I don’t know about you but if you carefully assess the culture that has evolved in our neo-sociological order since the martial law years, there is so much complacency and less political will existing in the air.
Look at this.
When the not so young bachelor son of a cacique emerged as the new Malacanang tenant in 2010, there was so much rejoicing among his followers because it ended nine-years of the much-maligned administration of GMA.
For the next six years, there was this sheen of a quiet calm because the mainstream media that haunted and disparaged the former Chief Executive from Lubao, Pampanga has turned completely yellow, pun and its literal meaning intended.
The intermittent noises of protests lodged against the lackadaisical performance of a president described as a Johnny come-lately, were subtly shoved aside through sheer manipulation and swept under the rugs via under-handed tactics.
Until a certain Rodrigo Roa Duterte came along.
The six years of complacency under the PNoy regime created only a false sense of security and a fragile peace such that the new philosophy of governance introduced by PRRD discombobulated the now displaced minions of PNoy and the Liberal Party which he has headed.
Unused to – and unnerved by – the determined and decisive executive actions by PRRD, the LPs, now reduced to shreds and ragtag factions, have resorted to a sinister plot aimed at toppling the current government from its perch.
Wearing the “Tindig Pilipinas” emblem to re-define a much-abused strategy that reminds us of the EDSA People Power uprising, the anti-Duterte protesters led by PNoy and his LP allies in the Senate, including the now-you-see-me, now-you-don’t VP Leni, are re-employing the very strategies and approaches that were effectively applied to oust the Marcos dictatorship.
But the circumstances and conditions during the Marcos conjugal reign were not the same as they are today. There is no singular proof nor hard evidence that the Duterte family, their relatives and their business allies and supporters are following the footsteps of the Marcos’ dynastic legacy.
There is only a persevering positive attitude towards good governance.
This is what I call “political will.”
To stamp out corruption from its deeply rooted core, to slay the illegal drugs menace that has enslaved the millions of youths to lunacy and madness, to rectify the mistakes of the recent past by setting an excellent example of what true leadership is all about.
Political will is the expression of the sovereign collective desire to weed out the evils of the bureaucracy, to provide the citizens a safer place to live in and to transform the citizenry from the inert servility to foreign interests to a free thinking, independent nation.
This is the political will that Duterte exhibits and continues to do for the interest of his countrymen.
Complacency is personified by PNoy.
He is the guy who let the country, its people, even the whole world, believe that the illegal drugs (shabu) trade was already controlled and down to its barest minimum. Until Duterte came along.
Complacency is him who would prefer going to a business launch to inaugurate the opening of a car assembly plant, instead of sharing the grief of the families orphaned by the death of 44 SAF personnel. This changed when Duterte came along who paid due respect and courtesy to families left behind by fallen officers and soldiers at the Marawi siege as well as their former comrades who fell at Mamasapano.
Complacency is not only an ugly, bad habit; it is a negative attitude that successful men and women in this highly-competitive world like to call as indolence and ineptitude.
Political will does not come easy.
It comes with a price.
A leader cannot exercise political will if he seeks the recognition of the world and the applause of the sycophants around him.
He will have to sacrifice himself, his family and those closest to him if a leader seeks to achieve the best for his people and country.
Brendon Burchard, a best-selling author and motivator, wrote: “Great men and women…rarely seek permission from the world, because they know that the masses bound by mediocrity will never approve of anything that breaks convention or smacks of boldness and magic.” (Email your feedback to fredlumba@yahoo.com.) Psalm 32.8. GOD BLESS THE PHILIPPINES!
