WIIFM?

This acronym sounds like a radio station on frequency modulation (FM). But in the civil society circles that have been my universe as a retiree from government service, it does not refer to an FM radio station. It holds a rather insidious meaning, fit for those who do things on transactional basis, that is, doing things only because it brings something for them in return. Many times, the currency for this transactional exchange is the executive’s decision to choose those who have done favors for him in the past, ditching regulatory mechanisms for choosing competence and experience as key requisites for appointive positions.

Becoming a politician’s sycophant is the usual pathway toward being chosen as that politician’s trusted aide, as an “executive” assistant, or as someone who gets to execute some dirty work for the former. For sure, politicians involved in these transactions are also players in the same game of exchanges, albeit with higher stakes involved.

WIIFM, or “what’s in it for me” captures the old Tagalog expression of becoming a “sipsip”—that could also mean “severely insecure persons seeking immediate promotion.” And I bet you, you have met many of these kinds of people in everyday life—in your work or neighborhood, even in academe, that dignified milieu that used to be impervious to avarice and corruption. (I have written about how greed has managed to seep in the hallowed halls of academe before in “Greed in the academe,” 2/11/2019).

There is seriously nothing wrong with expecting something in return for what we do. On a daily basis, we do things this way, we work in exchange for a monthly or daily fee that we need for our and our family’s survival. That is what life is all about, some people will tell you: you scratch other people’s backs so they will scratch yours.

I have thought about this type of functional transactional behavior to help me understand why some appointees in local, regional, and national political offices do not have the required skills, expertise, and experience needed in a rationalized government bureaucracy. I remember the slogan, “We choose the best and the brightest” for crucial positions in government service. Perhaps there is a new meaning again of what the “best” and the “brightest” qualities are required for an appointive political position. The best could mean “best in turning a blind eye to corruption” or “brightest” in coming up with smart and brilliant strategies to ensure that anomalies or corrupt practices are laundered to make the politician’s record squeaky clean.

But are there deeper reasons why on the whole, being transactional has become an approved behavioral pattern for many of us? Why do we always have to ask WIIFM when we do favors for other people? Or is this a function of our being always marginalized and powerless, and this is one way to somehow move out of this rather pathetic cycle of poverty, political and economic powerlessness, or when we are thrust to the margins because of our being “nobodies”—or being perceived as just warm bodies to fill spaces?

This brings to mind a critique of some officials placed in key positions in local, regional, or national government offices. Accordingly, there are three types of workers or government functionaries in the Philippines today.

The first types are the “sleepers”—those who sleep on their jobs but manage to stay in their positions because they are people who are trusted deeply by their principals. The second type refers to the “sleepwalkers”—they wander aimlessly in their offices pretending to be doing something but basically are still asleep; not knowing what to do and when to do it. The third and most pathetic type is the “matter that occupies space”: they are just there, waiting for the two important days in their monthly calendar, the paydays. In the meantime, they are oxygen thieves, breathing the same life-giving air as those who are working themselves to the bone just to do their assigned tasks conscientiously.

All three types are in their positions because they have been given sufficient answers to their WIIFM question.

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