As Filipino Voices resident reporter Ding put it in his recent blog entry, the latest underdog candidates are seen as the latest “giant killers” who — guess what — will be “battling the moneyed wannabees of Malacanang and the main-line political opposition perceived to be led by traditional politicians”. Ding was of course referring to the latest performers to be billed in the coming Philippine Presidential Election circus — the candidacy of Eduardo Panlilio (priest and erstwhile governor of the fair province of Pampanga) and Grace Padaca (governor of Isabela province) who are running under specially-created-for-the-candidate political banner “Panlilio-Padaca para sa Pagbabago Movement” (the “PPP Movement”, what else?).

For good measure, Ding makes sure that he highlights a couple of “useful” factoids as well presumably to “help” us in our on-going “evaluation” of the myriad of political options that face us:

:D “Panlilio suffers from the rare disorder leukoderma which causes the skin to lose pigmentation”; and of course,

:D “Padaca walks with crutches because of childhood polio”

Okay I’ll rend my heart to get that part over with and cut to the more relevant question here:

And the reason this makes these people better politicians or (God forbid) better leaders issss….??

History will show that this tired old David-versus-Goliath script (a Filipino favourite!) used to invoke the fantasies of the untenably impoverished delivers ZERO results to a society that simply does not get democracy.

According to today’s Inq7.net Op-Ed:

That is why concerned groups are now looking for new faces, people who fit their idea of what a real leader should be.

What are our ideas of “what a a leader should be”?

Any schoolboy can list qualities that make a “good” leader:

;) Honesty
;) Integrity
;) Ability
;) Vision
;) Compassion
;) Charisma

Guess what: every leader we elected over the last half-century (and please note the precision by which I choose my words here) exhibited those qualities at one time or another. And, more importantly, if any schoolboy can recite Lola Basyang’s List of Qualities that Make a Good Leader, it easily follows that any skilled politician can perform-to-script.

As I mentioned way back in my piece Who cares if Gloria is President after 2010:

For argument’s sake, let’s cite a handful of factors that I (in my simplistic world) think is indicative of how well positioned our society is in terms of its prospects of someday becoming a truly free, open, and prosperous society:

- Population
- Secularism
- Critical thought
- Foresight

The above four I believe are the key indicators of our prospects for prosperity. Have these changed over the last thirty years? For a bit of perspective, count also how many presidents (and presumably how many different characters and their approaches to governance) have sat in Malacanang?

Juxtapose that variety of politicians against the ominous constantness and unmoving consistency of those four key indicators I listed above. And be afraid. For the case for a safe bet that the Philippines will be the same Philippines in 30 years, regardless of WHO is president lies in a lucid regard for this reality.

Don’t get me wrong. We need to elect a good leader. But we need to get away from this primitivist habit of seeing every single “good candidate” as some kind of Messiah. Presidents can only do so much, and much less even within the six years that we limit their tenure to. The problems that grip Philippine society are so systemic that they transcend every single one of the people who’ve sat in Malacanang.

When we pin all our hopes for “reform” on a Messianic Leader, we absolve ourselves of any accountability for our own success. In our regard for such “heroes” we merely highlight our renowned moronic approach of looking for both a Messiah and a scapegoat.

Heads I win, tails you lose.

Allow me to draw upon the wealth of insight on the underbelly of the Filipino psyche that I’ve accumulated over the last nine years of “getrealism” and highlight this snippet from a really old article on the non-Filipino trait of self-reliance:

Let’s change our self-righteous penchant for calling one another to heroic and extraordinary deeds and instead find value in the collective effect of each individual doing their ordinary jobs properly and quietly.

Recognising achievement is different from lionising personalities. It takes well-thought out efforts (that requires serious evaluation of fundamental truths about ourselves) to realise sustainable development. When one recognises achievement, one expresses admiration and seeks to emulate said achievement. When one lionises personalities, one places said personality on a pedestal to worship and pin their hopes on. The earlier focuses on acquiring traits that support excellence. The latter focuses on expectations to live by and has come to acquire the stink of Erap-ism.

We’ve already had our fair share of heroes. It is clear today that, for many of them, the size of their sacrifice has not been commensurate with the willingness of the people they sacrificed for to help themselves.

The point I make above (as with most points I make) is quite simple: We are so good at articulating qualities that “make a good leader”. But we are yet to begin the journey of accepting the qualities that make a good people.

Though we have so many heroes and exceptional compatriots among us, the sad reality is that the majority lives off them and their exceptional achievements subsidise the mediocre product of the collective.

As the eminent John Ralston Saul wrote in his book On Equilibrium:

The whole idea of a society of winners — a place known above all for its best — leads with surprising speed to a narrow pyramidal social structure. And then to division and widespread passivity. That in turn leads to false populism and mediocrity; to a world obssessed by bread and circuses, Heroes, and the need for leadership.

Indeed, the wherewithal to “reform” does not reside in a politician’s name. It resides in our collective attitude as a people.

So yes, indeedy:

There is nothing to be “won” — only something to be implemented.

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