"Well Done Mr. President"

By now I'm sure you've read about the Philippines rising in the corruption rankings provided by Transparency International. And perhaps you've read the anti-propaganda diminishing the importance of the ratings.

• "They are just perceptions, and they are wrong!"

• "105th is still corrupt!"

• "President Aquino is a braggart, claiming this as his achievement."

You know, I disagree with the anti crowd once again. Indeed, I can't disagree more.

The Transparency International ranking is just one more check in a lengthening checklist that PROVES that President Aquino has recast the hopes and promise of the Philippines. Tangibly.

From a string of presidential disappointments to a huge stride forward. From the dark confusion and mistrust of Mrs. Arroyo into the light of good deeds and promise of Mr. Aquino.

If the anti crowd cannot grasp that perception is real, is tangible, is meaningful, then it is best to write them off as lost, adrift in self deceit. You see, hope is also intangible. But so very important. Promise. Courage. Dignity. Compassion. Loyalty. Trust.

Intangible, but oh so very real. Powerful in the right circumstances.

President Aquino brought that power to the Presidency.

I chalk this up as one more metric that the anti crowd must whine and rationalize away to hold onto their dwindling credibility, founded on some strange, enduring distaste for the Philippines and Filipinos and anything POSITIVE about the country they may once have called home. 

The "yellow glow" that the antis detest is real. It is the bed of promise, the motivation, the passion upon which real work has been done. One man provided that foundation, the platform needed to get the Philippines headed in a new direction, the man the antis can't bear to give credit to, even when credit is due: President Noynoy Aquino. The man who brought fundamental goodness and earnest work to the Presidency of the Philippines, for ALL that it is worth.

Would Estrada have done this? JoeAm figures the odds would be about 5%.

Villar? 20%

Gordon? 40%

Why? Because the nation rose as one and said "we demand good government!" Those guys had certain strengths, but they did not have the real-deal GOODS. The rock solid intangible of belief and trust.

Only one candidate in 2009 could bring the hope and the promise and, yes, authoritarian power that would clear the path for stern acts like the jailing of the predecessor President and the eviction of a Supreme Court Justice who did not pass muster. I'm imagining Estrada and Villar would have pardoned Arroyo and left Corona in office. Gordon, who knows . . . such an illusive butterfly, floating on emotion . . .

Do  you think that authoritarian power, granted by the will and demands of the people, is "intangible"? Do you think ANYONE else could have brought to the top desk what President Aquino brought? The good of his mother and the grit of his father?

Who?

You know I may climb on the President for his various acts from time to time. I even used the "I" word in a headline once. But that is akin to how one feels about a baseball infielder making an error during a game. We boo in frustration, but still cheer for him and his team when they do well.

I cheer for President Aquino, and the Philippines. Truly, I do.

 Here's the Philippines under President Aquino:

• Economic  growth is strong. Everyone recognizes this from the international press to the debt rating agencies. 

• Tourism, service-center, gaming and real estate industries are flourishing.

• The stock market is roaring.

• The peso is strong. Too strong for my dollar denominated wallet.

• International standing is strong and respectably, and respectfully, firm. Ask China. They know what nation they can't roll.

• Investors are investing, in call centers, in public/private partnerships, in casinos, in hotels and tourism ventures.

• Infrastructure is being rebuilt after years of neglect and budget plunder. Roads and trains and schools and ports.

• Primary schools are going to the international standard of K to 12, a hard transition, but essential for Filipino scholars to gain the recognition they deserve overseas.

• Antiquated government paper processes are being automated and trimmed of red tape, the automation itself a form of check against corruption.

International standing is up markedly; not just on Transparency International's rankings, but S&P's and Moody's. ALL indicators are going in the same qualitative direction: UP. Only the antis and China and the Catholic Church and the incorrigibly corrupt are trying to drag the Philippines back into pits of darkness and dysfunction.

Strange partnership, eh? It warrants restatement for emphasis: Working against the moderization and betterment of the Philippines are:

• The antis
• China
• The Catholic Church
• The incorrigibly corrupt

Is President Aquino perfect?

Are you?

Is Philippine progress fragile?

Yes, yes it is. The manufacturing base is weak. The storms and disasters are real. Poverty is a huge burden. The pipelines for essentials - food and water and electricity and gasoline and health care - are barely able to keep up with demand. The nation seems always to be one step ahead of crushing need. Tuna are disappearing from the seas. Good farmland is being eroded. Congestion is bogging cities down in costly and dirty inefficiency. China is making threats daily, insulting and trying to intimidate the Philippines and Filipinos.

But here is what I hope will happen, with the idea that hope, combined with confidence and commitment, can become singularly important drivers of achievement:

• HR will get passed and there will be a tempered but profound trend in the poorer areas to limit family size. Education will do that. Word of mouth endorsement of smaller families will do that. Availability of birth control methods will do that. In 50 years, poverty will have moderated. It's a slow freight, getting money to the millions of poor.

• FOI will get passed, if not this year, then next. And with FOI will come additional incentives for government workers and agencies to focus forthrightly on the job to be done. On competency, not show. It will help seal good governance as a permanent quality. That's why the President will back it. His legacy is lost without it.

• The economy will continue to rip, with a growing middle class spending and educating the nation to new wealth.  Also from the middle class will rise pragmatic managers focused on productivity and achievement, not the self-service of corrupt ways.

• I'm inclined to wonder, what does China really provide that could not be built in the Philippines or bought elsewhere? Cheap plastic toys?  It is in China's interest not to stir up trouble with the Philippines. The Chinese have major investments here. Filipinos have little in China. Joint development of contested seas will be worked out. No guns will fire.

• Peace in Mindanao will be troublesome, but successful. The government is making the kinds of investments there that can turn bitterness to opportunity. Something the Philippines has never delivered to poor Muslim communities. It's important to understand that the cause of unrest in Mindanao is not religion, it is poverty.

Two huge, critical milestones will need to be passed to assure that the rise of the Philippines is permanently sealed into the nation's social infrastructure. They are:

• The FOI Bill, which opens government to inspection and puts the people in charge, a force for public good over private gain. 

• The 2016 election, which will either advance the Aquino legacy or turn away from it. I personally believe Mr. Binay would be a bad choice and Mr. Roxas or Mr. Abaya would be a good choice.

Although it bugs me when President Aquino brags about every accomplishment as if it were his personal mark rather than the natural flow of things, I must admit, every achievement, every increase in ranking and rating, is indeed built on the bed of promise he brought to the Philippines, and the fundamentally good work that his agencies have done. So . . .

"Congratulations, Mr. President, on that improved Transparency International ranking."

You did that. You can claim it.

We would not have that improvement without your principled leadership.

But enough of that glow for now.

How about turning your attention to that FOI Bill, eh?

To allow you to exit stage 2016 with a profound and everlasting legacy that seals "good governance" into the way Philippine agencies, courts and legislators do the people's work. Work that is visible to the people and their agents, the press. And their advocates, the attorneys. Work that is forthright and open. You know . . . earnest . . . and good . . . like those intangible leadership qualities you brought to the Presidency that today enable Filipinos to convert another intangible, their good heart, to progress.