Judging from the President’s spiritless endorsement of Gibo Teodoro as a presidential candidate and her party’s languid campaign performance, rocked by shifting party loyalties, it would appear that GMA is not keen on, or perhaps has abandoned the idea of, having a partymate succeed her reign. On this premise, I think GMA knows her politics too well.

It will not serve any practical purpose for GMA and her lieutenants to plot electoral cheating in a national scale, or worse a takeover using the armed forces. It would not matter to her who wins, although from many indications she seems to prefer a Villar presidency. It would matter to her though if she can prove and proclaim to one and sundry that the first automated election in this country is perceived as orderly and credible. This is crucial as a last minute attempt to save the sullen image of her presidency once it ends. Yes she will step down – but the credibility of the results of the 10 May 2010 polls is consequential in the pursuit of her post elections agenda.

And what is the agenda?

When GMA filed her certificate of candidacy as a congressional candidate for the 2nd District of Pampanga, she said that “after much contemplation I realized I am not ready to step down completely from public service” – a traditional politician’s favorite tagline as if elective officials have the monopoly of public service.  Obviously, the statement only meant – “I will stay or be back in power“.

She needs to be in the mainstream of political authority, first to avoid a repetition of an Erap-type prosecution for the sins of her administration, and second to take another attempt as Chief Executive of this country working within the limits of the Constitution.

Is it not a source of wonder why GMA did not run as Vice-President or Senator or Governor of Pampanga? The simple answer is that these offices would not serve her hidden but evident agenda. She opted to run for Congress because she wants to control the House of Representative by being its Speaker.

But why the House of Representatives?

We all know that impeachment cases are initiated in the House of Representatives. In case of a GMA prosecution, the case will begin at the Office of the Ombudsman. And there is a public perception that the incumbent is an ally, who cannot be replaced except by impeachment. In the unlikely event that prosecution proceeds, it will surely go all the way up to the Supreme Court, whose members including the Chief Justice would be her appointees by virtue of a recent decision. I would like to believe though that our Supreme Court would assert its independence when confronted with a legal controversy involving the matter. Justices of the Supreme Court cannot also be removed except by impeachment.

We all know also that there is an open constitutional question whether or not amendments to the Constitution may be done by a vote of 3/4 votes of all its members, the members of the House and the Senate voting jointly – which makes the vote of the latter totally insignificant in the process. Again, this issue would eventually fall on the lap of the High Court and its collective judgment would say with finality what the law is.

If GMA and her colleagues in the House succeed in this effort, we might have a parliamentary government with her as Prime Minister holding office side by side with the elected President depending on the quid pro quo and the terms of the charter amendments. The only remaining stumbling block for this is the ratification of the people in a plebiscite. Here, GMA needs to restore the trust of the people. But how?

The key is to make the 10 May polls credible as she gracefully exits the presidency come noon of 30 June 2010. Equally important to realize her political agenda is to ensure the election of her stalwarts in local elective posts for governors, mayors and congressmen, regardless of their party tag.

GMA’s intent is evident when she started releasing the pork barrel of allied solons during the campaign period; was reported to be supporting sympathetic party-list groups; insisted on appointing the Chief Justice and even the Presiding Justice of the Sandiganbayan; tolerated shift of party affiliations if that’s the practical way to ensure that her candidates would win in their localities. This maybe the reason also for the reported scarcity of campaign funds for national candidates but not necessarily for local candidates, particularly her congressional aspirants.

While many sectors of society are worried about fraud in the national results of the automated polls. They could be barking at the wrong tree because at the end of the day GMA might have her last laugh and stand taller over the issue. It could also be a diversionary tactic to cover up for a possible retail electronic cheating in the poll results for local candidates. This could be the reason why Defense Secretary Norberto Gonzales found out for himself that “some people were already trying to bribe polling officials“. Offhand, this seems to be a modus operandi confined at the local level.

Needless to say, there is no pre-proclamation controversy in congressional posts and it is no longer a viable legal option when a winning candidate for other local position is already proclaimed. The sooner GMA’s congressional allies are proclaimed the better for her – and this can be facilitated by the unparalleled speed of electronic transmission.

I hope that this political insight is totally amiss because if it is true I do not see how the results of the coming polls will bring about change and a better life for our people. It would still be the business of politicking as usual.

I do not want to be a pessismist. Thus, I welcome your comment and tell me why I could be wrong.

Many great things have been said about Tita Cory and she truly deserves all the accolade.

But I love Tita Cory because she made us believe that what it takes to be a great leader and human being is neither education nor experience nor brilliance, just plain and simple sincerity, honesty, integrity, modesty, faith and the fortitude to rise above difficult circumstances – qualities that are rare these days and you can hardly find in any of our present day leaders.

I love Tita Cory because she made sure that we, our children, and hopefully the next generation enjoy the blessings of freedom under a regime of democracy. They say that absolute power corrupts but Tita Cory did not succumb to the temptation, when it was very convenient for her to do so. Her presidency had its own share of weaknesses but no one can deny that she served us well by making sure that every Filipino enjoy the fruits of liberty.

And I love Tita Cory because she distinctly made me proud to be a Filipino. The phenomenal and world-acclaimed People Power of 1986 was bloodless and peaceful simply because Tita Cory was its icon, its inspiration, its moving spirit. And I now reminisce that part of my life circa 1983-1986 with great pleasure which I want my children to cherish and understand well.

I dare say that Ninoy’s life and death was actually meant by God to prepare Tita Cory to be our own Joan of Arc. God must be on our side for giving us Tita Cory.

“I would rather die a meaningful death than to live a meaningless life”, Tita Cory once said.  You did, Tita Cory.

“I hope that history will judge me as favorably as our people still regard me, because, as God is my witness, I honestly did the best I could. No more can be asked of any man”, Tita Cory said in her last SONA.  We know you did, Tita Cory.

With your death, may the hopes of the Filipino people live again by tying that yellow ribbon ’round the old oak tree.

Thank you Tita Cory. Thank you. Farewell.

- – - – - – - – - – - – -

Below is a song composed by my best friend, Corazon Guidote, arranged by Roy Del Valle, performed by Lisa Del Valle and photoshow assembled by Mike Reyes.

This is under  CC-BY-NC-ND Philippine License 3.0

An average Filipino devotes at least fourteen years of his or her life in school from elementary to college. Some others would spend a couple of years more.

Student life in the country is very stressful. Pupils have to be in the campus early morning and stay there for most of the day for academic instructions and other school activities. By the time they reach home, they need to spend another time to study and prepare for homework for the next day. Some unlucky others are under obligation to fulfill household chores or even help the family earn a living. The more diligent and serious students may need to deprive themselves of a balanced way of life – unfortunately only to learn what American philosopher John Dewey referred to as dead facts and mere memorization of lessons. 

Students go to school to complete a formal education in the hope that their diplomas could be their passport for a better life for themselves and their families. After years and years of enduring the life of a student, many would land a job for which they did not prepare for. Many would have to compete for employment that does not even pay more than the minimum wage. Others would seek greener pasture in a foreign land engaging themselves even in lowly occupation. The more unfortunate of them would just probably be sitting endlessly at home searching and responding to job openings, or preparing biodata for submission to prospective employers.

This is what fourteen or more years of labor for knowledge generally await ordinary Filipino students.

There is no argument that education is essential to a civilized human existence. Ancient thinkers had long recognized that education is the process of satisfying man’s quest for perfection. Education is the key to building both the intellectual and moral fitness of human beings to serve the ultimate aspirations of individual happiness and produce a bunch of good and productive men and women who will promote the welfare of society.

Existing educational systems in almost every nation, this country included, are premised on a liberal model, a framework that promotes free thinking, free expression and self-determination. As early as the beginning of the Industrial Revolution, Scottish moral philosopher and political economist Adam Smith proposed a minimum general education for all citizens arguing that men who do not use their intellectual faculties properly are not fully human.

Some philosophers of long ago, including Dewey, abhorred specialized education or vocational training or pure craftsmanship because it is a mere training for slaves to make them fit as cogs in the industrial machine.

The irony of it all in this country, that adopts a liberal education for its citizens, is that the long and stressful years of academic pursuit make many young minds merely end up as slaves of the corporate world and of foreign employers.  Perhaps, it is safe to assume that nine of every ten Filipino graduates would always look forward to a fruitful employment after graduation rather than look at entrepreneurship or self-employment as a more viable alternative simply because they lack the skills and the talent to pursue  their own craft.

Filipino students are stucked to long years of liberal education taught over and over again in elementary, high school and even during the first two years of college. The entire process obviously delays their strong potential to become productive and responsible citizens of this country at the soonest time. At best, the process suspends their becoming a part of the unemployment and underemployment statistics of this country. Worse, the system unduly prolongs the economic burden of parents and families if only to keep them in school.

There must be another framework of a blended liberal education and craftmanship that government could adopt to reverse the predicaments confronting the country’s educational system. Of course that requires a lot of political will and conscience.

In October 1918, former Manila Mayor Justo Lukban, with all the best intentions to rid the city of vices, ordered the segregation of some one hundred seventy women of ill repute and made them board two steamers, without their knowledge and consent, so they could be relocated to Davao.

In a habeas corpus petition, the Supreme Court did not “permit a government of the men instead of a government of laws” to be set up in this country. And this was the gist of the landmark case of Villavicencio vs. Lukban decided almost ninety years ago.

In the present state of political turmoil brought about by accusations of corruption involving high officials in government both the accused and their accusers cry for the rule of law, not trial by publicity and subsequently conviction by public opinion.

As citizens of this Republic, shenanigans in government are also entitled to the mantle of protection of the Bill of Rights. And this is what the rule of law is all about because like any malefactor, they are also presumed innocent until proven guilty in a court of law.

In refusing to testify again before the Senate Blue Ribbon Committee on the controversial ZTE-NBN deal, Secretary Romulo Neri publicly invokes the rule of law especially after the Supreme Court granted him a reprieve from arrest. For his part, former Commission on Elections Chairman Benjamin Abalos challenged his accusers to hail him before the courts and prove their accusations. Critics of whistle-blowers and star witnesses, Rodolfo Lozada Jr. and Jose de Venecia III contend that no evidence has been presented thus far sufficient to convict those involved in the anomalous transaction.  Every one knows that a criminal conviction requires proof beyond reasonable doubt. Again, this is what the rule of law is all about.

Obviously, these legal standards have found their way in the country’s Bill of Rights and legal system because they are intended to safeguard individual liberties, particularly of ordinary citizens, from the enormous powers of the State. In the same token, public officials and employees proclaimed as servants of the people are entitled to the same mantle of protection.

The dilemma is ordinary folks are not similarly situated as public functionaries although they enjoy equal protection in the eyes of the law.

The rights of ordinary citizens to the secrecy of bank deposits or against any intrusion on privacy like wire-tapping or to invoke privilege communications in certain cases or not to be bound by certain evidences that are part of the ‘poisonous tree’, so to speak, are part of the processes to guarantee individual freedom, which the government could easily abuse.

But it is in a sense an irony of the rule of law if the same legal standards, system and processes are equally applied to public servants because the chance of getting them caught and convicted of their misdeeds becomes a mere fairy tale depending on the scale of the conspiracy and the level of official position they occupy. Sheer cover up, the ‘old-boys’ club’ attitude, and plain blind loyalties and obedience to powerful and influential men in government would make it almost impossible to convict government felons of grand corruption beyond reasonable doubt. And so they remain scot-free and continue to perpetuate themselves in power.

Thus, the rule of law intended to guarantee the rights of Juan de la Cruz could be the same rule of law that gives unscrupulous public officials the cloak of legal protection, perhaps just a strand short of immunity from legal prosecution.

It is easy to understand why a high position in government is a most coveted job. It is the easiest route to power, fame and wealth without the usual investment, except whom you know coupled with the willingness to cooperate.

In the Villavicencio case, the Supreme Court said that “Law defines power”. It was certainly decreed in 1919 in the context that this country is a government of laws and not of men. But nowadays the same statement could assume another import, in the negative sense.

Is there any other viable alternative to the bar of public opinion in a situation called the misrule of law?

The congressional proceedings on the cheaper medicine bill are in the final stages. The deliberations on the measure have been controversial, if not emotional, among the stakeholders since last year. The primary objective of the proposed law is to address the popular clamor for a more affordable health care by bringing down the exorbitant costs or the overpricing of medicines in the market.

Understandably, every time government is confronted with a pressing public demand the usual response is to come up with a law to respond or as a political reaction to the issue. Fortunately for the government, the cacophony would subside momentarily. But unfortunately to the public, the predicament almost always remains unresolved. Ironically, the law in many situations consequently aggravates the issue or becomes the source of a much bigger concern.

One of the promises of the proponents of the Generics Act of 1988 was to accomplish almost the same purpose as the cheaper medicine bill. Two decades after this law, the Filipino people are still suffering from same much higher prices of medicines.

Ten years ago, Congress passed the Downstream Oil Deregulation Act of 1998. The promise is to ensure a truly competitive market under a regime of fair prices, adequate and continuous supply of environmentally-clean and high-quality petroleum products.  Price control of fuel products, which have been blamed by some quarters for higher prices, became deregulated. But still, fuel prices are unreasonably high and worse, oil companies are accused of predatory pricing under a monopolistic arrangements disguising as deregulation.

Overseas Filipino worker Flor R. Contemplacion was executed in Singapore for the murder of another Filipino domestic helper. In response to the weeks of consistent public protests over the issue and the plight of Filipino workers abroad, former President Fidel V. Ramos pushed for the passage of the Migrant Workers and Overseas Filipinos Act of 1995. The promise was to reform the overseas employment industry, provide better protection to the overseas workers, and pursue a state policy of deregulation. Twelve years after, another law was passed setting aside the deregulation policy and still the victims of illegal recruitment and exploitation continue to grow in number.

In 1989, the Magna Carta for Countryside and Barangay Business Enterprises (Kalakalan 20) was passed by Congress. In 2002, an almost similar law was also enacted called the Barangay Micro Business Enterprises Act. The promise of both statutes is to promote entrepreneurship outside of urban centers by providing a package of tax and credit incentives, simplifying business regulations, and hopefully, to ease poverty and unemployment. Judging from the almost a million Filipinos seeking employment abroad in last couple of years, it is doubtful whether these programs even got off the ground.

Time and time again, government professes that foreign investments are needed to spur economic growth. But even all the packages of government incentives accorded by various laws to foreign investors did not seem to really attract them. Otherwise, this country would not be talking now about poor economic conditions and President Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo would not be breaking her back campaigning to foreign businessmen that the Philippines is an ideal haven for their investments.

Twenty years ago, landless farmers and farm workers were promised a more equitable distribution and ownership of lands through the Comprehensive Agrarian Reform Law of 1988. With the law about to expire in June 30 and Congress talking about its extension, farmers remain poor and locked in a tug-of-war with landowners.

Labor’s demand for higher wages and the turtle pace legislative reaction brought about the Wage Rationalization Act of 1989. But the nagging issue on minimum wage fixing and implementation before the enactment of said law remains.

Other countries should envy the Philippines for having one of the best Government Procurement Reform Act, Code of Conduct and Ethical Standards for Public Officials and Employees, and Anti-Graft and Corrupt Practices Act in the world. But corruption in government is a never-ending story.

And the list of these “false hope statutes” could be never ending.

As in most regimes, government’s stance to public issues is always reactive. Good, if the reaction provides the appropriate and lasting solution. What is worse is if the reaction simply offers a false hope.  

Sometimes it is a source of wonder why government still exists.

A recent study on global corruption released by Transparency International put the Philippines as among the top countries with high level of petty bribery, together with Albania, Cambodia, Cameroon, Macedonia, Kosovo, Nigeria, Pakistan, Romania and Senegal.

In the 2007 Worldwide Corruption Perception Rankings of Transparency International, the country ranked 131st and tied with Honduras, Iran, Libya, Nepal and Yemen, a far-cry behind the top three nations considered as the least corrupt, Denmark, Finland and New Zealand.
 
Just this week, pollster, Pulse Asia, announced the result of an October 2007 survey that shows the incumbent president of the republic being perceived as the most corrupt vis-à-vis her predecessors Ferdinand Marcos, Corazon C. Aquino, Fidel V. Ramos and Joseph E. Estrada.

Who would argue against the proposition that the Philippines is a corrupt country?

From the time the country gained its sovereignty and political independence, the battle against corruption has always been at the forefront of every electoral issue. Quite ironically, every incumbent political administration would always claim that his or her government is or was never corrupt, or at least doing every possible means to curb corruption. But really, none of them had the political will and temerity to do so.

How can the country get rid of corruption when the bigger majority of the supposedly honorable men and women in public positions put themselves or find their way in office in the first place by corrupting the voters, or by influence peddling? What is the economics required of such public official to recover an onerous investment through a low-paying job? How should these public officials keep their benefactors constantly gratified in order to repay every political debt owed?

When a lowly driver is caught for a minor traffic violation, should he or she pay a hundred peso to the apprehending officer to go scot-free or should the violator insists that a traffic citation ticket be issued instead? When a citizen is stuck with the time-consuming and nerve-wracking bureaucratic procedures to accomplish a public requirement, would not an honest-to-goodness cost-benefit analysis produce the conclusion that it is better to pay even when it is not due than to line-up until thy kingdom come?

Isn’t it that a public official or employee, who rose from an ordinary life to a questionable life of wealth, fame, and ostentatious lifestyle that marked every ‘very important person’ and later institutionalizes his or her social standing as a political dynasty, is a very good role model to the Filipino youth to emulate? Isn’t it better to get rich quick than to dedicate one’s toil and blood to get there?

How can a public official or employee refuse a favor being sought by a member of the family, or by someone who belongs to a close circle of friends and associates, or by a classmate or a fraternity brother or sister?  Would not he or she be judged as an ingrate, swollen-headed, indifferent, and untying the ties that bind if he or she fails to give assistance or at least cooperate in compromising situations? 

Is it fair to the Filipino people for public functionaries accused or criminated with corruption to turn the table to their side by invoking the rule of law and the majesty of their constitutional rights?  But obviously, they are entitled to due process, privacy, the right against self-incrimination, presumption of innocence, executive privilege and some legal immunities, the benefits of political questions, and invoke the name of national security, are they not?

Public corruption has become a multi-million peso business to some and a cottage industry to many Filipinos. And as the country’s political history would show, it seems to be worth the time and the effort. 

By the way, it seems that getting rid of corruption is not only anti-poor. It is also anti-progress at least to those who think that hell does not exist.

That government is corrupt is perhaps not a mere perception. Regretfully, being corrupt is slowly becoming a way of life because of all the crimes, it pays.

Pending before the Philippine Senate for ratification is the Japan-Philippines Economic Partnership Agreement (JPEPA).

In general terms, the highlights of this agreement between the two countries include: (1) the elimination or comprehensive reduction of tariffs of industrial, agricultural, forestry and fishery products, (2) the facilitation of trade through simplification and harmonization of customs procedures and effective enforcement of measures against smuggling, (3) the liberalization of specific service sectors consistent, (4) the inclusion of provisions on protection of investment, national treatment, most-favored nation treatment and performance requirement prohibitions specifying all exceptions to these provisions, (5) the promotion of bilateral cooperation in human resource development, financial services, information and communications technology, energy and environment, science and technology, trade and investment promotions, small and medium enterprises, tourism, and transportation, (6) the enhancement of cooperation, protection and enforcement of intellectual property, (7) addressing anti-competition policies, (8)  facilitating trade in electrical products through a subsequent provision on mutual recognition, and (9) setting-up of a framework for consultation to further promote bilateral trade, investments and improvement of business environment in both countries.

In addition, JPEPA under the provisions on the “movement of natural persons” would allow the entry of qualified Filipino nurses and certified care workers to Japan. And this is seen or perceived by many as one of the immediate and significant benefits of the treaty because it would provide employment opportunities to Filipino health care professionals in lieu of the traduced export of Filipina entertainers to the “land of the rising sun”.

The demand for employment is backed up by statistics on Japan’s ageing population that necessitates the services of an estimated 7.5 million health care workers by 2010. 

The Philippine Overseas Employment Administration (POEA), in supporting the agreement, pointed out that there is a ready pool of Filipino health professionals who could fill the prospect of the Japanese market, with the country’s nursing schools producing at least 950,000 graduates yearly and with the current registry of 22,580 certified care workers, 57 percent of whom are college graduates. This seems to imply that the country has excess supply of nurses and care workers readily available for overseas employment.

In his presentation entitled “Philippines: The Challenge of Managing Migration, Retention and Return of Health Professionals”, UP College of Medicine Professor Jaime Z. Galvez Tan cited recent studies showing that 85 percent of all the Filipino nurses are already working abroad in at least forty six countries, thereby making the country as the number one exporter of nurses to the world. For lack of nurses and doctors, at least a thousand hospitals have closed, fully or partially, as of November 2005. The nurse-to-patient ratio in provincial and district hospitals now stands at 1:40 and 1:60. The proportion of Filipinos dying without medical attention has reverted back to its 1975 levels of 70 percent of deaths unattended during the height of nursing migration in the year 2002-2003. 

If the health care in Japan is alarming, it is worsening for the Philippines.

The phenomenon that many Filipinos, young and old, are lured into taking up courses in health care is actually driven by global demand and therefore motivated by the prospects of economic emancipation that is wanting in the country. Oversupply is thus an overstatement.

Through the JPEPA Filipino nurses and care workers would be allowed entry in Japan and work there up to three to four years but only after completing a language training and passing the Japanese national licensure examinations obviously in Japanese. For the Filipino professionals, this means additional burden in terms of time and resources that would make Japan as a less attractive destination for them. The argument therefore that the employment benefits under the JPEPA are immediate and significant could either be a hoax or imaginary.

Perhaps, it would serve the country better if government was able to negotiate with Japan for foreign employment opportunities that would not jeopardize and compromise the national interest.

Accountability is an ethical concept. It simply means being responsible to someone or for some activity.

They say that originally the word was an extension of the Latin word accomptare (to account), a prefixed form of computare (to calculate), which in turn derived from putare (to reckon) and commonly used in the money lending systems that first developed in ancient Greece and later in Rome.

As it permeates human conduct, accountability connotes the existence of an obligation or a duty demanded by some social force. It can be moral, which is usually self-imposed based on the norms and culture embraced by the actor. It could also be legal when compelled by some legitimate or recognized authority. Most, if not all, of existing legal accountabilities however are premised on moral accountability. Thus, the finer distinction is hardly noticeable.

Within the framework of a global consensus leaning highly towards the promotion and protection of democratic institutions, accountability is a centerpiece concern or issue in public governance. And this has reference to the need for those who govern to be highly accountable to their constituency.

Public accountability is a legal duty because it is always defined by a set of statutes or duly promulgated rules obviously to make it obligatory. This duty always carry with it financial accountability, performance accountability and institutional or structural accountability. In some jurisdiction or entities, accountability even extends to individual behavior or conduct for the obvious reason that they affect or jeopardize the strict observance of a legal duty.

Experts say that public accountability has two dimensions: answerability (for power holders to explain or justify their actions) and enforceability (having reference to the system or mechanism of penalties and punishment when accountability is breached). Otherwise, accountability becomes useless.

In order to attain these dimensions, a policy of ‘transparency’ is vital. Transparency can be in the sense of voluntary or full disclosure of power-holders or securing the right of the constituency or the stakeholders of their right to information.

And since public accountability is ingrained as a social contract, it is very difficult for any illegitimate rule to be entrusted with this obligation. From the entire gamut of the public accountability framework rests public trust and credibility.

Without public trust and credibility, the capacity and fitness to govern is severely affected and becomes highly questionable, a case of breaching the social contract.

The Philippine Constitution no less devoted an entire article on public accountability of government functionaries the essence of which is expressed in this wise: “Public office is a public trust. Public officers and employees must at all times be accountable to people, serve them with utmost responsibility, integrity, loyalty, and efficiency, act with patriotism and justice, and lead modest lives.”

By simply looking at the frustrating developments in Philippine politics since this mandate was enshrined in the fundamental law, it seems to be more of a motherhood statement than an honest to goodness imprimatur. Who would disagree that every single duty referred to in the quoted provision from the context of structural, financial, structural and individual accountability is being violated with impunity?

Because the constitutional demand for public accountability is not self-executing, the country had good laws against corruption and on ethical standards. But they either become dead for lack of political will to enforce or simply become unjust because of unfair* application. Public office is a most sought career because it is the surest path to fame, power and wealth.  How they live their lives is ostentatious.

Transparency in the country’s public governance is a mere pigment of the imagination. The right of the people to public information is a tale.  Recent events calling for the invocation of the so-called ‘executive privilege’ even make the tale appalling.

Public accountability meant ‘being responsible’ in the normal scheme of things.  It meant ‘taking responsibility’ in the ideal sense.  But in the Philippines, it seems that public accountability is neither.

In the five thousand years of Korean history, there is only one ruler conferred the title or distinction “Great” by the people of Korea, who until today is being remembered with gratitude and respect for his great wisdom.

He is King Sejong the Great, the fourth king of the Choson Dynasty of Korean who ascended to the throne in August 1418 at the age of 21 and reigned for thirty two years until his death at a young age of fifty four.

Even though Sejong merely inherited his authority as a ruler of Korea, his entire regime was solely motivated by his firm desire to serve his country well without fear of even sacrificing himself for the sake of his people. His sole standard against which he measured his success as a ruler was the happiness of his people.

When Korea was struck with successive years of bad harvests because of continuous flooding and severe drought, he starved with his people and even issued an edict making provincial officials criminally responsible if even one person in their residential district dies of hunger.

At one point on the 5th year of his rule, King Sejong declared:  “The common people are the foundation of any country. It is only when this foundation is strong that a country may be stable and prosperous.”

King Sejong had also a great concern for the senior citizens of his country.  Those who worked for his monarchy were placed in cool areas in the palace grounds where they could work in comfort.  Over the objection of his Royal Secretariat, he was also the first king to invite the elderly of lowly origin to dine with him in person at the palace. He said: “I hold these banquets to honor the dignity of old age, not to measure rank and status.”

At a time when kings were generally cruel and brutal to their subjects, Sejong showed much concern over the rights of slave and prisoners. His forbade the detention of offenders below 15 or above 70. He would make sure that prisoners were kept in clean and maintained facilities. He pursued strict observance of due process even for slaves. He implemented policies that would give women giving birth, their maternity leave and their spouses, paternity leave.

As a King, Sejong was very frugal. He wrote his commands using used government papers. When not undertaking official business, he wore patched and threadbare clothing. He did not want local delicacies being sent to him as a tribute.

King Sejong did not regard his people as simple objects of care and governance. He believed that they should be equipped with a limitless potential to put them to a higher cultural and spiritual level. To achieve this, he put great efforts to develop a new alphabet, Hangul, and put up advance printing technology for the publication of books on various subjects and made knowledge accessible to the people. 

Even at a time when his health was seriously impaired, he fortified the defenses of his country by strengthening the army and improving its standard of weaponry. He also revolutionized sciences in the field of agriculture, medicine and astronomy simultaneously with arts and literature. And they say that because of this, his people’s standard of living rose substantially.

King Sejong’s political reign was characterized by a democratic forum founded on mutual respect and tolerance. He instituted the Kyong-yon, a formal weekly occasion for reading and debate between the king and his courtiers. Through this discussion, he was able to identify and resolve national issues and ensured that every voice was heard regardless of social position.

There were a lot of other things that Sejong did for his people that made his rule a golden age in Korean history.  He is the perfect example of the ‘benevolent dictator’ or the ‘enlightened despot’ which Greek philosopher, Plato, described in his “The Republic” to build upon an ideal society.

It is safe to say therefore that the greatness of a country would always depend on the extent of greatness of its ruler.  The Philippines never had a ‘golden age’ so to speak in its history and the reason is obvious.