That was a touching final sendoff to Jesse Robredo yesterday. It would have been better if his accomplishments were widely recognized while he was still alive, but such is our society: stingy with praise for the living, and profuse for the dead.
Robredo did his Cabinet job below the radar. He did not deliver instant gratification. His accomplishments were not controversial or headline-grabbing. His reforms were not sexy enough for extensive press coverage.
But headhunting for the next secretary of the Department of the Interior and Local Government (DILG) will be tough. The successor of Robredo will be among the most closely scrutinized officials in the Cabinet. I don’t know which will prove harder: Chief Justice Ma. Lourdes Sereno living up to expectations that she will be the antithesis of her disgraced predecessor, or Robredo’s successor trying to become his clone and sustaining his reforms.
Robredo’s work in his two years as DILG chief has been recognized by the World Bank. The WB cited the award of a “seal of good housekeeping” to local government units that meet certain criteria for good governance, including compliance with a full disclosure policy on programs, procurements and expenditures. The seal entitles LGUs to additional funding from the national government under the Performance Challenge Fund.
But more work was needed in the “interior” aspect of Robredo’s job. Perhaps Robredo moved slower here because it actually wasn’t his turf: P-Noy has his buddy, DILG Undersecretary Rico Puno, in charge of peace and order, including multibillion-peso deals for the procurement of weapons, ammunition, vehicles and equipment.
So far there has been no scandal involving overpriced police helicopters and European junkets for police generals and their wives under P-Noy’s watch.
But much remains to be done in curbing criminality, especially those against property. Jueteng and other illegal numbers games still flourish, abetting corruption, with the blessings of local government and police officials. P-Noy recently received poor marks from businessmen in curbing smuggling — a task belonging to the Bureau of Customs, but perpetrated in certain parts of the country with the blessings of local government executives.
Perhaps if fate didn’t claim Robredo early, he could have made a dent in the fight against those problems.
The task will now fall on his successor. Among the possibilities floated so far are “Little President” Paquito Ochoa, currently the DILG officer-in-charge, and Cavite Rep. Joseph Abaya, a former close-in aide of Corazon Aquino.
As the selection of Sereno showed, it’s hard to second-guess P-Noy. The only safe assumption is that the President cannot afford to pick someone with less than sterling credentials to fill Robredo’s shoes.
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For those who are asking — “Who are we mourning for, and why?” — Robredo’s citation from the Ramon Magsaysay Awards in 2000 (the 2012 awards are slated this Friday) might help:
“It is sad but true. Democratic government is not necessarily good government. Too often, elections yield power to the few, not the many. Injustices linger beneath the rhetoric of equality. Corruption and incompetence go on and on. Voters, alas, do not always choose wisely. And yet, in Asia and the world at large, much is at risk when democracy founders, because democracy is the hope of so many.
“Jesse Manalastas Robredo entered Philippine politics at a time when hope was high. As mayor of Naga City from 1988 to 1998 he demonstrated that democratic government can also be good government.
“In the wake of his country’s People Power Revolution in 1986, Jesse Robredo responded to President Corazon Aquino’s call to public service. He abandoned his executive position at San Miguel Corporation to head the Bicol River Basin Development Program in Naga, his hometown. In 1988, he stood for election as mayor and won by a slim margin. He was 29.
“Once the queen city of the Bicol region, Naga in 1989 was a dispirited provincial town of 120,000 souls. Traffic clogged its tawdry business district and vice syndicates operated at will. City services were fitful at best. Meanwhile, thousands of squatters filled Naga’s vacant lands, despite the dearth of jobs in the city’s stagnant economy. Indeed, Naga’s revenues were so low that it had been downgraded officially from a first-class to a third-class city.
“Robredo began with a strike against patronage. He introduced a merit-based system of hiring and promotion and reorganized city employees on the basis of aptitude and competence. He then moved against local vice lords, ridding Naga of gambling and smut. Next, he relocated the bus and jeepney terminals outside the city center, ending gridlock and spurring new enterprises at the city’s edge. In partnership with business, he revitalized Naga’s economy. Public revenues rose and by 1990 Naga was a first-class city again. Robredo’s constituents took heart and reelected him.
“Spurning bodyguards, Robredo moved freely among the people. By enlisting the support and active assistance of Naga’s NGOs and citizens, he improved public services dramatically. He established day-care centers in each of Naga’s 27 districts and added five new high schools. He built a public hospital for low-income citizens. He set up a dependable 24-hour emergency service. He constructed a network of farm-to-market roads and provided clean and reliable water systems in Naga’s rural communities. He launched programs for youth, farmers, laborers, women, the elderly, and the handicapped – drawing thousands into civic action in the process. No civic deed was too small, he told the people, including the simple act of reporting a broken street lamp. He sometimes swept the streets himself.
“Consistently, Robredo prioritized the needs of the poor. Through his Kaantabay sa Kauswagan (Partners in Development) program, over 4,500 once-homeless families moved to home-lots of their own. They became part of Naga’s revival. So did a revitalized city government. Applying techniques from business, Robredo raised performance, productivity, and morale among city employees. As a culture of excellence overtook the culture of mediocrity at City Hall, Naga’s businesses doubled and local revenues rose by 573 percent.
“Reelected without opposition in 1995, Robredo urged the Naga City Council to enact a unique Empowerment Ordinance. This created a People’s Council to institutionalize the participation of NGOs and people’s organizations in all future municipal deliberations. When obliged by law to step down after his third term, the popular Robredo made no effort to entrench his family. His advice to would-be leaders? ‘You have to have credibility.’
“In electing Jesse Robredo to receive the 2000 Ramon Magsaysay Award for Government Service, the board of trustees recognizes his giving credence to the promise of democracy by demonstrating that effective city management is compatible with yielding power to the people.”