Rehab czar

“Daunting but doable” was how Panfilo Lacson described the challenge he now faces in his latest role as “rehabilitation czar” for the typhoon-devastated parts of the Visayas.

Facing the media the other day for the first time since accepting the post on Sunday, Lacson said he would be “dictatorial” in dealing with problems such as looting but “consultative” in other aspects.

He also said he preferred to have the private sector take the lead in the rehabilitation, with the government merely the enabler and overseer.

So far, so good… we’re hearing the right sound bites. People suggested the appointment of an overall coordinator or czar to handle the massive rebuilding of Tacloban and other areas destroyed by Super Typhoon Yolanda and the recent earthquake. So now there’s Lacson, a cop who ended up joining politics and the politicians he once said he hated.

Dealing with politicians in his latest role will be one of Lacson’s toughest challenges. As a senator, he was one of 24 independent republics, enjoying parliamentary immunity whenever he exposed wrongdoing – something he was better known for than legislation.

This time he could step on the sensitive toes of VIP local politicians and certain executive officials. The rehab czar’s post is a high-profile one that could make or unmake its occupant. If successful, Lacson could be catapulted to higher office in 2016.

A report said the creation of the new post clips the powers of the National Disaster Risk Reduction and Management Council, which is chaired by Defense Secretary Voltaire Gazmin.

The defense chief was seen to have deferred to Interior and Local Government Secretary Mar Roxas in the initial government response to Yolanda. But Gazmin has always been low-key and, as far as we know, harbors no political ambitions for 2016, unlike Roxas.

In fact Roxas is seen to be the one eclipsed by rehab czar Lacson. But Roxas expressed no dismay the other day, instead joining the chorus of officials who welcomed Lacson’s appointment.

The executive order creating Lacson’s new post is still being finalized. Lacson should read the fine print, because he could end up emasculated by politics and turf battles, and bogged down by red tape and legal requirements that cannot be sidestepped even for this enormous task.

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There is general agreement that the rebuilding particularly of Tacloban needs efficient coordination by what has just been created: a czar, or a conductor. The government, however, does not have an encouraging record in this department.

Consider the weakness of the Metropolitan Manila Development Authority in coordinating the delivery of basic services in the nation’s premier region. Common sense tells us that it’s more efficient to place services such as traffic management in overcrowded Metro Manila under a single supervisory agency, which – since it already exists – should be the MMDA.

The many colors of the uniforms of each city’s traffic aides indicate the reaction of Metro Manila’s local executives to this idea. The lack of coordination was glaring in the ban on provincial buses with no terminals in Manila from entering the city. Imposed by Joseph Estrada at the start of his term as mayor, the ban led to heavy traffic in neighboring cities where the buses had to turn back.

Garbage collection can also use coordination by the MMDA, but for reasons we can only guess, local executives prefer to select their own trash collectors.

Metro Manila mayors have always bickered with the MMDA over almost everything, even when Imelda Marcos was governor of the region and head of what was then called the Metropolitan Manila Commission.

Elected local executives do not relish the idea of receiving orders – or coordination – from an unelected presidential appointee. The MMDA chairman cannot even carry out an honest-to-goodness campaign to rid Metro Manila waterways of squatters, since many local politicians in the capital have thrived on the votes of informal settlers. And many squatter landlords (yes, shanties are rented out) are barangay officials, who are also elected.

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Lacson can also consider the tourism campaign as a cautionary tale. Tourism chief Ramon Jimenez has done a decent job of marketing the country (his forte) under his “more fun in the Philippines” campaign, even with limited resources.

But Jimenez is no czar; he’s no coordinator of other departments whose services are needed to boost tourism. A tourism czar or conductor is needed if we want our tourism industry to catch up with neighbors such as Malaysia, Singapore and Thailand.

In his role as coordinator, Lacson needs to know the many laws and local regulations governing private property ownership, for example. His tendency to shoot from the hip without the boring but necessary legal spadework allowed his enemies, among them former first gentleman Mike Arroyo, to wiggle out of Lacson’s exposés.

When scandal after corruption scandal and coup plots failed to topple the administration of Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo, people commented that she and her husband were blessed with weak enemies. Among the enemies referred to was Lacson, who tended to shoot first and ask questions later.

This time, Lacson appears to know his limitations and has promised to consult experts in the many sectors that will be involved in the rebuild.

Lacson’s plus is a relatively clean record when it comes to handling public funds. As a senator, he was one of just two who eschewed the pork barrel. Lacson’s minuses, if you ask his critics, are myriad. He’s no administrator, and he couldn’t hang on to witnesses in his exposés in the past. Just ask Mike Defensor, nephew of the more famous Senator Miriam who is no Lacson fan.

Lacson’s closet is also believed to be littered with skeletons, and there are people who interpret that literally.

Perhaps P-Noy wanted someone with the fearsome rep and impatience to get the rehabilitation done ASAP. But consensus and cooperation among many sectors would speed up the rebuild better than intimidation.

At least Lacson knows he faces daunting challenges. These are hurdles that can’t be put away simply with guns blazing.