Genesis

What do President Cory, President Ramos, President Estrada and President Arroyo have in common? They all share a list of people who worked their way into each administration, used the office and its influence to advance personal and professional interests and eventually helped sink the ship of state or the credibility of the administration.

If Noynoy Aquino officially becomes the next President, he will certainly be in good company as he joins the list of Presidential victims used by the same kind of people.   

In what seemed like the first “Press conference” of Benigno “Noynoy” Aquino III, the front-runner for President told reporters that a “Talent Search” was already being done by a search committee, in order to determine who would be the official members of the next administration.

I would forgive the poor choice of words given their propensity for entertainment, but there is an ocean of difference between a “Talent Search” and seeking out the best and the brightest men and women of the nation who will lead the major departments and services of state.

I guess it never occurred to the reporters to ask: who exactly is in that “search committee”? Are they the mystical members of the “Hyatt 10”? The core group of the Liberal Party-Drilon Wing? Or is it a compromise group whose members include representatives from “The Firm”, the Tarlac Kamag-anak Incorporated, as well as vanguards of the “Insulares” and “Peninsulares”?

Which Churches and religious groups are represented in the search committee” and what role or power do they have in the selection process?

It is said: “To the victor goes the spoils” and history has shown us that in this country every group and administration has their own way of determining who makes it into the team.  

It may also be said that it’s to early to address such concerns considering that the next President has not yet been officially declared and sworn into office.

That really depends on one’s perspective.

Since the very beginning, I have proposed the idea that ALL presidential candidates should already have a program of government and as well as a list of pre-selected individuals who are qualified if not pre-eminent in their fields of expertise.

The suggestion is based on the fact that governance and government do not afford leaders the luxury of time and learning curves. Government service does not and cannot slow down as a result of change of management or administration.

Another drawback to looking for good help only after being elected is that the would-be appointees don’t get a chance to be known by the public and to establish why they are qualified and why they were chosen to hold a position in government.

This was one of the major handicaps of officials in the Arroyo administration. The public never got to know them well enough, while critics got a head start beating up on them. In the end, the public listened to the critics more than they did to the experts.

If my question regarding who is in the “Search Committee” sounds abrasive, I offer no apologies. One of our biggest mistakes and biggest failures as a people is that we “entrusted” the choice to the “Victor” instead of guarding the process ourselves.

After spending months supporting and campaigning for your candidate, after voting them into public office, we quietly step back, fade away and simply allow the inner circle to make the decisions and the choices.

The candidate wins and we lose because we stopped being involved. We stopped letting our needs be known to those who made promises to us. And we stopped letting the winners know that “if we made them, we can break them”.

When you stop, someone else steps in and grabs what is not rightfully theirs. The greedy, the corrupt or the immoral don’t step back. They look for openings and opportunities that you stopped to defend and walked away from.

We must demand to know who are making the all-important choices to fill the cabinet positions for the next administration. What are their professional or personal motivations?

If you dare, go ask President Ramos, President Estrada and President Arroyo how lawyers and a law firm that becomes close to a President can ultimately disrupt and discredit our judicial system.

Ask the same Presidents how appointing former executives of big auditing and accountancy firms can ultimately affect the decision on tax cases and tax payments to be made by “big taxpayers and corporations”.

How will the composition and personalities within the search committee affect the integrity, professionalism and independence of the judiciary, the military, foreign affairs or even bureaus such as the BIR or Customs?

How will the selection of PNP chiefs and superintendents affect the operation of jueteng in Tarlac and the rest of Luzon?

While we paid so much attention to Mike Arroyo, no one paid attention to who heads the Department of Labor that institutionalized “casualization” of employees. No one paid much attention to the financial bondage of the Filipino OFW who borrows as much as P300,000 in placement fees to pay recruiters just to get a job abroad.

We were here before. A few days after elections, our hopes up high or up in smoke. Then we walked away in dreams or in tears. Lets learn from the past. Lets take a stand, let us see this through. Let us work together and demand that those who would lead us must first make themselves known.

Not just a President, a Vice President, but all those who would be in government or influence government. Who are you and who do you work for?