Political patronage is still the norm today

Just the other day I got a blast e-mail from the staff of Sen. Franklin Drilon on his proposed legislation that seeks to rationalize the operations of Government-Owned and Controlled Corporations (GOCCs) which is aimed to eliminate political patronage and horse trading in appointing officials in State firms, a practice which according to Sen. Drilon has been abused by the Arroyo Administration during GMA’s nine-year reign as President. Now isn’t this a great proposal . . . something that should have been done eons ago!

Senate Bill no. 2566 or the proposed GOCC Governance Act of 2010 is a remedial measure aimed at eliminating abuses in State enterprises that would only assure the public that only “fit and proper” individuals will be appointed to the governing boards of GOCCs. Sen. Drilon cites crucial factors such as “Integrity, experience, education, training and competence” as key factors in determining who will sit in the various governing boards of GOCCs. As Sen. Drilon pointed out, “This standard should be properly observed by the President so he will not be accused of political accommodation, just like what happened in past administrations.”

While I wholeheartedly agree and support the proposal of Sen. Drilon . . . however I’d like to give him my unsolicited advice that it’s about time that Sen. Drilon has to rid himself of all that buck passing against the Arroyo Administration. The election campaign is over and done with and President Benigno “P-Noy” Aquino III has already passed his 100th day in office, so it is time for the Aquino administration to fix all the wrongs that have been going on in this country, without necessarily taking ugly potshots at the previous administration. In fairness to the Arroyo Administration, she did not “invent” horse trading or political patronage, which has been a traditional political tool since the Americans introduce democracy to this country!

So when the Aquino administration came into power riding on the vote of hope and change for the betterment of our people, one would think that proposals like what Sen. Drilon is proposing is indeed the way to go, especially when it comes to the ways and means in operating GOCCs. Believing that Sen. Drilon is one of the main pillars of the Liberal Party (LP) one would think that his idea has the support of his political party.

But the real reason why Sen. Drilon should stop pointing at the Arroyo administration for appointing officials in GOCCs is because the Aquino administration is also doing exactly the same thing. A case in point is what happened very recently at the Mactan Cebu International Airport Authority (MCIAA), where General Manager Danilo Francia whom I consider the best airport manager we ever had has been replaced by Engr. Paul Villarete, who is an Engineer by profession and an urban planner, but has never ran even a Sari-Sari store. Engr. Paul Villarete’s claim to fame is that, he is the lackey of then Cebu City Mayor now Congressman Tomas Osmeña.

Little do people know that a couple of years ago, MCIAA was given a very high score card rating by the Institute of Corporate Directors (ICD) headed by the venerable Jesus “Jess” Estanislao, the guru of Good Governance. MCIAA bagged the 5th slot against a field of close to three hundred GOCC’s. The top four where Government Financial Institutions (GFIs) like the Development Bank of the Philippines (DBP) Bangko Sentral ng Pilipinas (BSP) and Land Bank of the Philippines (LBP), I forgot the fourth.

MCIAA landed in the top five because its Board of Directors took courses in the ICD to improve its corporate Good Governance. On June 5, 2006, the MCIAA Board issued a resolution no.2006-1075 that delineated certain parameters for the credentials of the future Airport Manager. One such minimum requirement is experience in running an airport facility, which Sen. Drilon has now included in his proposed bill. Elections were still far away and when I talked with Jess Estanislao about this move, he praised the MCIAA for making this very professional move.

When the new MCIAA Board took over early this October, they got an “I desire” letter from Pres. PNoy Aquino asking the Board to install Mr. Paul Villarete as MCIAA General Manager to replace Mr. Francia. But the new board could not do this because it was stymied by the 2006 resolution by the previous board that was aimed to ensure that the next General Manager of Mactan Airport had some experience in running an Aviation facility. So what did the new MCIAA board do? They scrapped the 2006 resolution!

So now Engr. Paul Villarete is the new MCIAA General Manager. Despite his lack of proper credentials. As Sen. Drilon says in his email, “The “fit and proper rule” will see to it that only qualified individuals will get involved in state firms, as patronage job is susceptible to widespread efficiency and corruption.” I have nothing against Mr. Villarete personally and even consider him a good friend, but it is time to call a spade a spade . . . he has not run any such facility nor does he have any experience in running an airport.

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