People Power, as manifested in voter power, catapulted an erstwhile non-candidate to the presidency. President Aquino’s massive mandate was driven by a groundswell of public support that was generated not by a well-heeled political machine but by an army of volunteers at the grassroots level.
When he made a sortie to Masbate, people spontaneously got out of their homes and improvised any sort of poster, placard or yellow-colored material that could convey their affection for the son of two revered national icons of democracy. Instead of the proverbial guns, goons, and gold, Noynoy Aquino’s volunteer-powered campaign distributed yellow wristbands (or, more popularly, “ballers”) by the millions. Instead of receiving money, volunteers willingly shelled money from their own pockets to buy campaign paraphernalia. The deficit in campaign posters was made up by people wearing yellow shirts and displaying yellow ribbons or yellow stickers.
Another unique feature of the people’s campaign was the extensive use of new media, namely: text messaging via mobile phones, e-mailing, and the emergent tools of social networking, Facebook and Twitter.
These more than made up for the candidate’s inability to match the millions poured into television advertising by a dollar-billionaire rival. In fact, the media spending reached such unparalleled heights that taxi drivers and housewives were repelled: “’Yang malaking ginastos, tiyak na babawiin sa ibang paraan.” (“Huge campaign spending will likely be recovered through dubious means.”)
Given that the official campaign period was only 90 days, candidates were compelled to ensure optimum effectiveness of field sorties. Senator Sergio Osmena III, who came in as strategist just as the campaign began in early February, drew up a tightly packed schedule that brought candidate Aquino to areas that had the highest potential for vote generation.
Maximum time utilization was also a key consideration. If the candidate gets tied down to long meetings with limited audiences, or if so much time is devoted to tiring motorcades, then the delivery of key campaign messages is hampered. Hence, there was a focus on interviews or press conferences that could be covered by local media and beamed to thousands of radio listeners or TV viewers even in remote nooks or crannies of an island province or far-flung provincial capitol.
Now that the erstwhile candidate has become President, how does he ensure constant, free-flowing communication between him and his constituents?
The traditional channels of communication will not suffice. Gone are the days when newspapers, radio and TV stations can claim dominant ascendancy in terms of being gatekeepers of information. A clear case in point is the Maguindanao massacre that shocked the nation last November 2009. The first reports on this heinous crime came not from citizen eyewitnesses who used their mobile telephones to take pictures and relay information.
A new phenomenon bears watching: crowd sourcing. This is defined by Jennifer Alsever: “The basic idea is to tap into the collective intelligence of the public at large to complete business-related tasks that a company would normally either perform itself or outsource to a third-party provider. Yet free labor is only a narrow part of crowdsourcing's appeal. More importantly, it enables managers to expand the size of their talent pool while also gaining deeper insight into what customers really want.”
How does this work? Let’s say a company wants to generate quick feedback on a new product or service concept? All it has to do is to announce this in a web-based forum or venue. Observes Ms. Alsever:
“With the rise of user-generated media such as blogs, Wikipedia, MySpace, and YouTube, it's clear that traditional distinctions between producers and consumers are becoming blurry. It's no longer fanciful to speak of the marketplace as having a "collective intelligence"—today that knowledge, passion, creativity, and insight are accessible for all to see. As Time explained after choosing the collective "You" as the magazine's 2006 Person of the Year, "We're looking at an explosion of productivity and innovation, and it's just getting started, as millions of minds that would otherwise have drowned in obscurity get backhauled into the global intellectual economy."
How does government employ crowd sourcing? First, it will select key segments or constituencies that it wants to reach. Next, it will frame the task to be performed in terms of key questions that can elicit clear-cut, action-oriented responses. Third, it can synthesize the inputs and build consensus that can drive further action. But this presupposes the creation and deployment of a technology-driven communication infrastructure that purposefully seeks out citizen input and feedback.
Thus, instead of simply downloading information or messages (sometimes this is viewed as “propaganda”), government can be a generator of new ideas and fresh insights from an enthusiastic citizenry that genuinely wants to be involved in improving the quality of front-line services that they get from government, such as, for example: speed of over the transactions and processes while paying for realty taxes, renewing drivers’ licenses and vehicle registration, or getting business licenses and permits.
The more significant area of public engagement is in policy formulation. Town hall meetings, whether face-to-face or virtual, can be more effective tools. Instant polling may also be conducted in order to ascertain the public pulse. Indeed, technology offers many exciting possibilities for mobilizing citizens in support of socially significant causes.
The fight against government corruption can also be waged more effectively when there is greater transparency that is engendered by citizen vigilance. My good friend, Rotary past governor Willy Segovia has an interesting proposal. He recommends a partnership between model local governments and civic organizations that would strengthen good governance at the grassroots level.
For instance, a local Rotary club may wish to adopt key government units, such as: a police precinct or the license and permits office in city hall. The civic organization commits to act as the watchdog of these vital government offices. But aside from watching out for wrongdoing, it will also reward public servants that do well. In adopting the LGU office, the civic organization will put a “seal of good housekeeping” that assures people of honest and dedicated service.
When there are complaints of poor service or indications of possible anomalies, then the watchdog organization calls the attention of the head of office and encourages the immediate adoption of remedial measures. At the end of the year, employees who have rendered commendable or outstanding work will be given due recognition.
This is simply one of the many ways a new paradigm of governance may be instituted through active public sector-private organization partnership. It all starts with good communication and a will to serve the people.
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