Sixty-five years after we lost President Ramon Magsaysay in a lamentable plane crash on March 17, his words live on in the ten-point “Magsaysay Credo,” a standard for good governance, with its well known quote, “I believe that those whose have less in life should have more in law.” Magsaysay has always been known as the “Man of the Masses.”
These words are also echoed by a Magsaysay grandson, Br. Michael Valenzuela FSC, son of presidential daughter Milagros. It seems timely to juxtapose Br. Mike’s words today with his statement entitled, “Why I Like Leni: Challenging Plantation Politics.” He does his grandfather proud as he speaks for the empowerment of the masses.
“I am sick of what I have come to think of as ‘Plantation Politics’ – the idea that the country is like one big hacienda that needs an all-powerful boss to keep things in order. To the boss, people are mindless sheep to be helped and protected if the boss is a nice guy and used, manipulated and exploited if the boss turns out to be an S.O.B.
“Plantation politics – whether exercised benevolently or oppressively – depends on ‘power over’ people – the use of force, fear, coercion, domination and control to get things done. It stems from the belief that power is a finite resource that some have and some do not, and those that have it are the people who get things done and those that don’t, don’t matter. Such politics is born from a feudalistic mindset that, whether oppressive or benevolent, is always disempowering to those being ‘led.’
“But we live in times when the problems we face as a country have multiplied and become so complex and multifaceted that they exceed the capacity of government to provide effective solutions. Government on its own lacks the connectivity, creativity and sometimes even the goodwill to deal with the problems ordinary people face on the ground.
“During the pandemic – food pantries, mobile markets and mobile vaccination units – were solutions that came from the daring, compassion and imagination of people on the ground, not from national government. Ordinary, never-heard-of individuals were discovering that idealism, compassion and collaboration for the common good can be a far more effective form of power – ‘power with’ others.
“The compassion, creativity and courage that erupted at the height of the pandemic when government could not get its act together show where real power resides – in people willing to actively address problems together from a sense of higher purpose. It’s not just our bosses we need to change – it’s the whole system of plantation politics that needs to go. Government must shift from the plantation politics that relies on coercive ‘power over’ others to the collaborative ‘power with’ others paradigm of partnership politics.
“Partnership politics recognizes that leadership is not a quality or power residing in one person but rather a way of relating to one another that inspires and enables everyone to collaborate for shared meaningful goals.
“The late Jesse Robredo embodied partnership politics in Naga, building the people’s sense of their own power by increasing citizen participation in governance. Ordinary citizens and civil society became active stakeholders and partners in governance and local development through People’s Councils and Naga achieved acclaim internationally for its effective governance. Robredo won the Ramon Magsaysay Award for governance in 2000. Leni was his staunch partner in all of this. As she says, ‘Good governance, ladies and gentlemen, isn’t just about the government being honest and trustworthy. It is about citizens participating in governance....’
“PNoy with all humility and goodwill used to say in his addresses to the Philippine people, ‘You are my boss.’ Duterte makes it clear to everyone, he is boss. But the time for bosses is passing. Not even the best of bosses can extinguish all the critical brushfires that threaten to become a national conflagration. New and increasingly desperate times need a new way of governing, one in which solving social problems, working for inclusive development and building the just and humane society envisioned in our Constitution, becomes the business of everybody (including the business community).
“We have among ourselves people who have solutions to many of the problems we face – but no one is asking them to help out. We need a government that supports, empowers and coordinates local efforts to make meaningful change happen. But we also need citizens to step up and assume a more significant role in governance and development. That takes conversion on our part. We need to stop being peons and become partners.
“When Leni says, ‘I am not the answer to your prayer. We are the answers to each other’s prayer,’ she is mounting a challenge to the plantation politics that has kept Filipinos disempowered and politically immature since martial law decimated many of our best and brightest. But even if she is elected, she will fail if we are not willing to work with her to make the country work. ‘Let Leni Lead’ must ultimately mean let Leni help us lead ourselves.”
Br. Michael Valenzuela FSC is the Institutional Animator at De La Salle-College of Saint Benilde, tasked to promote spiritual formation and to inspire and enjoin the community to live out the Lasallian spirit.
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Summer time is writing time: Young Writers’ Hangout via Zoom on March 26, 2-3 p.m., with Natasha Vizcarra who is zooming from Colorado.
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