Catharsis, ‘deus ex machina’ at ‘daang matuwid’

Image defines the president of a nation. Franchise is ownership of a par excellence attached to a president’s image. It’s his distinctive appeal. It’s what makes a president credible and persuasive, admired and trusted.

With President Aquino, the actual source of the Aquino image franchise is not a slogan crafted by propagandists. It emanates from the human virtues of P-Noy’s revered parents: Ninoy’s sacrificial heroism, and Cory’s unflinching integrity.

When Ferdinand Marcos declared martial law, many staggering images added emotive dimensions to the Aquino brand name: Ninoy’s solitary imprisonment in Laur, his exile and heart bypass operation in Boston, his brutal assassination at the Manila International Airport and his jam-packed wake while lying in state. “Hindi ka nag-iisa!” became the tearful expression of the people’s grief for their fallen hero. Catharsis!

Deus ex machina. In 1986, Ninoy’s widow, Cory, was anointed as the candidate in a snap election called by an ailing Ferdinand Marcos who was suffering from the ravages of his concealed diseases. An incredible People Power revolt (Edsa I), catapulted Cory to the presidency. She restored democracy!

The 2010 election symbolized the fight between good and evil. Evil stood for the unabated, mega-corruption, serial and thick-hide dishonesty of the Arroyo regime.

Months before the election, former President Cory Aquino died of cancer. Cory’s wake at the Manila Cathedral was deeply emotional and spiritual. The huge size of Cory’s funeral approximated that of her husband, Ninoy, 28 years ago. Deus ex machina! Instinctively, Mar Roxas, the party’s candidate for president abdicated, giving way to Ninoy and Cory’s unico hijo, Sen. Noynoy Aquino. True enough the son glowed wearing his mother’s halo of integrity. The party’s slogan, “Walang mahirap kung walang corrupt” sounded urgent and salvific.

Today after more than one year with P-Noy as president, people wonder: Do crooks in the government still steal taxpayers’ money? Are hard-pressed wage earners still in hock? Are the teeming poor still hungry? Is the government being managed more professionally? Are services delivered to the people faster, more adequate and satisfying? We are clueless.

The noisiest and most visible developments are divisive and demoralizing: the Reproductive Health (RH or birth control) bill, warring MILF separatists, big-time smuggling at Customs, the incompetent all-trials-no-conviction justice system, etc.

History simplifies fame. A president is immortalized by his acquisition of key leadership expertise: his franchise, his speech, his charisma and savoir faire.

P-Noy’s speech is mnemonic. His use of the Filipino language sounds very personal. He connects instantly with the masa. But his pakwela and pa- cute one-liners are juvenile: “Di na baleng  ma-excommunicate ng Catholic church!” “My sex life is parang softdrink. Coke Zero!”

P-Noy’s charisma is not his own. It’s borrowed from the Aquino image of his revered parents. It was a presumption that P-Noy inherited Cory’s integrity genes.

Charisma is a work in progress. Charisma is the sheer magnetism of one’s presence. It’s the “it.” A mysterious attraction bordering on idolatry. Ninoy had it in death. Cory’s magic was it. P-Noy must use his sixth sense to acquire his own “it.”

Today’s leader must be a crisis manager. The French calls it savoir faire. To do things right at any given moment. Christianity calls it grace of state, an assignment from destiny that breeds work excellence, moral courage and self-sacrifice in serving the people. Great leaders had savoir faire. Mohandas Gandhi had it with his passive resistance that made England quit India. Ho Chi Minh’s inscrutable ideologue had it as he defeated the superior forces of imperialist France and the United States. Lee Kwan Yu had it with his forceful political will and high moral standards in making Singapore a world-class economy.

In our flattened planet, the art of governance has become more complex and volatile. Every crisis that erupts is globalized—financial, political, religious, environmental and social—threatening the stability of continents and nations. Shock wave after shock wave, all the way to our shores. This makes the tenure of a nation’s leader fragile and risky.

When citizens become victims of systems failure and economic dislocations, the ruling elite, be it democratic, socialistic or theocratic, cannot produce the antidote for viral revolutions that swiftly spread through the Internet and iPhones. Mobs breed like rabbits in public squares. They create chaos and cause bloodbaths. It’s happening right now within the cluster of Arab states in the Middle East. Our own mob rule, Edsa Dos, made us jump from the fire of Erap to the frying pan of Gloria.

P-Noy’s getting-the-feet-wet phase is over. He’s on stream now, ready to swim against the current. Naitaga na sa bato ang “daang matuwid” (The righteous path has been etched in stone). It is not P-Noy’s alone. Let’s help make him succeed. Let’s all take the journey on that road. Let our virtues be a force. Let’s reciprocate courage with courage, honesty with honesty, triumph with triumph, and charity with charity.

We have seen the enemy. And the enemy is us.

Minyong Ordoñez is a freelance journalist and a member of the Manila Overseas Press Club.

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