Thursday, December 31, 2009

Social contract: light, hope, change - 12/4/09

In the beginning was darkness: a national leader with questionable legitimacy, deeply-rooted and rampant corruption, loss of trust in democratic institutions, the erosion of a people’s spirit. Then, there was a “gift of light” from the first woman President who made us believe, “The Filipino is worth living for,” after her martyred husband demonstrated that, indeed, “The Filipino is worth dying for.” Light brings hope, and hope illuminates vision and mission: we can rebuild this country by doing the right things right.

Last week, on the same day that he filed his certificate of candidacy for President, Senator Benigno “Noynoy” Aquino III announced his platform entitled, “A Social Contract with the Filipino People.”

It was bannered and highlighted by the color yellow, the new color of courage that emerged from his father’s heroism and his mother’s legacy of “selfless love for country and people.” It did not bear the logo or name of the Liberal Party. It sounds a call for a collective fight for what’s right: Laban na tapat, laban ng lahat.

What makes it a social contract? It is a “civic engagement” between the people and their leaders. It follows the movement in Thomas Hobbes’ Leviathan, the defining tract of modern social contract theory. From a “nasty, brutish and short” existence in the state of nature, men --- by virtue of the faculty of reason --- escape that despicable state and establish a civil society.

“Being reasonable, and recognizing the rationality of this basic precept of reason, men can be expected to construct a Social Contract that will afford them a life other than that available to them in the State of Nature. This contract is constituted by two distinguishable contracts. First, they must agree to establish society by collectively and reciprocally renouncing the rights they had against one another in the State of Nature. Second, they must imbue some one person or assembly of persons with the authority and power to enforce the initial contract. In other words, to ensure their escape from the State of Nature, they must both agree to live together under common laws, and create an enforcement mechanism for the social contract and the laws that constitute it.”

The vision states: “The Philippines: a country with a re-awakened sense of right and wrong, through the living examples of our highest leaders; an organized and widely-shared rapid expansion of our economy through a government dedicated to honing and mobilizing our people’s skills and energies, as well as the responsible harnessing of our natural resources; a collective belief that doing the right thing makes sense morally, but translates into economic value as well; public institutions rebuilt on the strong solidarity of our society and its communities.”

In essence, it is a vision of a new Philippines founded upon a bedrock of integrity, humility and trustworthiness in public leadership.” In sum, it is the direct opposite of the status quo that it seeks to uproot. It underlines the imperative of transformational change to supplant a corrupt, transactional regime that has spawned scandals that have assailed our collective sense of decency and morality with grievous impunity.

It is a statement of indictment that flows into a statement of commitment. It declares that there will be a change “from a President who tolerates corruption to a President who is the nation’s first and most determined fighter of corruption.”

This is what sets apart Sen. Aquino from his main rivals. One is the anointed successor of the incumbent who, when asked if her endorsement is a liability, replied: “I don’t believe it is a kiss of death; she has a good record of government.” Another was impeached and ousted from Malacanang Palace, then tried and convicted for plunder and abetting illegal gambling. A third opponent is still trying to clear his name from allegations of impropriety that may have favored his private business empire.

The importance of having a humble, honesty and trustworthy leader cannot be overemphasized. Public office is a public trust. The President sets the tone of morality and good governance. I experienced what this meant when I served under two Presidents: Aquino and Estrada. During President Cory’s stewardship, she herself was the exemplar of incorruptibility. During President Erap’s short-lived tenure, I found myself having to attend to people directly endorsed by the President’s office to become beneficiaries of government contracts.

Sen. Aquino’s platform has four focal points: job creation, education, public health, and justice.

Government will prioritize “jobs that empower the people” and “create jobs at home, so that working abroad will be a choice rather than a necessity.” Education is a “central strategy for investing in our people, reducing poverty & building national competitiveness.” Included in the public health thrust is the promotion of responsible parenthood. Finally, the platform underscores the need to build and strengthen “institutions that deliver equal justice.”

Despite repeated rhetorical discourses on building a “strong Republic”, this incumbent administration has, in effect, greatly weakened vital institutions such as the Ombudsman function, the armed forces and the police. It installed a procession of cronies, implemented a revolving-door tenure policy and rewarded them with ambassadorial posts and government appointments. Sen. Aquino vows in his social contract that presidential appointments will be based on integrity, competence & performance.

The last three points in the platform are the promotion and enhancement of gender equality, broadening support for the peace process in Mindanao and ensuring sustainable development and environmental protection.

Our friend Mano Alcuaz observes that this platform “is not cluttered with handcuffs for the future government that have been advocated by certain special interest groups.” It offers a reform-oriented policy architecture that can potentially persuade a broad-based coalition of Filipinos to rally behind a transformational leader. That is the essence of a social contract: a beacon of light, a carrier of hope, and an instrument of change.

Readers are invited to visit sonnycoloma.blogspot.com