P-Noy, as he now prefers to be called according to his newly-minted Press Secretary, bravely declared in his inauguration “wala ng wang-wang, wala ng counterflow”, and his statement was instantly picked up by a press ravenous for news bites.

In the succeeding days, we heard about how P-Noy was late for a presidential appointment after getting stuck in traffic, and how his Vice President brazenly disregarded his most recent popular statement by doing a counter-flow in a one-way street and ignoring stop signs. Still, P-Noy chose to forego the perks with being Number 1 in our country.

Like most ordinary citizens, I met the “no wang-wang” policy with glee. I have been a victim, numerous times, of bullies on the road who parted traffic like Moses parted the Red Sea, and who did so simply by being armed with that bleating, high-pitched siren that seemed more powerful than a God-given rod in Manila’s smoke belched streets. I was small fry – a mere speck – in the ocean teeming with big fish.

These self-styled VIPs, I told myself, often had a golf or masseuse appointment which they deemed more urgent than the daily grind I had to face as a mere taxpayer of the Philippines. Often I was livid, but at the same time I felt extremely powerless over the way these government officials and politicians ignored my own indignity of suffering through traffic that moved at a snail’s pace.

Today, I saw the stash of sirens being added to daily by Traffic Groups from all major cities in the Philippines. Except for official police mobiles and ambulances, the wang-wangs have gone silent indeed.

But I am still stuck in traffic.

As an urban planner, I realized yet again the universality of the basic principles of land transportation that have yet to be addressed ever since Ford mass produced the automobile: for traffic to flow smoothly, roads have to be of adequate size and condition, and the rate of flow should be commensurate to the number of vehicles taking that route from point A to point B.

I also realized, every single day, at how these commonsensical principles have consistently been ignored. And the indicator that I use is how long I am stuck in a convoy of vehicles that I don’t want to belong to – including an LPG delivery truck, two trisiboats with payongs, a mobile ice cream cart with matching jingle, one pick up truck, ten swerving jeepneys and two, extra-large sports utility vehicles that threaten to go from zero to sixty in five seconds as soon as the light turns green.

For the record, I do not mind at all if P-Noy uses a wang-wang. I sincerely believe a President has more important things to do than get stuck in traffic while the fate of the nation literally rests on his hands. However, if there is a necessity for someone of his stature to use a siren to keep his appointments, then it is also undeniable that there is something very wrong. What is wrong is the state of traffic congestion in the urban areas of our nation. Even the Davao situation is beginning to border on being unbearable.

We’ve seen how concerned agencies have jumped on Noynoy’s statement: it seems they’ve caught every vehicle with a wang-wang. So maybe the next logical step is for him to use his mandate and the eagerness of people to follow his orders to address what really needs to be fixed: the sorry state of our roads, the lack of discipline of most PUJ and taxi drivers and the seeming ineptitude of traffic enforcers who sometimes just look at violations rather than facilitate the flow of vehicles.

If we think of the President as a doctor, then he should be treating the illness and not the symptoms. Only then will we see the day when nobody, nobody needs to use a wang-wang to keep an appointment.

Feel free to send your comments to nic_agustin@yahoo.com.

People from all walks of life joined the incoming President in Luneta for the event. Many came from the provinces, as far as Leyte and Tarlac. Some came all the way from California just to witness the victory of the person they have almightily supported during the campaigns.

It was the first time I witnessed a Presidential turn-over – from the ceremonial and traditional fetch by the incoming President of the outgoing President in Malacanang, to the last descent of the outgoing President from the stairs of Malacanang, to the joint ride of the 2 Presidents in the Presidential car with vehicle plate number 1, to the oath-taking of the incoming President, to the delivery of inaugural speech, to the military welcome at the Malacanang ground, and to his first official ascent to the Malacanang Hall as the new Head of the State.

The whole event could be described as poignant, touching, heartrending yet in good spirits and full of hope and promises. As the new President said in his speech, he never dreamt of being in such a position to lead people out of misery. All he wanted was a simple life and go through what simple and ordinary people experience every day. Before the death of his mother, former President Cory, I believe that President Noynoy was indeed a simple person with simple dreams and a simple lifestyle. He never figured quite prominently as a student, and even as a Congressman and a Senator. He was never controversial, neither was he popular and famous. Remove the Ninoy and Cory factors in his life, James Yap could easily become more popular than him. Yet, because of the turn of events or – as some people would call it - fate, he suddenly finds himself with the enormous and gargantuan task of leading a nation long abused, corrupted and exploited of its moral values, good conduct and vast resources.

President Noynoy must be so overwhelmed and could still be in awe as he now occupies the top post and faces the challenges – as well as the honor, bliss and ecstasy - that come with it. Yet, I know that he is not so naïve not to know what he is supposed to do with the country of which he has been called to serve. He knows the plight of the people - the sad realities that they have to tackle and the burden that each one carries each day. It sounds so familiar when he asked the crowd if they have experienced common specific unpleasant situations, and he added “ako rin” (me too) 3 times! He was just short of asking whether the crowd also experienced to swim in an ocean of garbage and to spend a christmas in the streets. But, of course, that’s another matter and he won’t be able to say “ako rin” (even if other people could, at least, pretentiously!). The point is that he said he knows by heart the problems that we all face – the wang-wang, the traffic lights, the counter flows, etc., but more importantly the inefficiencies in delivering services which were brought about by the mistakes, the shortcomings, and the excesses of past administrations.

President Noynoy did not pretend to have all the solutions to all the problems that we face as a nation, and he did acknowledge that he cannot do them alone. His motivation to do better is the trust given to him by the people, as he said “hindi ko sasayangin ang tiwalang ito na binigay niyo sa akin”. I never had a genuine admiration to President Noynoy but when he said this, I saw in him without daring to literally look at his face a simple man being transformed into a great leader. If he allows himself to be used by his Divine Creator to heal this nation and not by anybody else with their individual vested interests, and surround himself with trustworthy servants of the people, he would certainly be able to surpass the achievements of his mother and any of those who came before him, and much more, to make that democracy installed by former President Cory 24 years ago work for the betterment of this nation.

The ceremony was just an event. The inaugural speech could be just a whole set of words nicely and precisely put together to deliver an expression of gratitude for the votes, an articulation of the obvious, and a verbalization of what people always wanted to hear. Yet, June 30, 2010 ushered in a ray of hope for a brighter tomorrow. Getting rid of an unpopular – not necessarily inutile - administration brings in so much idealism and optimism. By consequence, President-elect Noynoy – simple as he is – unwittingly became the symbol of that hope. As he took this as an opportunity for him to prove that positive and desirable change could be effected in this nation, it should also be an opportunity for us to extend our unwavering support and do our own part to make such change happen.

Let’s not waste this chance; we have waited for it for several years. We continue to be vigilant and be active participants of such change.

We earnestly want that this hope to come alive.

Feel free to send your comments to nic_agustin@yahoo.com.

While there are available calamity funds coming from the government, studies would show that the amounts available from these fund facilities are quite meager to match even just a quarter the total value of damage to properties, crops and production, and public facilities. For the damages caused by Typhoons Ondoy and Pepeng last year, for example, the available funds from all government and private sector sources of disaster risk financing could cover only 1.5 percent of total economic damages and about 3 percent of total public sector disaster recovery and reconstruction needs.

In times of disaster, the national government had always tried to provide for financial assistance to communities. The implication, however, is that with the scarce financial resources we have in our national coffer, disasters or catastrophic events would surely push up public spending beyond legislated budgetary ceilings which would result to higher public deficits and debts. When the national government extends financial support and assistance to localities and communities, it also exposes itself to greater and more significant financial risks given the enormous efforts required for physical, social and economic reconstruction and recovery.

Many developing countries have recognized the importance of an insurance mechanism as a critical factor in managing risks or natural hazards and disasters. The problem for these economies, like the Philippines, is that the insurance market only provides catastrophe or disaster insurance coverage to a few governments which could afford the high insurance premiums and where the degree of damage could easily be estimated and quantified or measured. Given these, obviously, the Philippines is not an easy target of the insurance market. Based on data from various studies, insurance penetration in the country has been very low, where non-life insurance premiums collected amount to only about less than a percent of our GDP.

A more pro-active and responsive means to transfer risk and to ensure immediate recovery after disasters is a laudable option. The cost of relief, rehabilitation and redevelopment should in fact be passed on to or spread among economic and financial agents other than the government or the affected and vulnerable individuals, enterprises and communities. These entities, which are on the ball for greater and more promising financial and economic opportunities to derive profits and benefits, are in a positive position to absorb such risks. Yet, the operations of these entities should not be limited to the Philippines alone or any similarly disaster-prone economies, otherwise, they would certainly be at the losing end. Perhaps an inter-country or cross-economy insurance cooperation is a mechanism that should be carefully considered. Within the Asian region, there are several countries with the same fate as the Philippines in terms of vulnerability to risks and disasters. This is just an ideal thought because in the real world, the challenge has always been the difficulty of getting the private sector involved, specifically the insurance industry, in sharing the risks of catastrophe and natural disasters.

There are few but excellent practices in the past from other countries which we could adopt as models. The government should initiate the effort to explore possibilities and create solutions to ensure faster means of post-disaster recovery. If played well, venturing into risk financing and insurance offers a great potential for good investment returns as well as to help secure and protect the country’s hard-earned development gains. A mechanism on how to go about it is a challenge that our financial and disaster risk managers have to face. Yet again, the leadership in the government should initiate this and make it a development priority.

Feel free to send your comments to nic_agustin@yahoo.com.

Erratum to the previous article Rainy season, La Lina and disasters, the fourth sentence in paragraph 6 should read: “These figures are a bit misleading; for example, typhoons Ondoy and Pepeng caused P206 billion (not million) in damages, or roughly 10 times the annual average.”

Rainy season also means uninterrupted power supply for industrial, commercial and domestic uses. With sufficient amount of water in dams and reservoirs, our hydrothermal plants could continuously generate the required electrical power supply necessary for normal production, business and trade operations.

The catch is that this year’s rainy season would be a La Nina period as well. This implies extreme weather disturbance characterized by excessive rains and frequent visit of tropical cyclones, storm surges and depression. Being a La Nina period, the probability, intensity and magnitude of these climatic and meteorological events would be greater than during normal and regular rainy season. Natural calamities could then be expected, foremost of which are landslides and floods. I just hope that when these events happen, they won’t be in a scale of a disaster anymore like what Typhoons Ondoy and Pepeng brought to Metro Manila and other surrounding areas late last year.

Dealing with disaster is not something new in the Philippines, but the focus has recently shifted from disaster and relief to disaster risk preparedness, reduction and mitigation. Just before the announcement of the rainy season this year, RA 10121 – the Philippine Disaster Risk Reduction and Management Act of 2010 was issued. This new law seeks to strengthen the Philippine disaster risk reduction and management system providing for the National Disaster Risk Reduction and Management Framework (NDRRMF), and institutionalizing the National Disaster Risk Reduction and Management Plan (NDRRMP). Last year, RA 9729 – the Climate Change Act of 2009 – was passed which laid the foundation for the institutionalization of mechanisms to respond to the challenges of climate change in the Philippines.

Looking at these two (2) recent pieces of legislation, some new rules and institutional arrangements are being put in place to scale up work to address possible effects of natural occurrences and events (as main stimuli for disasters) and climate change (as the aggravating stimulus for disasters). All possible areas of concern have been taken into consideration, such as the policy and institutional frameworks; the knowledge, research, science and technology aspects of disaster risk preparedness and mitigation at all levels; information and education campaign most particularly at the local levels; financing priority interventions and actions; and private and public partnership and collaborative mechanisms for disaster risk preparedness.

What had been missed out is the concept of risk financing and insurance, although RA 10121 already provides for the ex-ante use of national and local calamity funds, allowing the financing of disaster risk mitigation, preparedness and prevention activities. Yet, risk financing and insurance is more than the concept of calamity fund utilization provided in the RA. The former is important because, historically, natural disasters have had grave social and economic consequences costing an average of P19.7 billion between 1990 and 2006, which is equivalent to about 0.5 percent of our annual GDP. These figures are a bit misleading; for example, typhoons Ondoy and Pepeng caused P206 million in damages, or roughly 10 times the annual average. As records would show, these natural calamities consistently destroy the few assets of the poor, undermine the already weak national and local infrastructure, and periodically leave millions without access to basic urban services for months.

The post-disaster funds available for recovery and reconstruction for both private and public are quite meager. A simple comparison and computation of funding allocations available from all government and private sector sources of disaster risk financing for losses and damage caused by the 2009 typhoons reveals that they could cover only 1.5 percent of total economic damages and about 3 percent of total public sector disaster recovery and reconstruction needs. This only means that the residual economic loss (roughly 95 percent) was mostly absorbed by owners of destroyed assets such as the homeowners, SMEs, and farmers. In the case of the public sector infrastructure damages, the insufficiency of funds resulted in inadequate repairs and maintenance of these facilities.

To respond to these risk financing and insurance needs (and we can continue to talk about them in succeeding issues), there is a need to review the following areas: (a) effectiveness and responsiveness of existing public insurance schemes; (b) local government post disaster safety nets; (c) private sector post disaster assistance; and (d) the possibility and feasibility of establishing a catastrophe insurance pool or strengthening the disaster cost transfer schemes available in the country.

When all these things are put in place – policy, institutional and financial mechanisms to respond to disaster risk management, we can surely secure ourselves from disasters. It’s a long way to go, but we should be on our way!

Feel free to send your comments to nic_agustin@yahoo.com.

The waiting is not so much on the announcement of winners to these top posts – after all, we already have a hint on who they are based on the unofficial counts of the PPCRV - but whether or not the official counts based on the Certificates of Canvas (COCs) would jive with those of the PPCRV and those of the individual monitoring mechanisms of contending candidates. For the presidency, the canvassing is moot and academic. Majority of the candidates had conceded and gave way for the apparent President-elect, Senator Noynoy Aquino. The vice-presidency is another matter. Even the members of the canvassing board of Congress have anticipated discrepancies and anomalies on the COCs. The camps of both Mayor Binay and Senator Roxas are surely on their toes now in trying to protect the integrity of their ballots.

Be it Mayor Binay or Senator Roxas, the challenge is now on Congress. Earlier insinuations of fraud, mass-cheating and result manipulations, unfounded as they may be, would certainly make the announcement very difficult, much more for the acceptance of the people. This makes the canvassing of the Congress very critical; hence, it should be done with utmost professionalism, transparency and objectivity. Professionalism, in the sense that the canvassing adheres to the highest degree of trust and confidence, credibility and integrity among the members of the canvassing board; members are cordial and courteous with each other. Transparency – that the counting is made open and that interested people could get a chance to witness any segment of the canvassing; nothing is concealed. Objectivity - that the whole exercise sets aside political party affiliations.

With all eyes now on Congress, members of the canvassing board should act as one. The event should no longer be a place for grandstanding political speeches and debates with personal vested interests. People are no longer interested to see how brilliant, or otherwise, these members in the canvassing board are. The Filipinos only want to see members of the canvassing board in solid unity in proclaiming the chosen ones without any tinge of doubt and uncertainty. Any pointless, careless and unnecessary remark by any member would definitely send an avalanche of dissent which could again result to a never-ending series of discord and dissonance between parties, their loyal supporters, and among Filipino people. In simplest term, I mean, the Congress should no longer aggravate ill-feelings, distrust and despair not only among candidates and their parties, but more among Filipinos.

We need to be united now as we usher in a new beginning. The Congress’ canvassing board could show us the way through this final counting exercise, and the President-elect should and must continue to lead us in harmony.

Already anticipating the proclamation of Senator Noynoy to the top post, people are paying much attention to his every move. Everybody is watching him - some would want him to commit mistakes and some would want him to be able to hurdle the challenges that come with the position. We haven’t seen much of him in Congress - both at the House and at the Senate - but majority of us think that he is the best candidate for the position. He has to prove himself now even before he gets that much awaited official proclamation from Congress and for the rest of his term.

As a mere spectator of this political exercise, I expect the President-elect to first reach out to his opponents and heal their wounded souls. Even this early, he should foster good relationship with his predecessor no matter how tangent their views, opinions and beliefs could be.

As he is now regarded as a model of peace and harmony in the society, he should temper political conflicts with humility and goodwill; after all, he has been chosen because people know that he is much better than anybody else in terms of personal values and integrity. Without compromising his noble and pure intentions for the common good, he should show us how to abide by the laws, rules and regulations of our country. Then and only then could we be able to unite and continue the fight against corruption in government and against lawlessness in our society.

Feel free to send your comments to nic_agustin@yahoo.com.

I am not an avid fan of the outgoing administration but I personally believe that the foot steps of PGMA are a bit hard to follow, less the allegations of election results rigging, widespread graft and corruptions against her and her family as well as many of her officials and party allies, anomalies of all sorts in government transactions, among others.

With less than 3 weeks more to go before PGMA finally makes a vow from Malacanang – not from the government because she has a fresh mandate from her constituents in her district in Pampanga for a 3-year term at the House of Representatives, it can be said that her most outstanding legacy is the first ever automated national and local elections in the Philippines, notwithstanding allegations of some irregularities. The automated elections were far from perfect yet not far from being successful, let alone the accuracy of results which could be a work for the succeeding ones.

As time ticks, it is not so much of a concern now of the outgoing administration. PGMA and her troop have nothing more to prove in terms of what they can do to the country – positively and negatively. History will judge her and her administration on the basis of her accomplishments. However, the many alleged anomalies and “sins” committed during her term need to be disproved sooner or later. This makes the ticking of time more exciting as we all anticipate a rather animated political show in the making.

As time ticks, Filipinos are more concerned now with the new President. Senator Noynoy Aquino is now making a head way towards the throne in Malacanang. The announcement of the final results of the canvassing being done by the Congress is moot and academic. Already, the apparent President-elect has made several “unofficial” yet very disturbing pronouncements. Just several days after the elections, we all heard him say that he won’t take his oath of office from the newly-appointed Chief Justice for reasons which are clear only to a few but not to the majority of Filipinos who voted for him. In fact, many questioned such simple act of arrogance on the part of Senator Noynoy.

Another more recent pronouncement of the apparent President-elect was his intention not to live in Malacanang. It’s absolutely true that this is his own personal call. As his girlfriend, Ms. Shalami Soledad said “whatever is convenient and comfortable to Noynoy…” But then, just thinking aloud, public service is not about personal convenience and comfort; more than anything else, it is about self-denial and sacrifice for the common good.

Many voted for Senator Noynoy because of his image as responsible, courteous, respectful and abiding son – one who prayed the rosary with his mother on her death bed, one who respected the traditional wake of her mother, one who endured that long processional convoy to lay his mother to her eternal resting place. That very limited image displayed by Senator Noynoy was, to me, his ticket in winning the hearts of Filipinos - sentimental and emotional as we are - especially those who voted for him.

Are we then seeing and hearing now the real and true Noynoy, or is he just about to prove to us that he is indeed a very respectful and abiding son – very obedient and subservient to his political elders? Is he really a strong-willed, assertive, determined and decisive person, or is he just the reverse – submissive, laidback, naïve, tentative and reluctant who is now being taken advantaged of by the people surrounding him?

My guess is Senator Noynoy is merely speaking his own mind. He is not forced, not obliged, not coerced by anybody in making such pronouncements. The Noynoy that we see and hear now is a real one – very transparent, straight forward, plain and clear; devoid of pretensions and façades.

Soon enough, his clock as our Head of State will begin to tick. We ardently hope that the Noynoy that Filipinos put into power on May 10 would be the real one who would carry us to progress and prosperity till the end of his term, and one who will inspire us to move on even beyond.

Feel free to send your comments to nic_agustin@yahoo.com.

Disparity in income is not only true among households and families. Disparity also exists among the different areas of the country. As expected, wealth is concentrated in Luzon, particularly Metro Manila. The poorest provinces of the country are in the Visayas and Mindanao, though poverty incidence is also severe in some southern areas of Luzon, specifically the Bicol region. The three (3) regions with the highest proportion of poor families are all in Mindanao – the Caraga Region, the Western Mindanao Region and the ARMM.

The low per capita income and the low concentration of income at the poorer segment of the society reflect one thing: lack of productive employment opportunities where they are most badly needed. A saving grace for a lot of poor families is the availability of work in other countries. There are about 8 to 9 million of Filipinos deployed all over the globe to date. Their remittances are great help to their otherwise impoverished families languishing in persistent deprivation. Fortunately and almost accidentally, the combined effect of their remittances contribute well over 10 to 12 percent of gross national product and a substantial share of foreign exchange earnings, equivalent to about one-third to one-fourth of total merchandise exports of the country.

There are two (2) factors that contributed to the success of our overseas workers – the global demand for their skills and their level of English proficiency. These, we can attribute to past investments in education. Yet today, the investments in the public education sector has constricted due to fiscal pressures. The ultimate result is eroding competitiveness of labor and exacerbating poverty. Student participation and retention rates are quite low and continue to fall. And the poor are disproportionately affected; hence, reducing their chances to break away from poverty.

Aggravating individual household circumstances is the inability of the government to provide basic social services. Investments on health and infrastructure had been observed to have suffered. Again, the consequences for the poor are disproportionately high. Infant and under five mortality rates for the poorest 20 percent of the whole population of the country are 2.3-2.4 and 2.5-2.8 times higher respectively than their counterpart wealthiest 20 percent. In the ARMM area, for example, the average life expectancy is far below the national average, and the mortality rates for infants and mothers are much higher than the national average.

In terms of infrastructure, investments are only about 17 percent of the gross national product, which is considered very low compared to those faster growing Asian economies. Such low investment on infrastructure – for roads, port and communication facilities, power, water, and other utilities – act as brake on the growth potentials of the country. Without these critical investment items, it is difficult to expect business to locate and grow in the Philippines, and contribute in bringing about progress and growth in the ailing economy.

These are just some of the concerns that the new administration has to face, and if I were the chauffeur of the President, I want my President to navigate me to the best route where the journey (for 6 years) would be both pleasant and rewarding. My President – my lone passenger – should know more than what I know and should have a foresight of what lies ahead, a vision of a better situation, a future that everyone aspires for, and a country that we can all be proud of.

Based on my day-to-day experience as an ordinary citizen and a lowly chauffeur, it is not enough that I have the industry and resolve to make thing happen, the skills and ability to do the things I need to do, and my respectable inspirations – my father and my mother – to keep me going, I also need a very capable and affable navigator to show me with utmost clarify the route to the future that we all truly deserve.

Feel free to send your comments to nic_agustin@yahoo.com.

The first campaign slogan of Senators Noynoy and Mar “tuloy ang laban” aptly describes what needs to be done – to continue the fight, taking off from significant gains achieved in the past and doing more. Corruption, per se, pervades not only in the government but in the whole society. It has become a culture even in transactions and personal affairs that do not necessarily involve the government or any of its instrumentalities. Poverty, on the other hand, has many roots deeply implanted into the whole and interdependent economic, social and cultural, and political systems. The fight against poverty therefore would require clear understanding of the nature of these causes so that we can successfully deracinate them from the systems.

Corruption and poverty are mere yet significant symptoms of more critical development concerns which should be the focus of any administration. A thorough examination of these and the acceptance of where we truly are would provide us the lead where the battle should be won. Let me then give you some facts or perspectives on our development standing as a nation.

For over 4 decades, the country was unable to generate and sustain a level of economic growth that could significantly raise the level of incomes and reduce the incidence of poverty. Positive growth rates registered by the country in terms of gross domestic product per person were much lower than the average growth rates for comparable neighboring Asian economies. For the period 2004 to 2006, however, the Philippines made good progress in reducing budget deficit and debt burden. Economic performance substantially improved, posting growth rates of more than 5% for 3 consecutive years from 2004 to 2006. Yet, the economy experienced a down turn in 2007 up to 2009 brought about by the global financial crunch in 2007.

The rather dismal and fragile economic performance of the country has been attributed to high population growth, growing gaps in infrastructure and quality basic services, large and still ballooning budget deficits, high level of public debt (and debt repayments), poor tax collection performance and misallocation of funds to various competing priorities, weak institutions of governance, and persistent community conflicts.

In recent surveys, about a quarter of Filipino families live below the poverty threshold. Poverty is most prevalent in rural areas where a little less than half of the rural population are considered poor. People at the rural areas are basically agriculture dependent because of the very limited off-farm employment opportunities unless they move and migrate to the nearby urban areas. Yet even if they go to urban areas, they would still be begging for jobs, one that would suit their limited and perhaps irrelevant skills, if ever they have any.

(To be continued)

Feel free to send your comments to nic_agustin@yahoo.com.

But, there is a special set of people who can actually change their minds now that the election season is over - these people are the candidates who campaigned with blood, sweat and tears (or their political equivalent: money, public relations and machinery) and promised us good governance, better health programs, education, peace and order, sincere and talented service and the kitchen sink just to convince us to like them enough to vote for them.

Judgment day is over. We have voted. And all that needs to be done is to determine the true will of the people, for us to know who will be at the helm of the nation and lead us - to glory or irreparable destitution - for the next six years. Where we end up in 2016 - glory or irreparable destitution - is something that now rests in the hands of the people we put in power last May 10. And it begins with how the winners intend to pull through on the promises they made to us these past months.

I believe that there is some semblance of improvement in voter intelligence since the start of PGMA’s administration. The increasing severity of the attacks her government suffered these past years, to me, is an indication of a parallel increase in the vigilance and involvement of the public in political issues. I believe we are less gullible as a people to empty promises and have made choices consonant to our beliefs. However, we may still be gullible to a candidate’s charisma - and herein lies the rub. A charismatic candidate can make promises we readily choose to believe, but that does not mean he will pull through if he wins.

In order for us to avoid ending up being the poorest nation in Southeast Asia (because now, we are the second poorest combining all development indicators), the winners of this electoral race need to keep their promises. Whether it is eradicating poverty and corruption, championing women and children, well-paying jobs in the country or no brownouts, they need to pull through and do what they said they would do. This is what is called integrity. And a person who has integrity is that person who does not forget what he said while he was campaigning and keeps his word.

There is an equation that any elected official needs to put into heart in order to truly serve the people: Integrity equals sincerity, willingness, accountability and creativity. Sincerity in promising the Filipino people a better nation. Willingness - even bull headedness - to see those promises through. Accountability - taking full responsibility - when things go wrong. Creativity in securing resources - a talent for being able to extract blood from a stone. If we are to progress as a nation, not one of these four factors should be missing. And a vigilant public should also make it their own responsibility to ensure that sincerity, willingness, accountability and creativity should always be present in the people they chose to put into power.
It is my fervent wish that instead of doubt, fear and regret, the feeling of hopefulness and positive possibilities would pervade our country instead. Now is the time to move on from the mud slinging, character assassination and politicking that characterized the first half of the year. Now is the time to get unstuck from the insiduousness of cynicism and helplessness and look forward to a brighter future for the Philippines. And the first step is to obliterate the phrase that goes “promises are made to be broken.”

( Written on May 6 with a strong assumption that the May 10, 2010 elections would push through despite all the hitches and glitches relative to the PCOS.)

Feel free to send your comments to nic_agustin@yahoo.com.

One thing that astounded me was the fact that even the developed countries and renowned cities in the world continue to move on and improve their crafts. For example, they still talk about necessary improvements in their well-admired and seemingly well-established and operational systems of tax collection, waste collection and disposal, regulatory mechanisms such as the local police and instituted structures and processes of lodging complaints and resolving community conflicts, health and social security claims and benefits, traffic management and control, housing, and settlements for informal and vulnerable groups, among others.

Though the forum was quite technical in nature as it heavily delved on urban problems, the paper presentations, especially their recommendations, boiled down to local governance and leadership. One paper presented two (2) critical points for consideration by the national governments and the communities. One is the fact that the global scenario is evolving and ever-changing; be it in the area politics, economy, society or technology. The presentor (from Chicago) emphasized that this is an old concept for corporate management and organizational development as well as in public administration. It talks about the necessity of being sensitive to changes in the environment and being able to adapt to such changes. The speaker in that forum mentioned that the main challenge for managers and administrators is to institute mechanisms so that changes could work best for the communities and the nation – mechanisms that would mitigate its ill-effects and harness its forces to bring about positive results. Change, he said, is inevitable in any given situation – “either you adapt to change or you institute change so that you could stay relevant to your corporate missions”.

The other critical factor that the presentor emphasized was the unavoidable physical transformation of communities. The reasons he mentioned were: (a) the advancement of technology and other support infrastructures; (b) the less mediocre attitude of modern people as well as national and local leaders; (c) the aggressive stance of corporate leaders as they continuously in search for potential areas for investments and increased opportunities for corporate expansion and domination; and (d) the increasing social and labor mobility. These, the speaker said, could redound to physical transformation of communities which, in turn, could result to either better or worse physical condition of any given locality. In a sense, therefore, physical transformation, which is also inevitable, could be either good or bad. The challenge that the presentor made was for managers and administrators to ensure that the net or the absolute result would be “better”. The initial stage of physical transformation defines the kind of economic progress that the community could handle, and yet again, the level of economic growth in the community vey well affects the quality of the ultimate (or current) physical transformation of the locality. The presentor used the vicious cycle to demonstrate the interrelatedness of the social, physical, economic and technological dimensions of development.

Another surprising revelation during the forum was the statement that “the government, while important, is not critical for as long as the community is normal”. And a normal community was defined by several conditions: (a) social interaction is maintained by local norms; (b) processes are clear and well-defined; (c) laws and regulatory measures are applied to all. The presentor hastened to add that the role of the government becomes critical when urban problems are imminent and persistent, such as sluggish economic progress, traffic congestion (or lack of discipline of motorists), road violations by both pedestrians and motorists, urban sprawl, swelling informal settlers, degenerating status of the physical environment, lack of zoning (or the lack of its enforcement), mendicancy, prostitution, and child labor, among others. He also said that the government is critical because these urban problems are the manifestation of the lack of support, control and regulation of the social and economic forces vis-à-vis their respective claims over the physical and economic resources of the community. He referred to these manifestations as the ultimate barometer of the effectiveness of governance and order mechanisms at the local level.

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