When President Simeon Benigno “Noynoy” Aquino III focused his platform of governance on eradicating corruption and capsulized it into two sticky Tagalog words known as Daang Matuwid, pessimists and critics started doubting it. They are all the same in their discernment that Daang Matuwid lacks substance, numbers and vision for our country.
Well, I must say that these slaves of negativism and hopelessness fell short in their analysis.
Certainly, a country without a trace of corruption is a vision itself and Daang Matuwid is a kind of mindset needed for us to reach that vision. Daang Matuwid is a “workspace” which PNoy created to make us start believing again that we as nation of moral individuals can and must walk on a straight path. It is a form of mind conditioning. It is a narrative where all of us must be inside of it to achieve remarkable national transformation.
In one of his interviews, PNoy summarized it well what he believes about his platform of governance and where it can lead us:
“Governing with integrity, with transparency and with accountability not only heals a national psyche that has long been characterized by its cynicism and mistrust of government. It also provides the foundation for equitable progress…Good governance therefore is good economics.
…“The goal is to percolate socio-economic development to a greater majority. And it all begins with cleaning up government: instituting a culture of transparency and accountability - at the bottom line, a culture of trust in government…
…Without accountability, there will be no certainty that others will not follow in the footsteps of those who have wronged our people…Without accountability, the entrenched culture of impunity will remain, the corrupt will continue to flourish and steal, and the atmosphere of doubt and mistrust will continue to linger even as we rebuild our institutions.” (http://www.philstar.com/Article.aspx?articleId=729974&publicationSubcategoryId=63)
I agree with Jose Ma. Montelibano when he argued on his article entitled “Change is knocking at our doors,” that:
“Drastically curbing corruption is an almost impossible mission. That is why I tend to smirk when those who criticize P-Noy say he is without vision. A Philippine society that is not ruled by corruption is a vision most other politicians had been afraid to commit to. They make easier promises like improving the economy – as if that is a vision that has built a weak people to become a strong nation.” (“Change is knocking at our doors”, Glimpses by Jose Ma. Montelebano, September 23, 2011, Philippine Daily Inquirer)
And as time goes by, it cannot be denied anymore that we are now slowly embracing the narrative of Daang Matuwid towards a vision of a corrupt-free society. We are becoming more positive and trustful to the government and to the future of our country. This significant change in our political landscape is can be seen in the results of surveys after surveys being conducted by Pulse Asia and Social Weather Station (SWS).
In the survey conducted by Pulsia Asia from February 24 to March 6 of 2010, PNoy got a high trust rating of 75%. Nothing has changed in the subsequent survey conducted from October 20 to 29 of the same year.
Further, after one year as President and despite of the many challenges he has faced, still, PNoy got a highest rating in terms of public trust in the recent nationwide survey by Pulse Asia conducted from August 20 to September 11, 2011 using a face-to-face interviews among a sample of 1,200 representative adults 18 years old and above and has a ± 3% error margin at the 95% confidence level.
“Amidst the different problems facing his administration, President Benigno S. Aquino III continues to enjoy big majority approval and trust ratings (77% and 75%, respectively). In contrast, less than one in ten Filipinos disapproves of presidential performance (4%) and distrusts the President (5%). Ambivalence toward the work done by President Aquino in the past three months is expressed by 18% of Filipinos while essentially the same percentage (19%) cannot say if they trust or distrust him. In general, these figures do not vary significantly from the national ratings obtained by the President in Pulse Asia’s May 2011 survey…President Aquino records basically the same majority approval and trust ratings across geographic areas (72% to 81% and 73% to 82%, respectively).” (http://www.pulseasia.com.ph/pulseasia/)
The high public trust rating we are giving to PNoy is self-explanatory. We believe that he is not corrupt. We have been waiting for so long to have a leader that we can trust. We perceive him as clean, dedicated and honest to the legacy of his parents and serious in leading our country into the righteous path. No doubt, PNoy emerges as a hero in our minds after the draining leadership crisis we’ve experienced under the GMA regime.
We already knew what life will look like under a government that cannot be trusted due to rampant corruption and gross politicking. And we cannot afford anymore to experience it again in the next six years and beyond.
The Chair Wrecker, William Esposo, is right when he said this in his column:
“The emotional feature of the Noynoy ascendancy is the passion with which most Filipinos now feel for their new champion. They see him as the Moses they can trust to free them from their generational cycle of poverty and bring them into their Promised Land.” (Why for over 40% of voters 2010 is 'It's NOY or Never', AS I WRECK THIS CHAIR By William M. Esposo, The Philippine Star 2010-01-03, http://www.chairwrecker.com/column.php?col=661)
This atmosphere of optimism among us is a beautiful indication that we Filipinos are started switching our mindsets toward our government. And why not, this is the right time to be more hopeful. Gone are the days of governance that is predominantly ruled by those “utak wangwang”. We are now excited with what a good leader can do and see better times again.
Quoting again Mr. Montelibano, on the same article cited above, he noticed that:
“More and more Filipinos who began as volunteers in the days of the campaign are now getting involved in translating that spirit through good citizenship. The tendency of Filipinos to contribute time, talent and treasure is finding warm motivation, and reception, among more citizens. The students, especially, are hearing the call for courage and nobility. Tens of thousands of them have become busy in their communities and towns doing activities that help their environment…
All this uplifting ambience is founded on the approval and trust of Filipinos. And that approval and trust of the people are because they see change, or a great attempt for change, being led by P-Noy himself.
…There is change. It is not just around the corner, it is knocking on our doors”
This observation is consistent or if not correlated to the result of the 2011 Survey on Local Governance initiated by the SWS where public found to have increasing public confidence that a government can be run without corruption.
“In 2009, 54 percent felt that “the government can be run without corruption,” whereas 42 percent felt that “corruption is part of the way government works”; this is close to a mere split opinion. In 2011, however, 65 percent feel government can be run without corruption, or double the 33 percent who feel otherwise; this is a big improvement in public confidence.” (Philippine Daily Inquirer, “The 2001 Survey on Local Governance, By Mar Mangahas, October 15, 2011)
Yes! The regime of Daang Matuwid is an opportunity for all of us to consider switching negative mindsets that breed hopelessness and paralyze us as individual and as a nation.
Certainly, the greatest challenges to achieve positive changes that PNoy are trying to push are those “wang-wang” mindsets that have been formed by the moral crisis of the past regimes.
Wang-wang mindsets must be challenged and replaced. They are not constant. Our context is inviting us to start cultivating positive mindsets that will guide our actions towards of becoming a productive citizen and as a catalyst of change.
The change must start in our minds. We must empty our minds of counterproductive thoughts and fill it instead with hopes and positive views of what we can do if we live straight and let these thoughts flow in our hands and do the actions expected from us by our beloved country.
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