Votes for change

When presumptive President Rody Duterte won overwhelmingly I realized that all who voted for him voted for change. An end to corruption. An end to the traditional way of running the country. I am also an advocate of change.  All change leads to growth and all growth is good for us.

Now to elaborate on my suggestions to President Duterte, from a retired professional woman’s point of view. I used to do clean public relations when I was working in advertising. I know what I’m talking about.

One of the first things the new president must do is change the Civil Service law. As it is now every politician who gets elected can appoint employees to the government and these employees cannot be fired no matter how sloppy their work is. If they don’t work at all, they cannot be fired. So when you compare a government employee to an employee of a multinational company in the Philippines, you will see a tremendous difference. Multinational employees are more disciplined, responsible, competitive, strategic, better trained than the government employees. I deliberately said multinational because I have worked for national and multinational companies in the Philippines and in the USA (US companies versus Filipino companies operative there). Believe me working for a multinational company is the best experience I have had. You have the best benefits and the best training.

In our government the Civil Service law is a stumbling block. I don’t think government employees are punished when they do not try to sharpen their skills.  They can come to work whenever they like or stay away and come only on payday to pick up their paychecks. They can be corrupt in small or big ways. I remember once getting a residence certificate. I was only supposed to pay twenty pesos but I had no change.  I handed over P50 and the clerk refused to give me change. But I was young and stupid and let her get away with it.

So I recommend a serious revision of the civil service laws. There should be no more political appointees. And starting immediately they can be fired for incompetence. This change will not be welcome and should not happen without safety nets like training programs for entrepreneurship for those who will be removed and some funding for their new businesses. But nevertheless it will be hard. So there must be another gentler change that happens simultaneously to give people something to smile about.

Maybe the new President should consider blurring the boundaries between the public and the palace, to alter the impression of the cordon sanitaire around every president. Now I realize this has security problems so maybe he can start with my Public First Lady concept.  It’s directed to women only in the beginning but maybe later on it can be expanded to include whole families. The idea is to give more people from the public an experience of Malacanang.

 Here are some texts I received after last week’s article on the Public First Lady:

“Magandang buhay po sa ‘yo madam, tungkol  ito sa article mo ngayon sa Philstar na kung sino maghohostess sa mga presidential event na galing sa idea po ninyo ay boto po ako.”

 Wow that’s a very sensible suggestion.  I salute thee.

 Hi Barbara, 1st time to read your column today and was amused with your idea. Then maybe the gov’t should start posting it in the job market search for qualified applicants.  Good luck and hope you could be one of the lucky applicants. As it is one for the books.  Ha ha.

 Why not? That’s a great idea. I think married women should be considered as you have written as long as they fit the bill. And this will be treated as a job by these women.

 Mam Barbara gd pm.I hev jst read your article on Post Election Thoughts. I totally agree on your suggestion on Duterte’s First Lady taken from the public to help him host in evry important event. That would be a perfect solution even as you had also given the important details.  Thanks for writing. I am always one of your avid readers.

 Yes, why not coconut! I think that’s a great idea — inviting different “seasoned/sophisticated” ladies to act as presidential hostess for d nite.  Hope Duterte takes ur suggestion.

 Change is difficult to manage. It is traumatic in the beginning and must be balanced with another alteration that makes people smile. If we have to make changes that are unpleasant — such as rewriting the civil service laws — we must balance these with something that brings smiles — such as the Public First Lady, harmless but uplifting.

 These are just my practical suggestions. I am not a political writer and refuse to be one. But like Duterte I am an advocate of change.  

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