Unsolicited advice for our soon-to-be President

Wow! That Smartmatic “magic” lasted for only a few days and then ala kazam — the spell disappeared. What happened to this election process? It was a “too good to be true” experience. And now we are enchanted with all the bickering, the never-ending saga of cheating, vote-buying and vote-selling.

 Finally, Congress has begun the canvassing of votes but all the witches around seem to be brewing up some potion to bewitch us. What is happening? When will the people finally know who the winners are? Can’t we keep things simple and explicit? We don’t want a circus anymore.

We almost forgot what our “cry” was all about during the election period because of this post-election circus. Don’t forget that we still need to pray for the next president. He has a “herculean” task to do for this country. Imagine how Atlas carries a world on his back? Well, I can just see Noynoy carrying it as well. Funny but surreal!

Restoring the people’s trust and confidence in the new government is the immediate task of President-to-be Noynoy Aquino after taking his oath on June 30 as the nation’s 12th elected President of the Republic of the Philippines since July 4, 1946. This task is personal to him and unlike the multi-faceted serious problems of poverty, unemployment and graft and corruption, will not require the participation of the legislative and judicial departments.

It is personal to Senator Noynoy because it is the president, by personal conduct and example, who initiates the momentum of reform in the government. Campaign promises and inaugural statements like Ferdinand Marcos’ “This Nation Can be Great Again” declaration on December 30, 1965 and GMA’s “I am not aspiring to be a great president, but only a good president” on January 22, 2001 – are nothing but rhetoric. Both statements of Marcos and GMA were belied by what they did during their tenure.

At the risk of sounding “makulit” may I reiterate five unsolicited suggestions for our incoming president to consider, to demonstrate his sincerity of purpose and strong will to reform the ruined government he is taking over: (1) show a personal ethical conduct akin to the official and personal conduct of Pres. Ramon Magsaysay; (2) appoint good appointees to the cabinet and other government agencies reputed for their integrity, competence and track records; (3) choose very well your appointees to the Supreme Court, the other appellate bodies and the lower courts based on integrity, legal scholarship, good moral character and reputation in the legal community to distinguish yourself from GMA; (4) demonstrate a strong aversion to malfeasance and incompetence in public service by dismissing your own appointees who betray public trust; (5) enforce public accountability against GMA appointees in the government who violated the Anti-Graft and Practices Act by ordering their prosecution; and (6) removing from their positions co-terminus GMA appointees and those with fixed terms of office in agencies notorious for graft and corruption.

Senator Noynoy must now be irked with all the advices he has been flooded with. FVR and Health Secretary Cabral have even asked him to stop smoking. But as any inveterate smoker will tell you, the habit is not easily given up. There is no doubting the fact (medically and scientifically backed up) that smoking is hazardous to the health. But there are far more serious concerns affecting millions of people that our soon-to-be president has to deal with. So, let’s give him a little time to get rid of his smoking. 

Speaking of serious concerns, I would like to identify a serious concern that I and my own father have written about several times, which has become more serious over the last few years. Come to think of it, was this issue ever mentioned in any of the platforms of the candidates running for public office then? As a matter of fact, I could not recall having read or heard them speak about how this perennial problem can be resolved.

This concern pertains to our land transportation system, which up to now as we all can see (Res Ipsa Loquitur) remains CHAOTIC, HAZARDOUS and GROSSLY MISMANAGED. The culprits are of course, the agencies tasked by law to regulate and supervise the transport system – the Land Transportation Franchising and Regulatory Board and the Land Transportation Office.

As early as 2007, in the article “Too Many Buses Clog EDSA” Ms. Margaret Jao-Grey of the Philippine Center for Investigative Journalism (PCIJ) pointed out that: “On any given day, 2.34 million vehicles pass Metro Manila’s main circumferential artery, EDSA or C4. Of the total 139, 227 are public utility buses (PUBs) both air conditioned and ordinary. In any range of colors and brand names that nobody quite remembers, these giants of the road are perceived to be the bane of Metro Manila motorists and traffic enforcers, even though privately-owned cars make the bulk of the vehicles on the streets of the National Capital Region.” This report of the PCIJ finds confirmation from LTFRB’s own records as of 3 years ago. In Metro Manila, per LTFRB records there are 5, 326 buses authorized to ply all the main thoroughfares.

Actually, it is not only the Metro Manila land transport network that is saturated with passenger buses but also the provincial bus network. What makes it worse is that a majority of franchised operators are in no position to answer to liabilities due to their operations, i.e. accidents. These operators are a hazard to the public. The former transport official now with a consultancy firm attributed the saturation of our limited road network (both Metro and provincial) to graft and corruption that is, the granting of franchises for big fees going to the pockets of both transport officials and employees.

Of course, it is a glaring corrupt practice under the Anti-Graft law for a public officer to “knowingly approve or grant any license permit, privilege or benefit in favour of any person not qualified for or not legally entitled to such license, permit privilege or advantage.”

Will the new DOTC Secretary under the Aquino Administration hold the officials (present and former) and their subordinates accountable for the chaos and mess they inflicted in our transport network? Abangan!