Bong Go, Bato and Pacman: Better executives than legislators?
Men are of different kinds and of different calibers. Round men are for round holes. And square men are for square holes. Public service is not of one size fits all.
Just because Pacman has eight world championship titles doesn’t mean that he will excel in legislature. Just because Bato de la Rosa was an excellent police official doesn’t necessarily follow that he would make an effective legislator. And Bong Go might have been the best executive assistant to then mayor and incumbent President Duterte, but is the Senate really his rightful place? These three musketeers in the Philippine Senate would have excelled with outstanding results had their gifts and talents been properly used in the executive departments. The president who had the best gift in choosing the best people in the executive was Ferdinand Marcos, appointing such high-caliber executives as Carlos P. Romulo, Cesar Virata, OD Corpuz, Blas Ople, Jaime Laya, and Estelito Mendoza.
Since their election to the Senate, I have not seen any earth-shaking piece of legislation that either senators Pacquiao, De la Rosa, or Go have authored, or might have pushed with the vigor and dynamism that is commensurate with the number of votes they obtained. These three men, with due respect to their respective qualifications and characters, are, I am sad to say, square pegs in round holes. Bong Go is an excellent backup to the president, as he is still doing today, which is very inappropriate for a duly-elected honorable senator. De La Rosa could have been the most effective anti-drug czar whom Vice President Robredo could never call anything like a monumental failure. And Pacman could have been the best secretary of housing or head of the Department of OFWs.
The president is an excellent leader and is an effective administrator. But he needs help in HR management. He is not choosing the right people, and I say it with a term of endearment, not with a grain of sarcasm, much less insult. He is a lawyer, a former prosecutor and a politician all his life. He has no background in hiring or in talent acquisition. He just appoints anyone from Davao or from San Beda. He has no time to do background investigation, thus he committed a lot of errors. He hired and fired Faeldon not once but twice. The president needs help in the way he chooses people, and the way he matches talents and positions. This is a technical job. His Cabinet secretary, a scion of the Nograles family dynasty, with due respect, has no HR background either.
It is a pity because Bong Go is talented and honest. He is a good executive because he is not trained to debate in Senate hearings. He is trained to execute and implement plans, programs, projects, and specific jobs. Bato is a relentless, dynamic, and brave warrior against criminals. What is he doing in the Senate? He is a big waste of human talents. Pacman is the number one absentee in the Senate, not because he is always busy defending his world titles and preaching the bible (leave that to Quiboloy). It is because Manny is not happy listening to the eloquent speeches of Drilon, Gordon, and Angara (the three legal eagles from ACCRA). He better leave the Senate and replace the vice president. We do not need a lawyer there. We need an action man.
I don't think that Pacman, Bong Go, and Bato de la Rosa are happy in the Senate. And the people who really understand the principles of legislation and lawmaking are not happy either with them occupying the seats of such eminent and wise men like Recto, Tolentino, Salonga, Filemon Sotto, and Mariano Jesus Cuenco. The fault lies with the Filipino voters who, after all these years, still do not know the difference between making laws and executing them.
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