Can government govern?

Funny we have to ask the question. But that Senate investigation on the TanimBala last week wiped out whatever confidence we may still have on our government’s ability to govern. Even student councils do better, from what I recall during my UP days.

P-Noy’s favorite fools made even bigger fools of themselves as senators questioned them on TanimBala. And like fools, they started pointing to each other as they washed off any personal accountability.

I doubt if the shameful performance of the NAIA general manager, the DOTC Secretary and the head of the Office of Transport Security under DOTC will move P-Noy to finally do something useful… like firing all of them. I suppose, P-Noy has set the bar for performance so low, he isn’t even a bit concerned.

It seems the only useful qualification for public office these days is how close a person is to the President. Competence is not in the picture. Otherwise, those clowns won’t last a minute more in office after that horrible performance.

A blogger writing for Rappler summed up what ails NAIA and I totally agree.

“Overall, the airport, like the country, is mismanaged to the point that makes people want to shout and wring necks. The airport’s, and the country’s, managers are oblivious to reality and are deaf to feedback. The most frustrating part of it is they don’t know any better; they actually think they are doing a good job. Why? Because they are in power and power in the Philippines is an end in itself; they don’t need to earn it or prove anything, it is theirs by right.”

Yes, it seems from the grilling by the senators we are paying good tax money to people who do nothing useful. The NAIA GM does nothing. He knows nothing. He proudly proclaims he is out of the loop, has no control over agencies working in his realm. And he doesn’t care what’s happening at NAIA.

Of course DOTC’s Abaya, despite his excellent resume, has proven himself a total failure as the top man for transportation. He has totally bungled MRT 3, is also clueless about what’s going on at NAIA, can’t deliver our drivers licenses and car plates we have paid for, and is utterly helpless in dealing with our traffic mess.

Despite being an obviously miserable failure, P-Noy continues to have full trust and confidence in Abaya. Then again, with just a little over half a year to go, P-Noy figures he won’t be able to get anyone better. Besides, how will it look if P-Noy dismissed Abaya for incompetence during this election season? Abaya is the president of the Liberal Party.

If Abaya has any shame left, he should make it easy for the President and resign on his own. But there is no honor code among our public officials, so Abaya stays.

What is so frustrating about this TanimBala is how it seems our officials are not getting the problem. They are either stupid or manhid. They claimed they are investigating, but the senators found out they haven’t even contacted the victims.

How difficult is it to realize that public anxiety is their most urgent concern? Their job is to reassure the public, not just with words but with action that they have the situation under control.

People are afraid to go to NAIA. One of my associates, Rosan Cruz, was telling me last Friday a friend of hers who has to travel to Bangkok is in tears, deathfully afraid of stepping into NAIA. The thing that strikes public fear is the high possibility you can be the next victim and you don’t have government watching your back.

Indeed, government is the problem. Its high officials were simply clueless when interrogated by the senators. Assuming they are not in on the scam, they seem unwilling to go after their subordinates who must be behind it. They are more worried about the morale of OTS people when it is the public morale they should be more concerned with.

Worse, the one official in the Cabinet who I thought would get it is apparently also on denial mode. Tourism Secretary Mon Jimenez, who I respect as one of the most creative advertising minds, is now saying media has overblown the TanimBala crisis.

It’s self flagellation, MonJ said, demonstrating media’s tendency to discuss issues “to death until it actually injures our own interest… it is also a symptom that sometimes as a country we don’t know when to stop talking about something.”

Good Grief, Mon. What has five years with the Aquino Cabinet done to you? Mon J used to be really in touch with his market but now, like his bosses at the Palace, seems out of touch with reality.

Putting it plainly, if we stop talking about it, the pressure eases and government does nothing. Actually, even now when we are talking about it, government still does nothing that to ease our worries of being victimized. What Mon J calls a tremendous capacity for self-injury describes our inutile government and not media.

Indeed, I have long ago wondered if government has the capacity to govern. Or maybe, it is just this Aquino-led government that’s problematic. I am worried because we may end up with just Mar Roxas on the ballot and he becomes president by default. That means this country will wander aimlessly for six years.

I purposely avoided attending the roundtable interview of Mar Roxas at The Philippine Star last week. I didn’t want to spoil his party and I knew I couldn’t ask my questions without seeming inhospitable to our guest. The questions I had in mind are better asked just between the two of us.

Then again, matters of public interest should be asked in public. For instance, what would make him more effective with a change of title to President than he was when he was Secretary of DOTC and DILG?

His minions, the ones he left behind at DOTC, have been saying a tough procurement law is the reason they are underperforming. So, if Mar gets to be president, we will still have the same tough procurement law. Does Mar have an idea of how to navigate his programs so the procurement and other laws are not used to create another excuse for failure?

We need to ask Mar how he would have handled officials like the ones who fumbled badly at the Senate hearing. Would he give them their walking papers? Or will he coddle them the way P-Noy is coddling them now?

We should be able to take for granted our government can govern. It is dangerous for the survival of our democracy if government gets this habit of failure or inability to govern. A strongman can use it to gain the support of disenchanted people who are so sick and tired of the mess we are in.

NAIA’s institutional problems, like those of our country, gave rise to a scam like TanimBala. Things were made worse by the incompetence of the GM and the DOTC Secretary. They entrusted the airport’s security to someone who obviously does not have the capacity to understand his mission.

The OTS Chief, a usec at DOTC, should have been changed by now. His removal became urgent after he told a TV interview (Bandila of ABS-CBN) that his screeners missed that two kilogram stash of cocaine because his screeners were not looking for it. Drugs, he said, are not dangerous to the plane passengers.

A more plausible explanation why the OTS screeners failed to see the cocaine came from my Facebook friend. According to JP Fenix: drugs are prepaid while bullets are postpaid.

The failures of P-Noy, from the Luneta bus carnage to Yolanda and Mamasapano and many others, are issues of governance or lack of it. As a barber or a taxi driver once told me, hindi ramdam yung gobyerno. I think that says it all.

How can Mar Roxas convince us that continuity does not mean more of the same failures? In Davao, they can feel government is there to protect them. Elsewhere in the country, citizens are on their own.

Those plastic cling wrapped bags symbolize this widespread insecurity. That is the meat of the problem, MonJ, the continuing failure to address it is what’s making your work as Tourism secretary difficult. Don’t blame media that is merely calling on government to do its job.

Trains

There is absolutely no truth to the rumor that DOTC Sec Jun Abaya is all set to launch the Chinese made train cars for MRT 3 and rename MRT 3 as The Bullet Trains.

Boo Chanco’s e-mail address is [email protected]. Follow him on Twitter @boochanco.