A necessity for good governance

It is not enough to just eliminate corruption if we want to make poverty history. It is also necessary to do something positive such as increase competence. In addition, where there are know-it-all officials who refuse to listen to the private sector and thus contradict P-Noy’s directive of “Ikaw ang boss ko,” poverty will remain.

Humility should be added to the anticorruption and competence drives if we are to be successful.

Admirable examples

We have seen admirable examples of humility in this government.

Agriculture Secretary Proceso Alcala showed this when he said to onion

farmers that he was not familiar with their sector and wished to learn from them. Agriculture Assistant Secretary Dave Catbagan admitted his group had not acted swiftly enough against smuggled agricultural products. He then ordered a raid within 24 hours when given evidence of the smuggled products by the Alyansa Agrikultura and the United Broiler Raisers Association.

Bureau of Agriculture Industry veterinarian Rico Capulong acknowledged he did not know how to proceed against retailers selling smuggled and unsafe products. He subsequently followed the suggestions provided by the farmer leaders. This humility and subsequent action resulted in better governance.

Pride as a handicap

But at the same time, we cite here an example of how pride has harmed good governance.

Last January 10, the Manila Bulletin published the headline: “No memo for fish imports.” In all likelihood, this was in response to an earlier press report on how fisherfolk leaders objected to a draft Fisheries Administrative Order that would allow fish imports to enter the wet markets, to the detriment of small fisherfolk.

The article stated: “An official of DA has said that he had not seen any draft memo at the Office of the Secretary or at the Bureau of Fisheries and Aquatic Resources (BFAR) as claimed by an alliance of organizations led by Tambuyog Development Center (TDC) and backed by Alyansa Agrikultura.”

The facts are revealing.

In a meeting last December 15 conducted by the Fisheries Committee of the National Agriculture Fisheries Council under the Office of the Secretary, a draft DA Fisheries Administrative Order was distributed to all the committee members.

The draft’s title was “Certification of the Necessity to Import Fish and Fishery Products.”

No less than BFAR Director Asis Perez and BFAR Regulatory and Quarantine Division Chief Atty. Annaliza Vitug led the discussion. TDC Executive Director Arsenio Tanchuling chaired the meeting and later held a press briefing on this draft order.

It should be noted that Tanchuling has developed a reputation for competence and responsibility over more than a decade. He has been elected three consecutive times as coordinator of the Southeast Asia for Fisheries Network. This network has members from Indonesia, Malaysia, Thailand, Vietnam, Cambodia, Myanmar and the Philippines.

For the DA official to tell the press that there is no draft memo “as claimed by an alliance of organizations led by TDC” casts doubt on the credibility of both TDC and Tanchuling.

This would not be so bad if a retraction by this official was made. But perhaps a lack of humility is preventing him from admitting his mistake and “losing face.” Because of his silence, the reading public is left with the wrong impression that indeed TDC and Tanchuling are irresponsible. This harms good government-private relations.

The potentially damaging Fisheries Administrative Order has since been withdrawn for further study. This is because the private sector showed public-private partnership initiative by showing evidence that there is no fish supply crisis. This has saved the livelihood of many of the small fisherfolk that constitutes the poorest sector in the Philippines today.

Recommendation

The drive against corruption is succeeding very well, thanks to the political will of Secretary Alcala. The quest for competence is proceeding at a slower pace. The two key recommendations of subsector master plan formulation and improved management procedures such as ISO 9000 have not secured adequate support.

But while both anticorruption and competence are necessary for the fight against poverty (walang mahirap), they are not sufficient.

Humility is also necessary for good governance. We recommend that the DA promote humility as a key characteristic of all DA personnel. This way, the government will more likely be humble enough to admit shortcomings and listen more responsively to the private sector.

The author is chairman of Agriwatch, former secretary for presidential flagship programs and projects, and former undersecretary for Agriculture, and Trade and Industry. For inquiries and suggestions, e-mail [email protected] or telefax (02) 8522112.