One of the main reasons our present crop of political leaders is so ineffective is because they lack a vision for the country and the Filipino people. When you read the speeches of our former great leaders like Mabini, Rizal, Quezon, Recto, Aquino and Tañada, you could practically visualize their vision for the Filipinos.
If you listen to the speeches of today’s leaders, their main topic is themselves, how “great” they are and why they should be elected or, even worse, why they should be reelected. The only time they deviate from this theme is when they make speeches about how terrible their opponents are and why they should not be elected.
Once in a while, a politician comes up with a program or a bill and thinks that this is as good as a vision. One has to wonder why this phenomenon exists. It would be tragic to think that the primary reason for their lack of vision is because they simply do not understand what Vision means. But I certainly hope that we have at least a few leaders with a minimum intelligence to understand and appreciate what it means.
Perhaps, the real reason is that our leaders come from the elite who generally do not have pride in being a Filipino and who, in fact, appear ashamed and critical of Filipino values. These are the Filipinos who think that our country’s salvation lies in our people becoming like Americans, Japanese, Chinese or Germans. Obviously, our elite, who unfortunately dominate our television talk shows, hold the average Filipino in very low esteem. Certainly, there is no point in having a vision for a people that you personally believe or blame for the present condition of this country. Even though the truth is that it is the rich elitist class that is responsible for our condition and it is the Filipino masses who have become the victim. Just consider the wide disparity in our society, the yawning gap between the lives of the rich and the poor.
Our so-called political parties have no relevance because they do not have a vision. These “parties” are really mere temporary alliances whose sole purpose is to win elections. Therefore, we normally have two broad alliances masquerading as political alliances or movements. The first is composed of those in power and the second is composed of those who are not in power. Even smaller groups or forces have only one solution to our national crisis – put them in power.
You can hear this mantra all over print and social media with so called “spokespersons” repeating the same proposal in different forms. “There is too much corruption!” Solution: Put us in power! “There is too much poverty!” Solution: Put us in power! “There is too much crime!” Solution: Put us in power!
What then is Vision? A well-conceived vision consists of two major components, which are a Core Ideology and an Envisioned Future.
Core Ideology defines what an organization stands for and why it exists. It includes our core values and core purpose. Therefore, the core ideology is unchanging and enduring. In an organization that endures, it serves as a source of guidance and inspiration. It also provides the glue that holds the organization together.
Core values represent the essential and enduring tenets of an organization. They serve as the timeless guiding principles for the organization. The core purpose is the organization’s reason for being. To be effective it must reflect the people’s idealistic motivations for doing the organization’s work.
In our country, political parties do not have any “enduring“ core values. These are continually changed depending on the existing situation. The basic reason is because the core purpose of our political parties is to win elections and nothing else!
The basic reason is because our political leaders neither have the wisdom nor the courage to have a Core Ideology. They do not have enduring values and therefore resort to substitutes like slogans. Their most common justification for lack of values is that their actions are dictated by the “interests of the common people.” They do not have any core purpose because their primary purpose for being in politics is to acquire power, period.
We have no such leaders today because one cannot create or simply write down a core ideology. It cannot just be a mere intellectual exercise because it cannot be faked. A person needs to look inside himself or herself and ask what core values he or she truly and passionately believes in.
Think of our political leaders today. I wonder how many of them can come up even with a short list of core values and sincerely say they would gladly offer their lives for those values. Only a Mabini, a Rizal, a Quezon, a Recto, a Diokno, an Aquino or a Tañada could say that with conviction.
Based on these insights, it is evident that the only presidential candidate with a vision is Leni Robredo.
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