. Therefore, by "structural reforms" we mean actions that:
• Limit monopoly: promote competition in the public and private sectors, avoid monopoly-granting regulations when possible (especially exchange controls and quantitative restrictions on imports), open the economy to international competition, and so forth.
• Clarify official discretion: simplify rules and regulations via "bright lines," help citizens learn the way the system is supposed to work (through brochures and manuals, help desks, laws and rules in ordinary language, publicity campaigns, the use of citizen service-providers, etc.), improve oversight of officials' actions, and so forth.
• Enhance accountability and transparency: private-sector involvement in many ways, including citizen oversight boards, hot lines, ombudsmen, inquiry commissions, etc.; the systematic generation and dissemination of information about public service effectiveness; external audits; self-policing by the private sector; clear standards of conduct and rules of the game; greater competition and openness in bidding, grant-giving, and aid projects.
Institutional adjustment builds on the insight that systems are corrupt, not just people. Corruption is a label covering many different phenomena, and within each category of corrupt activities are many questions of degree. The beginning of wisdom in an anti-corruption effort is to disaggregate.
It is impossible to avoid ethical questions when one speaks of corruption. And yet, this is what successful reforms must try to do. They must focus on corruption as a crime of economic calculation. They must analyze systems rather than condemn individuals, understanding the formula corruption = monopoly + discretion - accountability.
Article Source: http://ezinearticles.com/?Applications-to-Country-Programs-Against-Corruption&id=3013490
A rough formula holds: we will tend to have corruption when there is monopoly plus discretion minus accountability. Therefore, by "structural reforms" we mean actions that:
• Limit monopoly: promote competition in the public and private sectors, avoid monopoly-granting regulations when possible (especially exchange controls and quantitative restrictions on imports), open the economy to international competition, and so forth.
• Clarify official discretion: simplify rules and regulations via "bright lines," help citizens learn the way the system is supposed to work (through brochures and manuals, help desks, laws and rules in ordinary language, publicity campaigns, the use of citizen service-providers, etc.), improve oversight of officials' actions, and so forth.
• Enhance accountability and transparency: private-sector involvement in many ways, including citizen oversight boards, hot lines, ombudsmen, inquiry commissions, etc.; the systematic generation and dissemination of information about public service effectiveness; external audits; self-policing by the private sector; clear standards of conduct and rules of the game; greater competition and openness in bidding, grant-giving, and aid projects.
Institutional adjustment builds on the insight that systems are corrupt, not just people. Corruption is a label covering many different phenomena, and within each category of corrupt activities are many questions of degree. The beginning of wisdom in an anti-corruption effort is to disaggregate.
It is impossible to avoid ethical questions when one speaks of corruption. And yet, this is what successful reforms must try to do. They must focus on corruption as a crime of economic calculation. They must analyze systems rather than condemn individuals, understanding the formula corruption = monopoly + discretion - accountability.
Article Source: http://ezinearticles.com/?Applications-to-Country-Programs-Against-Corruption&id=3013490
The Politics of Anti-Corruption Endeavors
After the first participatory diagnosis, government might sponsor further workshops at several levels (including government officials, international businesses, local businesses, and aid donors). Studies can also play a catalytic role. Of particular interest are studies of systems of information and evaluation (their extent, quality, how used and misused), analysis of actual and hypothetical incentive systems, and studies that contrast successful and unsuccessful cases within the country in question.
For example, in a given country certain public enterprises may be a significant source of corruption in international business transactions. Yet other public enterprises may be functioning well and relatively cleanly. Why? What lessons can be learned from the successes?
Studying successes has a psychological benefit. Locals see that they are not perceived as inept by over generalizing outsiders. Transparency has a new meaning, that with good information they can learn from each other.
Other studies might attempt to gauge the existence and degree of corruption in public procurement, foreign aid projects, and debt repayment (to name three possible locations for corruption in international business transactions). The studies would examine a particular case of an alleged corrupt transaction, but would simultaneously analyze the general class of cases of which that was an instance. The methodology would involve interviews on a confidential in the public and private sectors. In other words, we are not talking about a dry academic study, but research that evokes from local people their knowledge of how corrupt local systems work and what might be done to make those systems function better.
Such studies would carry an indirect benefit. They would create certain uneasiness among the locals as basic problems are uncovered and documented. They would also build a baseline of data from which future progress can be judged.
It is a curiosity: political scientists who study administrative change often seem to overlook politics. An effective strategy for fighting corruption should not. Part of the "assessment" of the enabling environment should also focus on the political forces that might aid or block various changes.
"Politics" has another dimension: relations in the country leadership. Ideally, local leaders will already be convinced of the need to undertake institutional adjustment. If not, their incentives and constraints must be carefully analyzed. The proposed strategy of administrative adjustment ideally would be transparent. It would be "incentive compatible" even for political leaders with less than ideal motivations.
Article Source: http://ezinearticles.com/?The-Politics-of-Anti-Corruption-Endeavors&id=3013644
For example, in a given country certain public enterprises may be a significant source of corruption in international business transactions. Yet other public enterprises may be functioning well and relatively cleanly. Why? What lessons can be learned from the successes?
Studying successes has a psychological benefit. Locals see that they are not perceived as inept by over generalizing outsiders. Transparency has a new meaning, that with good information they can learn from each other.
Other studies might attempt to gauge the existence and degree of corruption in public procurement, foreign aid projects, and debt repayment (to name three possible locations for corruption in international business transactions). The studies would examine a particular case of an alleged corrupt transaction, but would simultaneously analyze the general class of cases of which that was an instance. The methodology would involve interviews on a confidential in the public and private sectors. In other words, we are not talking about a dry academic study, but research that evokes from local people their knowledge of how corrupt local systems work and what might be done to make those systems function better.
Such studies would carry an indirect benefit. They would create certain uneasiness among the locals as basic problems are uncovered and documented. They would also build a baseline of data from which future progress can be judged.
It is a curiosity: political scientists who study administrative change often seem to overlook politics. An effective strategy for fighting corruption should not. Part of the "assessment" of the enabling environment should also focus on the political forces that might aid or block various changes.
"Politics" has another dimension: relations in the country leadership. Ideally, local leaders will already be convinced of the need to undertake institutional adjustment. If not, their incentives and constraints must be carefully analyzed. The proposed strategy of administrative adjustment ideally would be transparent. It would be "incentive compatible" even for political leaders with less than ideal motivations.
Article Source: http://ezinearticles.com/?The-Politics-of-Anti-Corruption-Endeavors&id=3013644
We Must Demand Higher Ethics From Our Politicians
If we wish to progress, and strengthen our communities, states, and even our nation as a whole then we are going to need more solid individuals running for office. We need people with higher ethical standards, those who are willing to tell us the truth, and we must listen to that truth without demanding free stuff, or voting in someone is willing to lie to us to appease our every want and desire.
Not long ago, I was having a conversation with an acquaintance and we were talking about how ridiculous it was that a certain city had reelected their mayor, a mayor who had mismanaged the city, taken bribes, and was irresponsible in almost every way imaginable. We got to talking and this is the comment we came up with;
"It's amazing what people can be led to believe sometimes from podium pushing politicians, with packed pocketbooks, and passionate PACs."
Still, one has to ask if the citizens and voters of this great nation will ever wake up. It's almost gotten to the point that we fully expect our politicians to be corrupt, and have low ethical standards. And to this we aspire? We have lowered our own standards so much that we are willing to deal with this, often choosing the lesser of two evils when both candidates have questionable ethics.
Why on earth would we settle for such when we live in the greatest nation the world has ever known. It makes absolutely no sense whatsoever, and yet, we go on each election cycle and do the same thing over and over again; the definition of insanity in its purest form, but why? Why doesn't anybody ask, why won't we demand higher standards of our politicians and podium pushers question. I hope you will please consider this.
Article Source: http://ezinearticles.com/?We-Must-Demand-Higher-Ethics-From-Our-Politicians&id=3024199
This is a great article to really consider especially that Philippine 2010 Election is now approaching.
Not long ago, I was having a conversation with an acquaintance and we were talking about how ridiculous it was that a certain city had reelected their mayor, a mayor who had mismanaged the city, taken bribes, and was irresponsible in almost every way imaginable. We got to talking and this is the comment we came up with;
"It's amazing what people can be led to believe sometimes from podium pushing politicians, with packed pocketbooks, and passionate PACs."
Still, one has to ask if the citizens and voters of this great nation will ever wake up. It's almost gotten to the point that we fully expect our politicians to be corrupt, and have low ethical standards. And to this we aspire? We have lowered our own standards so much that we are willing to deal with this, often choosing the lesser of two evils when both candidates have questionable ethics.
Why on earth would we settle for such when we live in the greatest nation the world has ever known. It makes absolutely no sense whatsoever, and yet, we go on each election cycle and do the same thing over and over again; the definition of insanity in its purest form, but why? Why doesn't anybody ask, why won't we demand higher standards of our politicians and podium pushers question. I hope you will please consider this.
Article Source: http://ezinearticles.com/?We-Must-Demand-Higher-Ethics-From-Our-Politicians&id=3024199
This is a great article to really consider especially that Philippine 2010 Election is now approaching.
The good and the bad shepherds. Who are they?
God’s Word Today
Fr Jose Ramon T Villarin SJ
Shepherd
If you were to rouse God or move Him “in the guts,” where would you bring Him?
For a clue, check the jeremiad in the first reading today against bad shepherds and the gospel story of the Shepherd being stirred by the crowds (“for they were like sheep without a shepherd”). If you want to see God agitated, bring Him to a place where bad shepherds roam or take Him to a vast gathering of people all adrift and shepherd-less.
The Word of God today offers us an intimate view of the heart of God by giving us a glimpse of what moves Him. Today, we see Jesus as the fulfillment of God's promise to gather us and bring us to live under a new king who “shall reign and govern wisely,” doing “what is just and right in the land.” The scriptures today tell of Jesus our shepherd, and the offer He makes of Himself to lead our lives.
Yet, while these readings point us to Jesus, these can be as good a guide as any to the kind of leaders we seek for our country. A close reading of these passages led me to this negative list, a top-10 list of the qualities that make for bad leadership (or bad shepherding). In the style of David Letterman, I list the qualities in reverse. The top-10 traits of bad leaders are:
Number 10: Bad leaders or bad shepherds have a knack of scattering the flock. They cannot galvanize our people to action because their motives and integrity are always being questioned. They continue to exhort unity but they cannot see that they (more than our tribal allegiances) are the source of disunity.
Number 9: Bad shepherds rely on fear and trembling to rule over the flock. This manner of lording it over others reveals only weakness and insecurity on their part. Bad shepherds are not sure of themselves or of their mandate to lead and so they become like over-staying tenants who terrorize us with “guns, goons, and gold.” Now, gold is not necessarily a fearful thing. But once you've learned to live with it and on it, losing it can be a terrifying thing.
Number 8: Bad shepherds end up with missing sheep during their watch. Bad shepherds spend time fussing over the 99, rather than seeking out the lost (“or the least or the last”). If you are a hard-hitting, truth-telling journalist or radio announcer or disfranchised farmer, you do not want to be under a bad shepherd. The number of desaparecidos (forced-disappearances) increases in proportion to the badness of the shepherd.
Number 7: Bad shepherds do not care for the sheep. Of course no shepherd will ever confess they are callous or uncaring at all. They rise to shepherd-status by their demagoguery and photo-ops of compassion. By their misdeeds (and non-deeds) and accrued assets you shall know them.
Number 6: Bad shepherds don't do what is just and right in the land. The rot festers in the human heart and embeds itself in human systems. The injustice swells along with the greed and fear and intoxicating power. The moral corruption and compromises are rationalized by intelligent people with a thousand reasons. Whatever the reasons, the price of undoing justice and right is unjust violence and wrongful death.
Number 5: When bad shepherds take charge, the land and people do not dwell in security. The land dwells in security when ecological lifelines are not pillaged for short-term gain. People dwell in security when their dwelling is their own and they live without fear of their rights or property or their very spirit ever being stolen.
Number 4: If good shepherds do not have so much as time to eat, bad shepherds have all the time to travel halfway around the world to watch Pacquiao live and at ringside. Good shepherds miss meals; bad shepherds are fed all the time.
Number 3: When bad shepherds gaze at the vastness or confusion of the crowd, they are not “moved with pity” (the actual Greek, esphlangnisthe, suggests a wringing or wrenching in the guts). If they see our people adrift and rudderless, their guts do not develop ulcers. They only see votes, not faces. Votes are magnets that move them to do terrible things.
Number 2: Bad shepherds do not teach because teaching feeds the human spirit and broadens a person's horizons. When good shepherds confront hunger, they teach first with words that hearten and matter, and then they feed the thousands with bread and fish. Bad shepherds are clueless when it comes to this Eucharistic pattern of word fellowship and table sacrifice.
And the Number 1 trait of bad leaders: Bad shepherds are unfazed by jeremiads, even from Jeremiah. That is because bad shepherds do not know how bad they are. Even the fires of hell will not deter them. But since the good Shepherd does not lead by intimidation or fear, we can only infer (or wish?) that their emptiness of heart is their own empty reward, now and forever.
Fr. Jose Ramon T. Villarin SJ is President of Xavier University, Ateneo de Cagayan. For feedback on this column, email tinigloyola@yahoo.com
Fr Jose Ramon T Villarin SJ
Shepherd
If you were to rouse God or move Him “in the guts,” where would you bring Him?
For a clue, check the jeremiad in the first reading today against bad shepherds and the gospel story of the Shepherd being stirred by the crowds (“for they were like sheep without a shepherd”). If you want to see God agitated, bring Him to a place where bad shepherds roam or take Him to a vast gathering of people all adrift and shepherd-less.
The Word of God today offers us an intimate view of the heart of God by giving us a glimpse of what moves Him. Today, we see Jesus as the fulfillment of God's promise to gather us and bring us to live under a new king who “shall reign and govern wisely,” doing “what is just and right in the land.” The scriptures today tell of Jesus our shepherd, and the offer He makes of Himself to lead our lives.
Yet, while these readings point us to Jesus, these can be as good a guide as any to the kind of leaders we seek for our country. A close reading of these passages led me to this negative list, a top-10 list of the qualities that make for bad leadership (or bad shepherding). In the style of David Letterman, I list the qualities in reverse. The top-10 traits of bad leaders are:
Number 10: Bad leaders or bad shepherds have a knack of scattering the flock. They cannot galvanize our people to action because their motives and integrity are always being questioned. They continue to exhort unity but they cannot see that they (more than our tribal allegiances) are the source of disunity.
Number 9: Bad shepherds rely on fear and trembling to rule over the flock. This manner of lording it over others reveals only weakness and insecurity on their part. Bad shepherds are not sure of themselves or of their mandate to lead and so they become like over-staying tenants who terrorize us with “guns, goons, and gold.” Now, gold is not necessarily a fearful thing. But once you've learned to live with it and on it, losing it can be a terrifying thing.
Number 8: Bad shepherds end up with missing sheep during their watch. Bad shepherds spend time fussing over the 99, rather than seeking out the lost (“or the least or the last”). If you are a hard-hitting, truth-telling journalist or radio announcer or disfranchised farmer, you do not want to be under a bad shepherd. The number of desaparecidos (forced-disappearances) increases in proportion to the badness of the shepherd.
Number 7: Bad shepherds do not care for the sheep. Of course no shepherd will ever confess they are callous or uncaring at all. They rise to shepherd-status by their demagoguery and photo-ops of compassion. By their misdeeds (and non-deeds) and accrued assets you shall know them.
Number 6: Bad shepherds don't do what is just and right in the land. The rot festers in the human heart and embeds itself in human systems. The injustice swells along with the greed and fear and intoxicating power. The moral corruption and compromises are rationalized by intelligent people with a thousand reasons. Whatever the reasons, the price of undoing justice and right is unjust violence and wrongful death.
Number 5: When bad shepherds take charge, the land and people do not dwell in security. The land dwells in security when ecological lifelines are not pillaged for short-term gain. People dwell in security when their dwelling is their own and they live without fear of their rights or property or their very spirit ever being stolen.
Number 4: If good shepherds do not have so much as time to eat, bad shepherds have all the time to travel halfway around the world to watch Pacquiao live and at ringside. Good shepherds miss meals; bad shepherds are fed all the time.
Number 3: When bad shepherds gaze at the vastness or confusion of the crowd, they are not “moved with pity” (the actual Greek, esphlangnisthe, suggests a wringing or wrenching in the guts). If they see our people adrift and rudderless, their guts do not develop ulcers. They only see votes, not faces. Votes are magnets that move them to do terrible things.
Number 2: Bad shepherds do not teach because teaching feeds the human spirit and broadens a person's horizons. When good shepherds confront hunger, they teach first with words that hearten and matter, and then they feed the thousands with bread and fish. Bad shepherds are clueless when it comes to this Eucharistic pattern of word fellowship and table sacrifice.
And the Number 1 trait of bad leaders: Bad shepherds are unfazed by jeremiads, even from Jeremiah. That is because bad shepherds do not know how bad they are. Even the fires of hell will not deter them. But since the good Shepherd does not lead by intimidation or fear, we can only infer (or wish?) that their emptiness of heart is their own empty reward, now and forever.
Fr. Jose Ramon T. Villarin SJ is President of Xavier University, Ateneo de Cagayan. For feedback on this column, email tinigloyola@yahoo.com
Presidential aspirants sign covenant
Presidential aspirants sign covenant
Months ahead of the 2010 elections, contenders for the presidency have forged a gentleman’s agreement to keep next year’s national elections clean, honest and peaceful.
But two of the front-running hopefuls—Vice President Noli de Castro and Senator Manuel Villar—snubbed yet another forum aimed at engaging presidential aspirants on issues and policies.
De Castro and Villar, who both project themselves as pro-poor, had earlier rejected similar invitations by the ANC Leadership Forum. The two prefer to engage the public through expensive advertisements.
Heavy rains on Thursday did not prevent former President Joseph Estrada, Senators Mar Roxas, Francis Escudero, Loren Legarda, Richard Gordon, and Pampanga Governor Eddie Panlilio from attending the forum sponsored by election watchdog Parish Pastoral Council for Responsible Voting/National Citizens' Movement for Free Elections (PPCRV/Namfrel). It was held at the historic Plaza Miranda in Quiapo, Manila.
They signed a covenant rejecting “guns, goons and gold” in the elections and bound themselves to an agreement that they will oppose any charter change before 2010 polls.
Signings of such covenants are usually held after the candidates have filed their certificates of candidacies. These are, more often than not, for ceremonial purposes. The agreements, especially when it comes to election spending, are wantonly violated in the thick and heat of the campaign period.
Source: Presidential aspirants sign covenant
Comment:
What is a covenant?
A covenant in its most general sense, is a solemn promise to engage in or refrain from a specified action.
Under the common law a covenant was distinguished from an ordinary contract by the presence of a seal. Because the presence of a seal indicated an unusual solemnity in the promises made in a covenant, the common law would enforce a covenant even in the absence of consideration.
Source: Wikipedia
For me a covenant is an irrevocable commitment made by the covenanter to the public. I just hope that they will be true to this covenant they signed of rejecting “guns, goons and gold”.
But two of the front-running hopefuls—Vice President Noli de Castro and Senator Manuel Villar—snubbed yet another forum aimed at engaging presidential aspirants on issues and policies.
De Castro and Villar, who both project themselves as pro-poor, had earlier rejected similar invitations by the ANC Leadership Forum. The two prefer to engage the public through expensive advertisements.
Heavy rains on Thursday did not prevent former President Joseph Estrada, Senators Mar Roxas, Francis Escudero, Loren Legarda, Richard Gordon, and Pampanga Governor Eddie Panlilio from attending the forum sponsored by election watchdog Parish Pastoral Council for Responsible Voting/National Citizens' Movement for Free Elections (PPCRV/Namfrel). It was held at the historic Plaza Miranda in Quiapo, Manila.
They signed a covenant rejecting “guns, goons and gold” in the elections and bound themselves to an agreement that they will oppose any charter change before 2010 polls.
Signings of such covenants are usually held after the candidates have filed their certificates of candidacies. These are, more often than not, for ceremonial purposes. The agreements, especially when it comes to election spending, are wantonly violated in the thick and heat of the campaign period.
Source: Presidential aspirants sign covenant
Comment:
What is a covenant?
A covenant in its most general sense, is a solemn promise to engage in or refrain from a specified action.
Under the common law a covenant was distinguished from an ordinary contract by the presence of a seal. Because the presence of a seal indicated an unusual solemnity in the promises made in a covenant, the common law would enforce a covenant even in the absence of consideration.
Source: Wikipedia
For me a covenant is an irrevocable commitment made by the covenanter to the public. I just hope that they will be true to this covenant they signed of rejecting “guns, goons and gold”.
Storm; Election Campaign, Issues,
God’s Word Today
Fr Jose Ramon T Villarin SJ
Storm
To create a storm, follow this recipe: start with a warm spot of water (best if somewhere over the ocean). Heat to the right temperature until winds get going and converging to the spot. A spinning earth will make those winds spiral into the area. As the winds and water rise, vapors will condense, thus releasing more warmth and energy, pulling the water to rise even further. In the upper sky, make a hole or drain for this surging vortex of wind and water. Keep the explosive circuit going, and voila, a storm is born.
To stop a storm, simply cut off the supply of water and close the drain in the upper sky. This reduces the storm's strength to a swirling flush in the toilet. This is why storms or typhoons weaken over land, where there is not much water. You can just imagine then being caught in a storm at sea. The recent crash of Air France Flight 447 over the Atlantic proves the deadly power and terror of storms.
In the Philippines, we know all too well this recipe for storms. And this is not due to the distinction of being one of the most unsafe places in the planet (this according to a recent UN study on natural disasters). We seem to be always in the path of storms. Right now, we are in the middle of a brewing legislative and constitutional storm. This is not force majeure, not an act of God. The fuel that's feeding the storm is not wind or water. It is ego and power. And yes, it is fear. This storm is all so needless, so pointless at this time, unless the objective is more sinister, unless the agenda is to sow division and discontent among our people.
How can we make this country safe from storms when our so-called leaders seem so adept in putting us in harm's way? With subterranean motives, they can whip up a social storm or stoke a social volcano by simply dividing us rather than shepherding us. Those who would pretend to lead us have a stake in keeping us armed and divided, poor and uneducated. They have a stake in blurring right from wrong, in perpetuating a feudal system of patronage because in the end (so they think), they get to keep what they covet (or whatever it is they have stolen) and get away with it.
They do well to remember the prophet Hosea's warning: in the real and very end, they who would sow the wind, will reap the whirlwind.
In the Gospel today, the disciples are in a boat with Jesus who asks them to “cross to the other side.” The crossing is really an image of faith, telling us how faith is more than just static assent and adoration; it is also a summons to a conversion (“the other side”), a journey that entails leaving some things behind and facing the uncertainty of the waves with no compass at all but trust.
It is during this crossing that the disciples find themselves all tangled in a boat being tossed in a storm. Where is Jesus? He is there in the boat, sleeping on a cushion. Surely the sight must have been exasperating to these hardy men of the sea. But it is also another compelling image of faith, this sleeping through a storm, this composure in the midst of confusion.
Drenched in fear, the disciples wake him up, asking him the question we've often thrown to the heavens: Teacher, do you not care?
I can imagine the Teacher, in that interlude between wakefulness and sleep, thinking, how could you (of little faith) be afraid of losing everything, when Everything is in the boat with you? If I, your Teacher, did not care, I wouldn't even be in the boat with you.
Of course, the Teacher does not say the words I only imagine are his. Fully awake now, the Teacher instead responds with a double rebuke to the storm brewing from outside and from within: he scolds the wind and sea, “Quiet! Be still.” Then he turns to the panic swirling in their hearts, and throws heaven's question back to earth: why the fear? Why this sinking faith?
To my mind, the Teacher's rebuke is really a whispered prayer: this won't be the last time you will be tossed about in storms even of your making. The crossing from Gethsemani to Calvary will be hard to sleep through. When I, your Teacher, am slain in a storm of unspeakable cruelty, and when on the third day, I make that crossing from death to life, you will know the goodness and ultimate power of God.
Do I not care about you? Do not mind the waves. I care enough to ask you to make that crossing to the other side.
* * *
Fr. Jose Ramon T. Villarin SJ is President of Xavier University, Ateneo de Cagayan. For feedback on this column, email tinigloyola@yahoo.com
Comment:
What a wonderful homily. It made me reflect and meditate on the storms of my life. Storms of ego and power. How can I make my life ego and power free? I was so touched with this warning from prophet Hosea, "they who would sow the wind, will reap the whirlwind. As what Father Villarin said, "to stop a storm, simply cut off the supply of water and close the drain in the upper sky". In this coming election I will do my part to choose the right leader with the hope that soon the storm of our country will soon be stop.
Election Campaign, Issues, Philippines
ELECTION CAMPAIGN AND ISSUES
The Philippines 2010 Election is now fast approaching. Registration for new voters and transferees is still going on.
As we can see in our televisions now, the advertisements/campaigns are now available to the viewers. Advertisements/campaigns telling the public their will to run for government office, they advertise their achievements, platforms, and the good works they have done. They made it known to the public that they are good servants to the people.
As we all know advertisements/campaigns are good and are necessary to hit sales/votes to the top level. But the truth is that advertisements/campaigns are nice and beautiful to look and hear them but they are most of the time deceiving. They are just lip service trying to catch a vote, close a deal. In the end we'll be harvesting what we sow.
We will now take a look at what the Bible says in Matthew 6:2, "So when you give alms, do not have it trumpeted before you; this is what the hypocrites do in the synagogues and in the streets to win human admiration. In truth I tell you, they have had their reward."
A priest once said in his homily, when you do good things to your brothers and sisters do it privately. And your Father in heaven, who sees what you do in private, will reward you.
This Bible reading and the homily of a priest struck me most. We are not supposed to advertise the good works of our hands. It is the grace of GOD that moves us to do good things. Therefore, it is just right to be grateful to our GOD.
It is good to be grateful, since after all, gratitude is the most basic of prayers, because it is a recognition that all is from GOD, and that the opportunity to take part in GOD’s work is a privilege not a right, a gift not an entitlement, that in the end it is the Lord that works through creation and gives it life anew.
So, it is indeed your right to choose the right person whom you believe to be a real good leader. It is indeed, your right to choose from the deceiving advertisements/campaigns.
Be a good Filipino citizen, choose wisely. Register now if you haven't yet. It's your right as Filipino citizens to cast out vote to your desired leaders. It is your right to freely choose your leaders without force or intimidation of any party. Yes it is, indeed, your right. So, register now!
...I know too well that there are better trees that provide better shade, but in the midst of the gloom that reigns in my country I do not look for the shade, I prefer light.
-Jose Rizal (1892)
Be remarkable!
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