During the elections, I asked the question, “Who will take a bullet for Noynoy?”
I asked this question in the context of the Vice Presidential race, and, in fact, asked a second but related question, “Who will take a bullet for Noynoy (President Benigno Aquino III) even if it means giving up the chance to succeed him?” But since we are not in a campaign period at this time, we can set aside the second question and focus on the first.
When the question today, with Noynoy now P-Noy, is asked, it would refer to, first and foremost, not to the Presidential Security Group, but to the highest ranking officers of P-Noy’s official family. That means the Cabinet and the lucky ones with Cabinet-level positions who need not go through scrutiny by the Commission on Appointments. Then, it proportionately becomes relevant to the next level of officers, most of whom are known as Undersecretaries. As the level goes lower, the need for the question becomes less relevant because the answer would most probably be, “Not me, I am not his appointee.”
The Vice-President, Jejomar Binay, was elected by the people without the endorsement of Noynoy Aquino, even if Noynoy, his mother, Cory, and his sisters were often a deep concern of Jojo Binay in the most dangerous years of coup d’ etat from 1986 to 1990. As a candidate who ran in another party when Noynoy chose Mar Roxas as his preferred running mate, Binay won the elections in a near-miraculous manner by overtaking what people thought was an insurmountable lead.
However Binay won, and however Roxas lost, the people made the final democratic decision, installing one and rejecting the other. The Vice-President, by the people’s will, earned his position. He did not have to take a bullet for P-Noy because P-Noy did not make him Vice-President. But when Binay accepted a Cabinet position, he again became relevant to the question, “Who will take a bullet for Noynoy, now P-Noy?” I believe, now as much as then, that Jejomar Binay will take a bullet for P-Noy.
In Binay’s case, there is even a second but not less important question which he alone now can be asked, “Will he take a bullet for P-Noy even if it means giving up his chance to succeed him?” Again, I believe just as deeply that Jojo Binay will, that his loyalty to P-Noy as a Cabinet member will not make him shirk risks to protect P-Noy, even if it means subordinating his chances of political succession.
Binay, however, is not the only respondent to the first question, “Who will take a bullet for P-Noy?” All presidential appointees can be asked the question, or are being asked even if the question is not articulated by P-Noy. And all these appointees should keep answering the question, in their hearts or in the privacy of their homes, at least, if they are too embarrassed to answer in public. P-Noy’s official family are his choice of front-liners in government service, select individuals with whom he shares a special destiny, an awesome responsibility. These officials are not there on their own—they are there as representatives of the appointing power, P-Noy, and there as his extensions to the Filipino public. They should be prepared, in the operational and political sense, to take a bullet for P-Noy.
But do they act as if they are prepared, or even want to? When, after almost a year, we review the actuations of P-Noy appointees, how many of them makes us feel confident that they will take a bullet for P-Noy? Do they protect his operational back? Do they protect his political back?
Operationally, we understand quite well about superior-subordinate relationships. Ordinary Filipinos who work understand that there must be structure, responsibilities and accountabilities according to rank and expertise. It is the political responsibility of P-Noy that many among us may not be clear about.
Noynoy Aquino is the President of the Republic, a position that has a strong operational color. Beyond that, however, P-Noy has a political role that is less defined but not less important. In fact, in the life of a people who have been in desperate search for a president who could inspire them, who could be their model for integrity and courage, who could lead them to a future full of hope, the political role of P-Noy could be the most important.
The spirit of volunteerism was the dominate color of the elections that elected the most unlikely to be president. However, guns, goons and gold continued to play their traditional roles, but simply were overpowered. In the race for the presidency and the vice-presidency, the enthusiasm and determination of volunteers prevailed. That spirit is the only force that can build a nation, a strong nation, a proud nation. In a democracy, the active role and contribution of citizens are prerequisites to its sustainability. When in trouble, more so when most grave, the willingness of citizens to sacrifice becomes primordial not only for survival but for progress.
With the appointing power voted in and installed by volunteers, the style of governance is strongly suggested by that environment. The “matuwid na daan” is not meant to be a slogan, it is meant to be a battle cry for an unfinished revolution. Those in governance who do not take the battle cry seriously should resign, or later be hanged for betraying the people’s mandate.
Those who cannot take a bullet for P-Noy but instead use him as cover to survive in their positions are traitors to P-Noy. Eventually, they will be traitors to the spirit which made Noynoy Aquino president. Those who do not want to share in the destiny of P-Noy dishonor his destiny which is not only individual but collective as well. Destiny for a president means the relationship between the leader and the people, one that hopefully, in P-Noy’s case, will be a transformational one.
Protecting P-Noy and his destiny with the Filipino is the fundamental obligation of each presidential appointee. They can do so by staying firmly in the pathway of integrity, the “matuwid na daan.” Then, don’t use him as a shield, but be willing to take a bullet for him.