Hated habits

The scene of that self-important congressman bullying an airport security officer last week, reportedly after refusing to submit himself to customary security procedures, was a truly disturbing one. It showcases the kind of distorted mindset too many of our public officials seem to have about their positions of power. The congressman’s subsequent “apology” hardly helped, and only got him into more trouble, as he pricked even more sensibilities by likening his behavior to that of a woman having her “monthly period,” thereby revealing yet another flaw in his character. The sad reality is, this kind of behavior is not uncommon among Filipino public officials, even the most minor ones holding some title.

Former president Benigno Aquino’s “no wang-wang” policy, now all but forgotten in the present dispensation, may have been seen by some as a petty gesture, but it was eminently symbolic and a fitting reminder of the kind of ethic our public officials ought to live by. Humility and empathy with the common people seem to be so hard to find in high places in government. Too many seem to have the notion that leaders, whether elected or appointed, are bestowed with privilege and are to be served, exempt from experiencing the daily travails an ordinary Filipino citizen has to endure.

Someone had suggested that public officials must be required to use public transport in going to work. More generally, for government to be truly sensitive and responsive to the needs of the people, public officials must be made to experience firsthand the travails that ordinary citizens go through, especially in dealing with government. Only then can they appreciate the importance and urgency of an extensive, efficient and comfortable mass transport system, and of having government frontline offices inflict the least pain on the general public.

I remember how Sen. Grace Poe took a ride in the MRT/LRT trains in Metro Manila some time ago, to experience firsthand what daily commuters have to go through. Some dismissed it as a publicity stunt, but it certainly helped her achieve a much more meaningful level of understanding of the problems that she must address as chair of the Senate public services committee, a role she has played rather effectively, and with great conviction.

Arrogance in power is one of my most hated attributes in a public official, and conversely, humility and genuine empathy among those I most admire—and I’m sure my sentiments are shared by many. It doesn’t help when ordinary people themselves reinforce the former behavior by according such officials undue reverence, praise and adulation, often far more than they deserve.

This leads me to another hated habit among public officials: that of being sycophants. The dictionary defines the term as a person who tries to win favor from powerful people by flattering them. We have a more familiar term for it: sipsip. The equivalent English word is “suck-up,” but other familiar synonyms are yes-man and bootlicker. We see them everywhere in government. We see their faces in the news all the time, and includes prominent persons who are recorded in video and print to have said things diametrically opposite to what they are spouting today.

I had direct encounters with such kinds in my own stint in government many years ago. One official who lambasted me personally early in the Ramos presidency for the supposed lousy work of my agency turned completely around and shifted to praising me and my agency after aligning with the ruling coalition. I have never respected that politician since.

What’s most disturbing about the proliferation of sycophants in public office is the knowledge that we have a government populated by leaders of questionable principles. As they say, “weather-weather lang,” as if to accept that public officials are entitled to change their convictions with a shift in the political winds.

There are many more hated habits we can talk about: rent-seeking, influence-peddling, dynastic behavior, or plain incompetence, to name a few. But to my mind, humility and firm principles are what we need most in our leaders, but are, alas, seemingly extremely rare commodities nowadays.

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