A REFLECTION PAPER ON RANDY DAVIDS LEADERSHIP IN A TRANSITIONAL SOCIETY

By ASPILI, Alleli A. BSBAMM4A

Randy David was right in what he has stated in his article in the Philippine Daily Inquirer the problems we are facing today in our country are largely the outcome of structural failings. We, Filipinos, used to blame those people sitting on the highest hierarchical level in our society who are the politicians, officials and leaders. When something goes off beam, we censure that a person is the mistake. However, Randy David cited that its not the officials fault or whatsoever, it is how they administer the country. It is not who, but how. Therefore, replacing the officials and voting someone new will really not be the corrective action that we shouldve done in order to solve what went wrong in our society. What was pointed out in the article is that the officials, who we are blaming, still lived from the same traditional system we have lived before. Since we are now living in a shifting, vibrant system, the officials are adapting to these changes. Ive been seeing these. Many of the politicians have lived in ages. They should have implemented today what was implemented before, but they do not! We became dynamic not only in the sense that our population is an on-still-growing basis, but because we are also intertwined with many societies around the globe. I think it is hard for the politicians to become accustomed with what these other societies have been employing in their administration since not all the countries have the same culture and way of living. Especially here in the Philippines, we have lived to be conservatives, silent and conformist but we are turning out to be on the other side. However, our officials are still adjusting, based from other societies and not ours. Nevertheless, who are becoming affected? Its us, all of us. They are not the failure, but what has caused them to be is our transitional society, apparently being changed without being renowned. We, citizens of the Philippines, cannot see it clearly and directly, but it is the reality. Modern impersonal systems and institutional paralysis stated by David, fascinated me and gave me a reason to discuss my insights. Modern, such a simple word, yet it hugely affects our society. It is what we are adjusting to being modernized. Our

system, as what they are saying, is already advanced but I really dont think so. I think we are trying too hard to gain enormous accounts from other societies. What we need is to make effort for the insiders, who are the Filipinos, and not for the outsiders. Yes, maybe it is for our good reputation and image, for them to see us as a high-paced acclimatizing system but it is not what they are seeing. It is the opposite of what our officials are thinking. David cited a good example, the tragic Quirino Grandstand hostage drama. He marked it an institutional paralysis, because of the system failure of the police. I have analyzed in before, there seems to be in fact NO ONE IN CHARGE chief there. No one was to blame. I think what happened is a result of negligence in their trainings and practices even before the hostage drama happened there was no right preparation. In addition to that, the tragic deaths in Ondoy and Maguindanao massacre also resulted from lack of grounding the accidental and emergency cases, leading to suffering and instant social injustices. The governance isnt really going on so well. All things considered, disfunctionality of our existing social system is the main problem. I admit we really need to strengthen our institutions and free it from grips on the other societies. By the way, David also mentioned our dear PNoy, and I agree to what David stated about him. Ive also noticed it. PNoy is not that confident stating the solutions, if there are some, but he is quick in admitting drifts and tumbles. But still, PNoy is keeping his profile low, inspite of the different circumstances he had already faced and being faced. PNoy should not start gaining information from the other countries in terms of leading. He should start compressing the traditional way of systems and make it recovered. Yet, he could still adapt to the changes, but its better if it is in the Filipinos traditional ways.