"Politics is good, because politics came from God"
--Governor Eddie Panlilio of Pampanga (Philippines)
FEU Auditorium, August 7,2008
--Governor Eddie Panlilio of Pampanga (Philippines)
FEU Auditorium, August 7,2008
Governor Eddie Panlilio is among the keynote speaker of the S.C.A.L.E. General Assembly held at the Far Eastern University Auditorium in Manila last August 7, 2008. Such forums are made for the purpose of Skills and Competence Advancement Leadership Education dedicated to deserving scholars and student leaders of FEU, sponsored by the university's office of student affairs and community services (OSACS) in coordination with the Ateneo de Manila University School of Government. Governor Panlilio of the province of Pampanga talk centered on good governance, primarily his experience in the realm of politics albeit a priest for more than two decades. In the Philippines, there is a thin line boundary, so to speak, that separates the church and the state.
According to him, during the election period in Pampanga last year, the two leading candidates were either identified as one related to corruption, or a corrupt official himself. There is a philosophy he added, that in a situation wherein if there is two "evils" to choose, better select the one that is "lesser evil". But according to him and his group, a third force during the election period maintained that even if you choose a "lesser evil", still that is an evil. As a consequence to this, the third force was strained to look for an alternative candidate, a candidate who is morally upright, incorruptible, and of course, competent to lead the entire province. So then, parish priest Eddie Panlilio, or "Among Ed", as he is fondly called was urged to run in the election, and apparently won the hearts of the masses of Pampanga.
Among the major points raised by Governor Panlilio, on the context of good governance was that "governance is a matter of role modeling, a leadership by example". I say, he was definitely right in stressing this out, for I believed that you could never be a good leader, unless a good follower; considering the fact that Pampanga has been dubbed as the "Vatican city of Jueteng", a morally upright leader like Governor Panlilio would likely achieve a morally upright society. He also added that infrastructure projects are the main source of corruption, not only in his province but elsewhere. He said, that his administration would not tolerate any corruption, and will continue discouraging prospective bidders to government projects in offering local public officials with commissions. If he would be able to transform Pampanga into a more developed and morally upright province then we could say that he was able to influence his constituents, which is the true measure of leadership.
Another noteworthy point he said was "politics is good, because politics came from God". From this standpoint, it is clear that though he entered the political scene he never left the Christian teachings and way of life. He may be reprimanded by the Church in engaging himself in politics but he never took it as a hindrance in leading his province to the betterment. It is manifested in this statement of the governor that as a former clergyman he is guided by God in governing his province, seeking what is good and what is just to the benefit of the people's well-being.
His talk was not able to hit or rather focus more on prevalent issues in governance, be in a local or national level. Instead he merely focused on his superficial experiences before, during, and after the election and only focused on minor issues, not until the open forum. During the start of the open forum, the audience appeared to be hesitant to ask the humble governor. There was a momentary silence in the great hall, so voluntarily, I initiated the forum for I felt a little frustration upon hearing his talk because for me, it was mostly theoretical in nature, or to put in another word, it seems a pure rhetorical lecture and not a discussion of tangible or actual situations. This was not the end of it, as I personally asked him that undoubtedly, there is a usual contradiction in the Church and State principles, he as a governor and a priest, what would be his stand in the issue of the reproductive health and population control bill, taking into account the people under his governance? He answered poorly; according to him he cannot impose what the people should do, the people can choose whatever method they want to, but as a former priest he said he will continue to propagate the Christian teaching of family planning. He also added that the state, in which he referred to as the national government, must perform its role of providing education that would likely solve the problem. It was a poor answer primarily because, as a leader of a province regardless of his background or say, affiliations he must seek towards the immediate solution to such problems and with reference to his answer, he was not able to present a concrete plan, at least, to countermeasure the crisis on population that results to mass poverty. Indeed, it was a safe answer, so asked the governor to me in the end, "sana nasagot ko ang tanong mo", I hope I've answered your question, he said. I replied with a sarcastic nod to the governor and whispered to my seatmates "not really". After I spearheaded the question and answer part of his talk with such a timely and contentious issue, the open forum suddenly became an open floodgate, wherein numerous questions were thrown to the governor in which many of his response were still vague, that a keen observer could not really determine his stand on the issues that were laid upon; except when he said a slight disapproval to the Arroyo administration on the latter part, that could probably be the most awaited statement of the governor in more than hour of his speech. He said that the president must live simply, and eliminate corruption. Furthermore, he said that she is not trustworthy anymore because of various accusations perpetuated against her.
In principle, I firmly believed that an effective leader must always think like a person of action, and act like a person of thought. He must be clear and persistent in all of his decision to bring about positive outcome in an organization or society in general. A local public official though virtually under the national government, he must still pursue convincing actions that would present an avenue for a better management of the local government, thus providing innovations in his administration. In this way, the real purpose of decentralization will be met; much more the people's welfare will be addressed.
According to him, during the election period in Pampanga last year, the two leading candidates were either identified as one related to corruption, or a corrupt official himself. There is a philosophy he added, that in a situation wherein if there is two "evils" to choose, better select the one that is "lesser evil". But according to him and his group, a third force during the election period maintained that even if you choose a "lesser evil", still that is an evil. As a consequence to this, the third force was strained to look for an alternative candidate, a candidate who is morally upright, incorruptible, and of course, competent to lead the entire province. So then, parish priest Eddie Panlilio, or "Among Ed", as he is fondly called was urged to run in the election, and apparently won the hearts of the masses of Pampanga.
Among the major points raised by Governor Panlilio, on the context of good governance was that "governance is a matter of role modeling, a leadership by example". I say, he was definitely right in stressing this out, for I believed that you could never be a good leader, unless a good follower; considering the fact that Pampanga has been dubbed as the "Vatican city of Jueteng", a morally upright leader like Governor Panlilio would likely achieve a morally upright society. He also added that infrastructure projects are the main source of corruption, not only in his province but elsewhere. He said, that his administration would not tolerate any corruption, and will continue discouraging prospective bidders to government projects in offering local public officials with commissions. If he would be able to transform Pampanga into a more developed and morally upright province then we could say that he was able to influence his constituents, which is the true measure of leadership.
Another noteworthy point he said was "politics is good, because politics came from God". From this standpoint, it is clear that though he entered the political scene he never left the Christian teachings and way of life. He may be reprimanded by the Church in engaging himself in politics but he never took it as a hindrance in leading his province to the betterment. It is manifested in this statement of the governor that as a former clergyman he is guided by God in governing his province, seeking what is good and what is just to the benefit of the people's well-being.
His talk was not able to hit or rather focus more on prevalent issues in governance, be in a local or national level. Instead he merely focused on his superficial experiences before, during, and after the election and only focused on minor issues, not until the open forum. During the start of the open forum, the audience appeared to be hesitant to ask the humble governor. There was a momentary silence in the great hall, so voluntarily, I initiated the forum for I felt a little frustration upon hearing his talk because for me, it was mostly theoretical in nature, or to put in another word, it seems a pure rhetorical lecture and not a discussion of tangible or actual situations. This was not the end of it, as I personally asked him that undoubtedly, there is a usual contradiction in the Church and State principles, he as a governor and a priest, what would be his stand in the issue of the reproductive health and population control bill, taking into account the people under his governance? He answered poorly; according to him he cannot impose what the people should do, the people can choose whatever method they want to, but as a former priest he said he will continue to propagate the Christian teaching of family planning. He also added that the state, in which he referred to as the national government, must perform its role of providing education that would likely solve the problem. It was a poor answer primarily because, as a leader of a province regardless of his background or say, affiliations he must seek towards the immediate solution to such problems and with reference to his answer, he was not able to present a concrete plan, at least, to countermeasure the crisis on population that results to mass poverty. Indeed, it was a safe answer, so asked the governor to me in the end, "sana nasagot ko ang tanong mo", I hope I've answered your question, he said. I replied with a sarcastic nod to the governor and whispered to my seatmates "not really". After I spearheaded the question and answer part of his talk with such a timely and contentious issue, the open forum suddenly became an open floodgate, wherein numerous questions were thrown to the governor in which many of his response were still vague, that a keen observer could not really determine his stand on the issues that were laid upon; except when he said a slight disapproval to the Arroyo administration on the latter part, that could probably be the most awaited statement of the governor in more than hour of his speech. He said that the president must live simply, and eliminate corruption. Furthermore, he said that she is not trustworthy anymore because of various accusations perpetuated against her.
In principle, I firmly believed that an effective leader must always think like a person of action, and act like a person of thought. He must be clear and persistent in all of his decision to bring about positive outcome in an organization or society in general. A local public official though virtually under the national government, he must still pursue convincing actions that would present an avenue for a better management of the local government, thus providing innovations in his administration. In this way, the real purpose of decentralization will be met; much more the people's welfare will be addressed.
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