Pinoy Kasi

Exemplars
By Michael Tan
Philippine Daily Inquirer
First Posted 05:0:00 0!"#0"$00%
Picture me more than &0 years a'o( e)en more scra*ny and anorexic than I am today(
*ith lon' hair( in +aded ,eans and dirty snea-ers( seated *ith an uncle( *hose physical
si.e equaled his immense *ealth( his /aritone )oice /oomin' as he tried to dissuade me
+rom student acti)ism: 01a-e up( Mi-e2 This country is hopeless2 3an you name me one
honest o++icial( one honest politician45
I couldn6t2 I *as( a+ter all( on the 0other side(5 ironically as con)inced as my capitalist
uncle that e)eryone in po*er *as dishonest2 The only di++erence *as that he *anted that
system to continue and I *as on the other extreme( con)inced there *as no other solution
than to /rin' do*n the entire rotten society2
7o* older( and I hope sli'htly *iser( I6m still con)inced the country is in dire straits( and
that *e6re 'o)erned lar'ely /y a pac- o+ murderous thie)es2 8et I6m actually hope+ul
/ecause I6)e come to -no* not ,ust one /ut( I6d say( many honora/le *omen and men in
'o)ernment *ho ha)e mana'ed not ,ust to -eep the country a+loat /ut to mo)e it +or*ard2
Plannin' this column in my head( I6)e 'roped the last +e* days +or a *ord to descri/e
their leadership2 0Inno)ati)e5 +irst came to mind( /ut it *as quic-ly ,un-ed /ecause I
thin- *e already ha)e too many leaders *ho excel in +indin' the most inno)ati)e *ays to
plunder the pu/lic co++ers2
0Trans+ormati)e5 *as another term that -ept comin' up2 It is a 'ood *ord /ut reminds
me too much o+ ma'ic2 9emem/er that Filipino slan' term 0*an:tu:tri(5 popular in the
#!;0s( *hich re+erred to s*indlers and political scoundrels *ho could ma-e money
disappear as quic-ly as #:$:&4
1ords are *ords2 I settled on 0exemplary5 -no*in' *e could still /e nau'hty and say
our leaders lead /y /ad example2 <enerally thou'h( 0exemplary5 and 0exemplar5 are
used in a positi)e sense( and I thin- it has particular rele)ance +or us /ecause *e li-e to
/oast a/out /ein' a 3hristian nation( and I6)e al*ays +elt 0/ein'5 3hristian had
deteriorated into pu/lic displays o+ piety and photo opportunities 'enerated /y the latest
charity pro,ect2 I thin- *e6d come closer to the ori'inal spirit o+ 3hristianity i+ *e could
/e 3hristian /y example2 Put simply( 'ood leaders lead /y leadin' 'ood li)es2
In the last +e* *ee-s( there6s /een some pu/licity 'i)en to exemplars2 There6s the
0islands o+ hope5 pro,ect that has exemplary leaders tal-in' in some uni)ersities a/out
ethical 'o)ernance2 Ethical is a 'ood term as *ell( /ut can /e a/stract so I6ll stic-( +or
no*( to 0exemplary25
The Islands o+ =ope team has <o)ernors <race Padaca o+ Isa/ela and Ed Panlilio o+
Pampan'a( and Mayors >ess 9o/redo o+ 7a'a 3ity and ?I thin- she6s still /ein'
con)inced@ Aonia Boren.o o+ Aan Isidro( 7ue)a Eci,a2 ?I6m *ritin' this +rom memory( so
I6m apolo'i.in' i+ I6m not updated or ha)e +or'otten someone2@ They6)e already made
*a)es at Cteneo de Manila Dni)ersity and Miriam 3olle'e and *ill /e in the Dni)ersity
o+ the Philippines on Aept2 $&2
Integrity
9i'ht no*( *hat most Filipinos are loo-in' +or is honesty( and this is *here my late uncle
*as con)inced 'o)ernment had /anished the term +rom our dictionaries2 But i+ my uncle
*ere still around( I6d tell him they do exist2 For starters( there *as Ka Bel ?9ep2 3rispin
Beltran@ *hose only 0scandal5 *as his po)erty2 9emem/er he died a+ter he slipped do*n
+rom the roo+ he *as repairin'2 Tell me no*( ho* many o+ our leaders *ill you see
repairin' their roo+4
I6)e seen other o++icials and 'o)ernment *or-ers in similarly scandalous po)erty2 Cs a
student )olunteer( I *as deployed in the mid:#!;0s to a )ery remote to*n in Mountain
Pro)ince *here I stayed *ith the mayor( a simple man *ho *as as poor as the mice I met
in his /are home ?I had ta-en a nap on the +loor( *ithout a mat( and *o-e up to a pair o+
mice as anorexic:loo-in' as I *as( -eepin' *atch o)er the sac- o+ rice I had
commandeered as a pillo*@2
I6)e met many more o+ these small to*n mayors( o+ten impo)erished /ecause they had to
di' into their o*n poc-ets +or their constituents6 many KBB ?-asal( /inya'( li/in' or
marria'e( /aptism( /urial@ needs( and *e6re not e)en tal-in' a/out the many health
emer'encies2 KBB is( o+ course( a play on Kilusan' Ba'on' Bipunan( Marcos6 political
party( to descri/e its patrona'e politics2 It *as that Mountain Pro)ince mayor *ho helped
me understand ho* they could remain honest *hile playin' the political 'ame *ith the
'ods in Manila( at that time the KBB party machine2 =is toilets *ere stac-ed *ith KBB
election materials( the mayor ha)in' decided the papers could /e put to /etter use than
political propa'anda2 =e6d ta-en honesty to another le)el o+ inte'rity2
I thin- *e expect all our politicians to li)e in po)erty2 I6m happy *ith com+orta/le
simplicity2 I thin- o+ three con'ress*omenEDarlene Cntonino:3ustodio( >anette <arin
and Cna Theresa =onti)eros:BaraquelE*hom I can descri/e as /ein' no:nonsense( no:
+rills in their li+estyles as *ell as their *or-2 I once met Darlene and 9i.a ?*ho insists on
9i.a( so it *as only today( researchin' the Internet( that I reali.ed she *as Cna Theresa@
at an international con+erence( *ith no /ody'uards( no alalay ?escorts@2 7ot only that(
they6d /een 'oin' around on mass transit( ,ostlin' *ith the city6s un*ashed2
Courage
The three con'ress*omen are also at the +ore+ront o+ the contro)ersial reproducti)e
health /ill( displayin' coura'e ?as in stron' 'uts@ that you need +or leadership2 They6)e
told me a/out ho* they6)e /een )ictimi.ed /y e)ery -no*n dirty tric- in the /oo-( /ut
ha)e emer'ed unscathed ?all are re:elected le'islators@ /ecause they ha)e /oth coura'e
and inte'rity in all they do2
The executi)e arm o+ 'o)ernment has many more o+ these coura'eous *omen ?mostly@
and men2 There6s Aocial 1el+are Aecretary Esperan.a 3a/ral( outspo-en in her de+ense
o+ +amily plannin'2 Aome *ill say( oh /ut she comes +rom an older( more idealistic
'eneration2 ?I -no* her +rom the heady parliament o+ the streets a+ter 7inoy Cquino *as
assassinated2@ But there are youn'er coura'eous ones too( li-e =ealth Dndersecretary
Mario Filla)erde *ho has dared to insist that condoms /e used in =IF"CIDA pre)ention
campai'ns2
3oura'e ta-es many +orms2 I thin- o+ +ormer =ealth Aecretary Cl/erto 9omualde. >r2
*ho a/ly ser)ed in the Estrada administration *ithout sel+:interest2 1ho can +or'et that
scene in MalacaGan'( captured li)e on tele)ision( *here 9omualde. stood /y Estrada in
his +inal hours as president4 To this day( many o+ us *ho *ere opposed to the Erap
administration still tal- a/out the admiration *e all +elt +or him as a man o+ /oth coura'e
and inte'rity2
There are many more exemplars I could *rite a/out( /ut I ha)e run out o+ space2 But I6m
'rate+ul to the Islands o+ =ope pro,ect +or 'ettin' me thin-in' a/out ho* *e( in mass
media( can do more to *rite a/out the leaders *e do ha)e( +rom the /aran'ay to the
national le)els( and( as the 9amon Ma'saysay C*ards remind us( in the Csia:Paci+ic
re'ion( to help pro)e that in leadership( there can /e no contradiction /et*een 'oodness
and 'reatness2