I speak before you today as a private citizen and Manila Rotarian. Permit me to talk to you on a personal note on this occasion, and to explain my own concept and philosophy on public service.
Let me say, to begin with, that I had done my fair share of public service - having devoted the best 22 years of my life to public service. I had served as President of the University of the Philippines for 6 years, Constitutional Convention Delegate for 2 years, Senator for 12 years, Secretary of Agriculture for almost 2 years and Executive Secretary for an odd 13 days.
I felt I had done my time.
But as the events of recent days have shown, I come before you now no longer as a retired public servant. At literally the eleventh hour of the last day of filing - Monday, February 12 - I filed my certificate of candidacy for Senator of the Republic. I am told that I was one candidate shy of being the last one to file.
To a certain extent, the major events in my life have resulted from difficult decisions I have had to make regarding public service.
Reform from Within
And in the past month, people have been asking me - why did you accept the post of Executive Secretary?
When I was first asked to become Executive Secretary, I resisted the offer very strongly.
It is no secret that I was happy vigorously implementing the agricultural modernization of the country - and reaping record highs in agricultural productivity - humility aside.
The agricultural sector posted a record growth of 3.1% in 2000 and 6.6% in 1999. These growth rates are extraordinary when you consider that the average annual growth rate for the past 10 years has only been 1.2%. With 3 out of every 4 poor people living in the agricultural sector, this growth - and our programs aimed at improving farmers? incomes and productivity - directly translated to improving the lives of our poor countrymen.
Even as I had already made wide-ranking reforms of both structure and policy of the Department of Agriculture - however - still I realized that substantive reforms in the bureaucracy could be undertaken from the very heart of government - and this was the executive office.
The prospects of reform at the center of power were challenging - and full of promise. To someone who had been a reformist at heart and in deed all his life, this was a rare - but difficult - opportunity to make necessary changes from within. The challenge of public service has always been --after all - about change.
This is the main reason why I took on the challenge of being Executive Secretary. And this partly explains why I stayed on until the very end. This, together with the fact that the call of duty prevailed upon me to stay.
A Government in Crisis
I realize at the time I accepted the position - and when I spent those fateful last days in the Palace - that I put my record of public service on the line.
Many people questioned my coming on board a government in crisis. But in my mind - it was clear. The business of running a government, and of providing basic services to our people, had to continue - especially in times of crisis. My duty was to the Filipino people. And my duty prevailed upon me to stay and ensure that a peaceful - and bloodless - transition would take place.
This was the substance of my long thirteenth day with the Thirteenth President.
And when my thirteenth day ended, I thought to myself that it also signaled an end to my many years of public service.
A Duty to Serve
Almost as soon as my thirteenth day ended, however, partymates at the Laban ng Demokratikong Pilipino, friends and supporters began urging me to run for the Senate. Perhaps knowing of my good track record as legislator and Senate President - having authored such landmark legislations such as the Agriculture and Fisheries Modernization Act of 1997; the Free High School Act; the Philippine Health Care Program Act; and the Senior Citizens Act - they prevailed upon me to run in the 2001 Senatorial elections.
I?m genuinely hesitant to run. But the reformist in me saw there is just too much that must be done for the sake of our countrymen. And I realized that duty to country is not so easily shirked.
Nor could I turn my back on the millions of Filipinos living below the poverty line. I have seen how stark poverty is in this country. I have seen the gap between the rich and the poor widening throughout the years.
Unless we do deep and meaningful structural reforms in our economy and society, the scenario that we are a social volcano waiting to erupt is not far-fetched.
A recent World Bank study disclosed that 26 million Filipinos live on less than Fifty Pesos a day in subhuman conditions. And in our country, poverty has a rural face, with 3 out of 4 poor people belonging to the rural sector. While poverty levels have been declining in the past decades, rural poverty at 44% has hardly been dented.
These alarming statistics show that there is still much work to be done.
The Harvard Business Review merely confirmed what we all know - appropriate legislation has the power of providing momentum to growth and development.
And consequently, deeper reforms in agriculture, education and the economy must be implemented without delay. It is imperative that we pass laws which would provide the right climate for investments in our land of promise - Mindanao.
National self-interest dictates that with the onslaught of the WTO and globalization, the maximum support and protection to selected industries and the farming sector must be given.
I saw for myself the marginalization of our farmers and fisherfolk as a result of the thoughtless stance taken by government in the past in voluntarily bringing down levels of protection - such as tariff rates - beyond our WTO commitments. And I see how we must continue providing safety nets, especially now that the present administration has made a policy statement that it will revive former programs and policies of the Ramos administration. Unprotected and thrown naked into the arena of the global market, our farmers and industries are ill-equipped to compete - much less to survive.
In the face of globalization and its concomitant information revolution, policy makers must begin to think in strategic terms and design solutions in as swift a fashion as possible. Otherwise, the times will leave us behind.
It Takes a Village
Ultimately, my decision to run is borne out of a sense of duty - and my abiding commitment to empowering the ordinary Filipino through education and knowledge.
I believe that true public service is realized and achieved because of one?s commitment to and regard for the welfare of one?s fellowmen. Hatred and animosity have not done our country any good.
I realize in the arena of public service - no one is indispensable. Certainly I am not.
To make anything happen, it takes a village. It takes a community of men committed to public service and national interest for true progress and reform to come through. I takes people collectively offering themselves to serve the country first and foremost in order for our nation to progress. And we can only make our country a better place if we extend to one another tolerance and understanding.
Each and everyone of us counts. And much as I would have wanted to slow down - for as long as the deadly gap between the rich and the poor exists in our country, I can never rest easy. And neither should you.
True public service does not concern itself with personalities. It?s not even about politics. It?s about people. Yes, it begins - and ends - with the people we serve
In closing, allow me to say that public service is a thankless job. Praises are few and criticisms aplenty. For me, a nice word said by someone who has never been an avid fan is reward enough. Mon Tulfo, a columnist on the Inquirer, wrote about me the other day in his column, and I quote:
?Up until the last day of Erap?s presidency, I never admired former Executive Secretary Edgardo Angara.
?But when he stood by Erap when everybody was already deserting the fallen leader, Angara became seven feet tall in my eyes.
?Up to the very end, Angara acted as Erap?s Little President, trying to strike a bargain for his boss with the incoming leadership.
?Angara may look like a sissy with his glasses, but he?s more macho than any big hunk of a man. He showed strength of character during those last minutes with Erap.?
So is the life of a public servant.
Thank you very much. |