A Reality Check on the Naga City experience (Last Part)

C. Pandering versus Empowerment

Welfare is the most convenient system of delivery of basic services in the Philippine government. Consider for instance GMA’s solution to the fuel and rice crises. The government chose to subsidize fuel and rice. But the way to a poor man’s heart is through his hungry stomach. Subsidies are better than nothing at all. However, money is lost in subsidies in many ways. But more importantly, we lose our chance for independence and self-reliance. The poor continue to be dependent. And subsidies can in fact be an act of pandering.

Pandering is taking advantage of the weakness of another person. There is a thin line that divides welfare and pandering. When the intent is the benefit of the other, that is welfare. But if the motive is the selfish benefit of the giver – like a continued term of office - this is pandering and is totally contrary to our being human. Pandering degrades the other, it makes them mere subjects of one’s designs. But for a family in quandary if there is going to be next meal, they become willing victims of panderers. Panderers at least bring food to the table. There is no place for idealism for a grumbling stomach.

Welfare is a temporary solution to a long-term problem. Pandering is not a solution at all. It is only through empowerment that we will be able break the chain. Through empowerment, men become producers. As productive citizens, they will be able to distinguish between what helps them stand on their own and what cripples them.

D. Empowerment of Labor

John Locke said that nature will yield so little without labor. Abandoned to itself, it would not support human life. The use of human wit and human labor is indispensable for its cultivation and improvement.

Good governance requires empowerment of labor. And according to Locke, the best way to empower labor is to insist the ‘natural right’ of human beings to private property. In other words, to empower the labor sector is to educate them of the need as well as the right to ownership. Ownership accords each person a capacity for self-determination. The labor sector must graduate from the hand-to-mouth existence. The fruits of their labor must guarantee them private property. They must be able to break the culture of dependence. The labor sector must know that their future is determined by work of their hands and not by another man’s election.

Good governance necessitates a re-distribution of wealth, a closing of the gap between rich and poor, a growth of the middle class where the labor sector enjoys a right to private ownership.

Conclusion

I wish to conclude by sharing with you the philosophy of Annette Huiberts: “humans strive for optimal survival.” This ought to be the universal human aspiration: living life to the fullest. And optimal survival cannot be achieved if we think only about ourselves.

If leaders only think about themselves, they will never live life to the fullest. According to Huiberts, one’s optimal survival depends on the growth of her family, the institutions around her, the unfolding of her common future with fellow humans, the welfare of all life here on earth, including the physical universe where she lives in.

Therefore, if we want our government to grow, it must empower its people. If we want our city to grow, it must empower its citizens.

But good governance does not depend only on our political leaders. To ensure good governance, we must value our role as citizens. We must stop believing in superheroes who will solve our problems for us. We must stop waiting for the knight in shining armor who will take us to Camelot. We deserve so much more.

Good governance cannot be achieved from top to bottom. It is determining the will of an empowered people, and having so determined, ensuring that the environment is conducive to human development.

We owe our government our constant vigilance. We owe it to ourselves. There can be vigilance if there is a politically conscious, informed and organized citizenry. We must determine public issues and distinguish them from personal or personality based issues. We must initiate, join and support public discourse. We must make an independent stand. We must initiate change.

Remember what Kennedy said: “Think not what your country can do for you. Think what you can do for your country!” And Obama, in his inaugural address agreed: “that is the price and the promise of citizenship.”