Some years ago, when Manny Pacquiao was just beginning to make waves in the boxing world, he starred in a full length Tagalog movie. A special screening of the film was held in San Francisco, to which I was invited. After the screening, I was among those asked for our opinion on Pacquiao’s acting.
My response: “As an actor, Manny Pacquiao is a great boxer.”
I guess we can say the same thing about Pacquiao as a wannabe president of the Philippines. He’s a great boxer and should stick to that job.
As much can be said about another would-be president, Bong Revilla. As a senator, Revilla has proven to be a good action star. And as a presidential contender, he still is a good action star.
Indeed, the fact that folks like Pacquiao and Revilla are actually convinced that they qualify for the highest position in the land, says something about their low regard for the Philippine presidency. They apparently haven’t heard about the Peter Principle and about reaching their level of incompetence.
Could this diminution of the perceived importance of the presidency have started with the election of Erap Estrada? What is certain is that, when Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo picked Noli de Castro as her running mate, she obviously didn’t think competence was as important as popularity in choosing a second-in-command and potential successor.
Whether or not Arroyo actually won that election is another story altogether. But we do know how De Castro performed – or, rather, did not perform – as vice-president. Mercifully, he decided against running for president in 2010 and chose, instead, to go back to his comfort zone as a TV newscaster.
Which brings me to the man who overtook Mar Roxas in the last race for the vice-presidency, and who has made it known that he is aiming for the top job in the next elections.
People who don’t know enough about VP Jejomar Binay could tend to patronizingly shake their heads at his lofty ambition, based on the impression that he is not even as qualified as Roxas for VP, much less for the presidency.
Roxas, after all, has ivy league academic grounding, international banking credentials, stints in key cabinet posts and, not the least, an impeccable political and social pedigree, based on his virtually royal blood as an Araneta, and being the son of a past senator and grandson of a past president of the Philippines.
In contrast, what does Binay have to say for himself, except for being mayor of a city, no matter that it happens to be the country’s premier business center, and, before that, being an anti-Marcos activist and human rights lawyer who, as a student at UP, barely managed to pay his way through law school (a UP batch mate jokingly related that Binay had a “uniform” in college – he reportedly had only four shirts, which needed to be constantly laundered in order to be worn over and over again, like a uniform).
Being short and swarthy and more easily type-cast as a laborer than a high-ranking politician, folks couldn’t imagine him being vice-president of the Philippines, even after the conclusion of the Comelec count. And now, he has the nerve to eye the presidency? In the words of one cynical observer: “Beside Binay, Erap looks infinitely more presidential. No wonder Pacquiao and Revilla think they are also qualified.”
That may have been the impression of the country’s business elite before whom Binay spoke last Monday, at a joint meeting of the Makati Business Club, the Employers’ Confederation of the Philippines and the Management Association of the Philippines. But the comparison with Pacquiao and Revilla, and even with Mar Roxas may have also ended there. Based on feedback from those who heard it, Binay’s speech was a revelation to his audience.
We understand that the speech, which was mainly about his views on fast-tracking the economic development of the country, drew a parallel with his management of the affairs of the city of Makati, as mayor, from 1986 up to the last presidential elections. The Makati story apparently came across as an impressive template for national governance.
In other words, hey, if Binay could achieve these things in Makati, maybe he can do it too at the national level.
In fact, this pitch was reportedly one of the reasons for Binay’s upset victory over Roxas in the last elections. While folks in Makati’s gilded board rooms and the perfumed stalwarts of civil society were touting the credentials of Roxas as an experienced and effective executive, Binay succeeded in communicating a believable message of hope to the Great Unwashed in the provinces and in the rural areas, based on what he had done for his Makati constituents.
His message: While other candidates were promising, once elected, to improve the lot of the masses by providing housing, health care, education and livelihood and by spurring economic development, Binay had already been delivering all those benefits to the people of Makati for decades.
I understand that, in Binay’s speech last Monday before the country’s top CEOs, he demonstrated more management and operational savvy than anyone in the growing roster of presidential wannabes. And, on top of that, he exuded a believable connection with the masses.
For starters, Makati, during Binay’s tenure and well into the present administration of his son and successor, Junjun Binay, has never had a budget deficit. Compared to US cities that have had to file bankruptcy and to Washington DC and California, which have been having difficulty making ends meet, Makati’s fiscal management is impressive, indeed.
Even more impressive is the fact that the city has managed to remain in the black even while it has been providing to its citizens such benefits as virtually free college education at the University of Makati, as well as free health care at the Ospital ng Makati. And there are other unheard of perks like free school books, uniforms and school lunches, as well as allowances, for grade school and high school students, financial assistance for burials, birthday cakes and free movies for senior citizens and even special gifts for those celebrating their golden wedding anniversary.
But what is even more impressive is Makati’s version of PPP or public-private partnership in delivering benefits to its citizenry. According to University of Makati President Tomas Lopez, special college courses are offered by his institution in cooperation with some 300 private firms, skewed to the needs of the businesses. The result is an astonishing 95% record of employment of graduates, within a few months after leaving school.
This feedback from the MBC-ECP-MAP brought to mind the Gawad Kalinga Summit in Boston, a few years ago where Binay made a presentation of the benefits and services that the government of Makati had been providing to its residents. Binay made particular mention of the relocation of informal settlers from Makati to sites in Laguna and San Jose del Monte. What was unique in this approach to the squatter problem was the fact that the displaced “informal” Makati residents could still avail of benefits and services provided by the city. In other words, they were not treated as trash but as human beings.
I happened to be at the conference and was so impressed that I wrote about it in my column. My comment was that competent and effective local governance could set the pattern for national development.
How good a president will Jejomar Binay be? Is this another case of the Peter Principle at work? As the country’s business elite may have found out last Monday, Binay’s level of competence is not just a potential but a demonstrable fact.
Let’s cross our fingers.
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