Government blunders, management and leadership

While all organizations blunder, government blunders are more damaging and costly because these are bigger and affect more people. In private organizations in business and others, the consequences of their errors are financial losses, lawsuits, and bankruptcies. For government organizations, it could be revolutions, a failed state, and the loss of many lives. What is happening in Lebanon, Myanmar, Hong Kong, Venezuela, and some countries in Africa and Eastern Europe are examples. In this column, we are discussing the Philippines which we are more familiar with, and hope that our government will have more successes than failures.

The present administration of Duterte had its share of hits and misses since its start in 2016, but lately, for the past 11 months it has been a series of blunders. It’s handling of the COVID pandemic, from the delayed border closure, uncoordinated lockdowns, balik-probinsya, PhilHealth corruption, Boracay white sand, to vaccine procurement, etc. Then there is the MVIS/the Child seat law implementation, RFID cashless traffic build-up, the UP agreement revocation, unnecessary red-tagging and other police abuses. And more recently, the illegal Sinovac vaccination of the PSG, the price control on pork and chicken meat, and the flip-flop on the frontliners’ vaccination with China-made vaccines.

Contrast these with the government successes in the monetary and fiscal initiatives in this pandemic, the rice tariffication that is keeping prices low, the infrastructure push, the social safety nets, and the rationalization of taxes which were implemented with minor hitches. Overall, we have a net negative perception of the government which erodes its credibility and support of the people, making it difficult to govern effectively.

In the current government, the causes of these blunders are the uncoordinated moves of the different administrative agencies due to the absence of a strong central authority. The cabinet and the sub-cabinet are mini-power centers with their own perception of their prerogatives. The president, due to age, physical and managerial limitations is not a “hands-on” administrator. He expects his many second-liners to perform, after giving them the positions and responsibilities. The presidential spokesperson is actually issuing statements which are just second-guessing the president. The DOF and DND secretaries make personal policy declarations which they will retract when Malacañang objects, and the DOTR and the DTI secretaries order and implement regulations they believe will be good for the economy, without realizing the implications to the other departments and to the broader policy environment.

There is no “primus inter pares” or a clear second-in-command in this government, not the executive secretary or the secretary to the Cabinet, or any of the senior Cabinet members. Maybe, this is the presidential style of leveraging/pitting his people against each other to keep them in line, or this is just a managerial shortcoming. Either way, it does not promote good management and good governance. Then there is the problem of the quality of the president’s men. At least half of them cannot be considered “the best and the brightest” due to the low bar in the selection criteria and political expediency.

With 16 months to go before the next administration, there may be little left to do corrective actions but it would be useful for the next presidency to support their mission/vision statements with the strong organization and coordination structure, and the right people. Reinforcing the independent institutions that serve as control mechanisms is a must. But more than anything, an unequivocal moral and ethical leadership which is demonstrated by examples from the top, will make governance effective and efficient. People are impressed and disciplined if they trust and believe in their leaders. Think of Merkel, Lee Kwan Yew, Ardern, or Mandela.

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Dodong Gullas is a good friend, a great person who had a life well lived for God and country. Amen.