Editorial: Leadership and political will | Sun.Star

Editorial: Leadership and political will | Sun.Star

Editorial: Leadership and political will

Saturday, July 2, 2011

JUST when Davao City residents thought it has had enough excitement for the week, their city mayor lands on national television breaking news not just because of the floods that killed more than two dozen people and displaced thousands, but because she punched a court sheriff.

Lines were drawn, immediately. The non-Dabawenyos saying how rude our mayor is, while the Davao people breaking out in loud cheers. This much was apparent in comments on social networking sites and the interview by Manila radio commentator Gani Oro over dzBB, where he provoked the mayor when after explaining everything that came before the punching, he accused the mayor of taking the law into her hands. The dial tone he got soon after was like the loud roar of approval by Dabawenyos.

Definitely, we are not for politicians who seek extra-judicial remedies. But, we understand what the mayor wanted to prevent but which happened, all because one other bureaucrat who saw no wisdom in having the mayor's presence while houses are being demolished.

Earlier on, City Mayor Sara Z. Duterte had already made it clear that she cannot do anything about the demolition since it was a court order and that it had to be implemented. She's a lawyer, and she knows that is how the law works. But all she was asking for was to be there. Thus, she was trying to ask for just two hours, just to take on the heat of a court-ordered demolition. The court sheriff didn't see wisdom in that; he simply has to do his job and that is to serve the demolition order and have it implemented. As the mayor anticipated, a riot erupted before she arrived.

And that is what is lost in a lot of bureaucrats: the understanding that most of the time, the people, especially the masses, would just want their leader to be there when the worst hits them. Their leader need not even have to cause a demolition order to be stopped, and their leader may even just watch on the sidelines with them while their houses are ripped to pieces. For them, that is enough. Mere presence of a respected person, sometimes, is enough because in that mere presence, they find some assurance that somebody in authority has seen their situation, and thus will be able to think up of some concrete actions.

This was what was lost on President Benigno C. Aquino III when he arrived to visit the flood victims of Cotabato City more than two weeks after tens of thousands of evacuees have already been suffering from the floods. Thus, by the time he arrived, the people no longer saw in him the leader they believed in. No wonder both the Cotabato city mayor and the people did not have anything good to say about his visit. Apparently, still clueless about the nuances of leadership, Malacañang attacked the Cotabato city mayor instead and enumerated what has already been given - including the heavy equipment that was removing the water hyacinths from Rio Grande de Mindanao coursed through the Department of Public Works and Highways, and the sacks of rice coursed through the Department of Social Welfare and Development.

Much like a father making up for his absence by delivering all that a child wants, when the child only needs his presence.

There are nuances of leadership for a people to respect and follow their leaders, and most of the time, these are not about material things and sweet promises. Leaders after all, are looked up to for their vision, guidance, and reassuring presence.

When Mayor Inday called for a two-hour hold so she can be there with the people, even after she said she can no longer do anything to stop the demolition, she demonstrated an understanding of this kind of leadership, and thus we can only applaud, but, let us make this very clear: not for the punches thrown but for the understanding.

Now, on to the more demanding work of re-building better, the work that is waiting for us after the killer flashflood; let's hope that the mayor has just as much guts, grit, and punch to undo all the wrongs that has been done before. And this includes development projects that bring more threat than good to the greater number of people in the future. The flashfloods that killed almost three dozens were caused by misguided actions of decades ago. This just proves that our actions today can become our children's undoing tomorrow. We pray that the mayor is up and ready for this greater fight.

Published in the Sun.Star Davao newspaper on July 02, 2011.