How Is Iloilo City Under Mabilog? (Part 2)

I did not expect that the column I wrote here entitled “How Is Iloilo City Under Mabilog?” would create such a furor. The column elicited many “interesting” comments in the Daily Guardian website and a reply from no less than the Public Information Officer of Iloilo City, a certain Mr. Yobsky Espejo, Jr. and Mayor Mabilog’s spokesperson Jeffrey Celiz labeled me as “no better than a plagiarist.” To those who were unable to catch it, my column talked about a 2009 “State of Local Governance” report posted on the website of the Bureau of Local Government Supervision (BLGS) under the Department of Interior and Local Government (DILG). In a word, the said BLGS-DILG Report painted a very negative picture of Iloilo City (the report can be accessed online here). 

I don’t personally know this Jeffrey  Celiz and his educational attainment level, so for his benefit I will give him the definition of what constitutes plagiarism. A plagiarist, Mr. Celiz, is “a person who passes off the work of others as his own.” The fact that I acknowledged the BLGS-DILG report (and even posted its url address in my column so that anyone with an internet connection can see it for themselves) definitely does not qualify me as a plagiarist. I hope this settles the matter once and for all. 

I chose the title “How is Iloilo City Under Mabilog” because I honestly don’t know the answer. Of course, anyone with an IQ of 86 has an opinion about whether Iloilo City is better or worse now under Mabilog. But that would remain in the realm of opinion, not fact. I never hid the fact that the said report was done in 2009 (covering the previous Treñas administration) and if there is anyone who should be defensive about the BLGS findings, it should be Congressman Treñas, not Mayor Mabilog.

But the fact remains: no one really knows the true state of Iloilo City. The people are bombarded with self-serving propaganda from various political camps, but no one bothers to study the statistics. No one bothers to investigate whether the various City Hall programs implemented really result to positive outcomes. The problem is, certain City Hall employees seem to equate winning an award with achieving real, tangible, positive results in the lives of ordinary Ilonggos.

In the Daily Guardian website, PIO Chief Espejo enumerated to me the various awards Iloilo City garnered over the past 26 months as self-evident proof that Iloilo City has attained development. I told him that I am already aware of the various awards (one really cannot help but notice all the Mabilog banners trumpeting it all over the city). My question to him is: “nga-a?” What has Mabilog specifically achieved for Iloilo City to merit all the awards? For example, I asked Mr. Espejo what is the basis for Iloilo City winning the Livable Communities Award in 2010 but the answer I got from him was a vague “Iloilo City got the award because it is deserving." You have to give us the facts Mr Espejo because biskan sin-o nga tarpulano will wonder how Iloilo City can be adjudged "Most Livable City" amidst the weekly brownouts, baha, water supply, traffic, squatters, etc. sa siyudad. Only the hard facts (i.e. official data, statistical figures, etc.) will help us discern the true state of Iloilo City today. 

And so, I am issuing a challenge to City Hall to release the answers to the following questions:

1. State of Health and Nutrition – What is the crude death rate in Iloilo City for 2010 and 2011?  What is the child malnutrition rate for the same period? What were the Top 10 Causes of Morbidity?

2. State of Education – What is the primary, secondary and tertiary education completion rate in Iloilo City for the years 2010 and 2011? What is the current Simple Literacy Rate of the population? What are City Hall’s programs to raise the quality of human capital in Iloilo City?  

3. State of Housing and Basic Utilities – Out of the total 16,000 squatter-households in Iloilo City, how many have been relocated and provided decent housing? And are there basic utilities (running water, electricity, schools, etc.) available in the relocation sites?

4. State of Peace and Order – What is the Index Crime and Non-Index Crime figures in the city for 2010 and 2011? (Index crime refers to murder, homicide, physical injury, rape, robbery and theft; Non-index crimes pertain to crimes against national security, fundamental laws of the state, public order, public morals, violations of special laws, illegal gambling, illegal possession of firearms, carnapping, illegal drugs, kidnapping, serious illegal detention, and smuggling). What is the Crime Solution Rate for the same period?

5. State of Employment – What is the rate of unemployment and underemployment in Iloilo City for 2010 and 2011? How many new enterprises were established? How many businesses closed down for the same period?

6. State of Income – How many families are living below the poverty line? What is the extent of poor households (as a percentage of the total population) in Iloilo City? How many families have been lifted out of poverty in the years 2010 and 2011?

7. State of Urban Ecosystems – How is the air quality in Iloilo City? What is the extent of tree cover in urban areas? Are there enough green areas/open spaces in Iloilo City and what is the pace of conversion of tree-covered areas into urban developments and subdivisions?  

8. State of Coastal Marine Ecosystems – How many squatter households are living along the coastline and what is being done by City Hall to relocate them? What has been done to address marine pollution?

The above questions are the criteria used by BLGS-DILG “State of Local Governance” report to measure the level of development in a particular area (I deleted the question about agriculture as Iloilo City is already highly-urbanized and no longer a primarily agricultural area).  

Again, I would like to reiterate my appeal that instead of inundating the public space with his posters, Mayor Jed Patrick Mabilog should order his personnel to release all information, both the positive and negative, to the public and let the people decide for themselves whether his “Premiere City by 2015” hoopla has real merit or is merely self-delusional propaganda. 

How Is Iloilo City Under Mabilog?

I would like to share an interesting report released by the Department of the Interior and Local Government (DILG) on the state of local governance in Iloilo City. The said report can be accessed online here. 

By way of backgrounder, the DILG under the auspices of its Bureau of Local Government Supervision (BLGS) established a “Local Governance Performance Management System” to quantitatively measure the performance of various LGUs. It identified three elements, namely - Social Development, Economic Development and Environmental Development – as key indicators of an area’s level of development. LGUs are rated based on these three performance indicators and below are the findings of the DILG report, to wit:

STATE of LOCAL DEVELOPMENT (2009), ILOILO CITY

State of Health and Nutrition - Crude death rate is abnormally high

State of Education - Secondary Completion Rate is low. Quality of human capital is at risk; Tertiary or Technical Education Completion Rate is very low. Quality of human capital is an issue; Simple Literacy Rate is extremely low

State of Housing and Basic Utilities - Prevalence of households with makeshift houses is extremely high

State of Peace and Order - Incidence of index crime such as murder, homicide, physical injury, rape, robbery and theft is alarming; Incidence of non-index crime such as crimes against national security, fundamental laws of the state, public order, public morals, violations of special laws, illegal gambling, illegal possession of firearms, carnapping, illegal drugs, kidnapping, serious illegal detention, and smuggling is very high.

State of Employment - Unemployment rate is alarming.

State of Income - Poverty incidence is alarming. Magnitude of families living below poverty threshold is too high.

State of Urban Ecosystems - Tree cover in urban areas falls short with the desirable condition. Air quality is at stake

State of Agricultural Ecosystems - % of irrigated land to total irrigable land is too low. Agricultural land development is not of priority and the potential to increase agricultural produce is very weak; % of prime lands converted to non-agricultural uses is relatively high. The loss of land productivity for agriculture is seen; % of prime lands converted to non-agricultural uses is relatively high. The loss of land productivity for agriculture is seen.

State of Coastal Marine Ecosystems - Coastal fish catch has decreased for the past five years; Too many squatter households are observed on coastline; Marine environment is at risk due to probable pollution loads; Presence of polluting industries in coastal areas; Marine life is in danger.

I was extremely shocked when I first read the official findings of BLGS-DILG. Certainly, the report paints a picture of Iloilo City that is contrary or completely opposite to what Mayor Mabilog and Congressman Treñas wants us to believe. And the DILG report does not even tackle the four major problems plaguing the people of Iloilo City, namely; perennial flooding, erratic water supply, periodic brownouts/high cost of electricity and official corruption.  Given the current state of affairs, I truly wonder where they get the nerve to coin the “My City, My Pride” slogan or the gall to call Iloilo City as a “Premier City by 2015.” They could not even achieve the “basics.”  

It should be noted that the abovementioned report was conducted in 2009 (which covers the previous Treñas administration). I would have wanted very much to share the 2010 and 2011 findings (covering the Mabilog administration) but the BLGS-DILG has yet to post its report on its website. I for one would be very interested to know what progress (if any) has been achieved by the current dispensation to address these extremely negative findings.

More specifically, I would like to see the latest poverty and nutrition statistics, the education and unemployment numbers, and the latest environmental and crime data in Iloilo City. I would like to know whether conditions have improved or have further deteriorated under Mabilog’s watch. For example, how many families have been lifted out of poverty? How many informal settlers have been provided with decent housing? What is Iloilo City’s current unemployment and underemployment rate? And what is City Hall doing to arrest the deteriorating educational performance of our public school students? Lastly, what is Mayor Mabilog doing to arrest the burgeoning illegal drugs trade and rampant criminality in Iloilo City?

Instead of inundating the public space with posters bannering his latest academic achievements and various awards, Mayor Jed Patrick Mabilog should perhaps enlighten the people about the programs he has initiated and whether these projects have really succeeded in raising the quality of life of the people. Being named "Alumnus of the Year" or earning a doctorate degree is well and good (and I am sincerely happy for our good-looking mayor), but it has totally no bearing on the lives of ordinary Ilonggos. The people of Iloilo City are not interested in hearing about all the "good things" that have been happening to Mabilog (as a person); the people are more interested in learning about the good things that Mabilog has done for them as their mayor for the last two years. The people have the right to know.

The Epal’s Creed: “No Good Deed Goes Unpublished”

When I was little my lola taught me the values of humility, modesty and honesty. A woman of deep religious faith, she believed that in order to go to Heaven a person should not announce one’s good deeds in public – the logic being that if you have already been rewarded on Earth then you will no longer be entitled to “pogi points” in Heaven. The Bicolanos have an apt term for it – “Dios Mabalos” – which translated means “God will pay you back.” If this belief is true, then politicians who publicize all of their “good deeds” do not accumulate “pogi points” and will certainly not go to Heaven. This is because they have already claimed their “rewards” on Earth.  

There is a perceptible shift in voter attitude towards “epal” politicians today. One can easily validate this attitudinal shift in various social media sites and traditional media. Whereas before people treated the ubiquitous and self-serving posters of local politicians with benign neglect, Filipinos now are voicing out their annoyance and disgust against these epal politicos. And politicians are starting to listen. In Quezon City, Mayor Herbert Bautista heeded the voice of the people and ordered his City Engineer to take down all his “HB” markers stamped on public infrastructure projects in the city.

The other day I encountered a hilarious post in Facebook by a certain Carlo Alfonso describing the various classifications of “epal” which I thought is worth sharing here:

1. The Credit Grabber.” An elected official who announces the “sponsorship” of a so-and-so infrastructure project. The “grabbing” pertains to the fact that the funds used were not the politician’s personal money but from public taxes, although the project is made to look like it was the politician’s “gift” to the people.

2.    “Fief Welcomer.” A local official who puts up streamers “welcoming” visitors to his town or city, as if the city was his own fiefdom or real estate property.

3.    “Interloper.” A politician who grabs every inane excuse and/or occasion to set up his or her poster (i.e. Happy Fiesta, Happy Graduation, Happy Easter, etc.)

4.    “Political Parasite.” A politician who basks in the reflected glory of a more famous figure (i.e. Jesse Robredo, Ninoy Aquino, etc.) or a more prominent relative (e.g. his father, mother, uncle, etc.)

5.    “Issue Rider.” A politician who rides on a pressing concern or political issue just to get his or her name out in public (e.g. “Enact RH Bill Now!, etc.). 

I am sure that there are a lot more categories of epalismo out there, but nothing beats what Iloilo City Hall minions have recently come up with – attaching Mayor Mabilog’s face in the official City Hall ID. With this development, Iloilo City politicians have just raised the level of “ka-epalan” to new lows. I recall that when he was vice mayor Mabilog was also loudly criticized for putting his mug on the medals awarded to outstanding public school students. I have nothing against local officials trumpeting their achievements – people after all have to be informed of what their leaders are doing – but stamping your face on ID cards and medals is really going overboard. It does not tell or “inform” people anything. Except perhaps that Mabilog has a receding hairline. 

Make no mistake about it: there is a growing movement against “epalismo.” And politicians should do well to heed this public clamor, or suffer defeat at the coming polls.

-30

The Gospel of Jesse M. Robredo

Today I want to share with you some of the lessons I learned from the man whose untimely death shook the nation. But before I begin, let me just state that it I find it truly unfortunate that Jess had to die to merit universal recognition. When he was still alive Robredo barely received the media attention and public adulation that he really deserved. In fact, when his name was included in a senatorial survey Robredo just got 0.8% of the vote. But that is human nature: we only realize the true value of a person or a thing only when it is gone. When he was still alive some Filipinos did not like Ninoy Aquino simply because he was the son of a Japanese collaborator (his father, Benigno Aquino, Sr. was president of the Japanese-sponsored KALIBAPI Party during the war). Jose Rizal was deeply hurt because he lost the election for president of the Propaganda Movement to Marcelo del Pilar (who apparently was a more astute politician than Rizal) and stopped contributing articles to the La Solidaridad. He decided to go his own way, producing the “Noli Me Tangere” and “El Filibusterismo” in the process. Even Jesus Christ when he was alive only had a few disciples and was considered a subversive by the Romans. But upon his crucifixion he became a Son of God.  

Here are some pearls of wisdom from Jesse M. Robredo:  

1.    “Ang Lider ay Dapat Matino at Mahusay”

Jess often preached that it is not enough for a leader to be “good” (i.e. does not steal, abuse authority, compassionate, etc.). A leader must also be “competent” (e.g. intelligent, highly-educated, innovative/creative, etc.). To him, honesty, compassion, good intentions, fear of God, etc. are well and good, but if the leader is educationally unprepared, lacks the ability to understand multi-faceted issues, and unable to devise novel solutions to complex problems, that person would be rendering a disservice to the people and would not be an effective leader. 

People often think that Robredo was referring to himself when he said that a leader must be “matino at mahusay.” This is because, to many, Jesse epitomized the two leadership qualities. But to my mind, I believe that he was referring not to himself but to his fellow Bicolano “kababanwa” - Senator Raul Roco - as the epitome of the “matino at mahusay na lider.” This is because the first time I heard Jess utter his now famous line was in 2004 during a rally in Naga City. Jess was then campaigning for Roco for president, and he used the “matino at mahusay” tagline to convince people to vote for Roco. Those who knew would attest to his humility and simplicity, and Jess is not the type to even imply that he is the “matino at mahusay na leader” referred to in his speeches.

Through the years, Jess used this “matino at mahusay” slogan in his speeches to promote his good governance agenda. Furthermore, when he became DILG secretary in 2010, he instituted the “Seal of Good Housekeeping” program to motivate LGUs and inspire local chief executives to be “matino at mahusay.” The award is given to LGUs who have instituted all the accountability, transparency and governance reform measures designed by DILG. Today, Robredo’s “Seal of Good Housekeeping Challenge” has been widely accepted by LGUs.

2.    “Walang Malaki o Maliit”

One of Jesse’s most favorite catchphrases is “walang malaki o maliit sa akin, lahat pare-pareho.” I believe that this deceptively innocuous statement is the very essence of Robredo’s management style and political philosophy. 

a.    As a management philosophy. Jess truly believed that each task, no matter how big or small, is worthy of his best efforts. And he expected his people to apply themselves to each task with equal zeal and dedication. Of course, this management concept is not really original - as a management engineering graduate, Robredo probably picked it up from the Japanese “Kaizen” management philosophy. “Kaizen,” which means “the way of continuous improvement,” was adopted by Japan to propel their war-ravaged economy into becoming the world’s second largest next only to the United States. The Japanese were able to achieve this because their “quest for never-ending improvement” enabled them to equal, and eventually surpass, the Americans. In time, Japan succeeded in manufacturing cheap but superior quality cars, excellent value-for-money electronic products and their industry became more efficient than the U.S. And the Japanese were able to achieve this because the lowliest factory worker in Japan rendered the same “best effort” as the top-ranked executives in their corporation, in line with the “Kaizen” management philosophy.

Another aspect of “Kaizen” is the belief that each part of the process and/or each individual member of the team are equally important. It is said that top level executives of Japan’s Toyota car company are tasked to clean the corporate bathrooms once a year, in order to keep them “grounded” and to remind them of the importance of each person in the corporation.  This is probably the reason why Jess did not think it was beneath him to shovel dirt and clear debris after a typhoon, to sweep the street in front of his home, or to come to a PTA meeting in slippers. As such, Robredo never got tired of exhorting his own people in Naga City and the DILG to take pride in their work and give it all they’ve got, irregardless of how menial the task or low their rank. 

b.    As a political philosophy. People are often pleasantly surprised with the “VIP treatment” they get from Jess. Just the other day I watched on TV an emotional urban poor leader who paid a tribute during Robredo’s state funeral in Malacañang, saying that “Secretary Jess did not see us as trash or considered us as an eyesore; he treated us with all sincerity and he was always accessible to us.” Likewise, one can read numerous anecdotes online or in print media about how Robredo would return their calls or entertain their requests, no matter how small. All the stories seem to say one thing:  Jesse Robredo was a person who is “madaling lapitan at madaling hanapin.”  

I have heard Jess often say “walang malaki o maliit sa akin, lahat pare-pareho” which to him meant that he not only treated all his job assignments as worthy of his best efforts but also that he saw people, no matter their station in life, equally. Thus, he treated a text message or a phone call of an ordinary citizen, although perhaps not with the same urgency but with the same importance, as a phone call from the President of the country.  

In many ways, Robredo’s “walang maliit o malaki” philosophy goes against the grain of our country’s “split-level democracy” (which I derived from “split-level Christianity,” a term originally coined by the Jesuit priest Fr. Jaime Bulatao). We can see its manifestations everywhere: in airports there are VIP rooms reserved for dignitaries; during festivals there are separate entrances and seats reserved for “important” guests; etc. etc. And we Filipinos really do not see anything wrong with this. In fact, we tend to believe that it is the natural order of things for our “political betters” to be exempted from lining up like the rest of us, and that they are entitled to certain special privileges because of their status in society. Last Friday I paid my last respects to Jess in Malacañang and I saw this “split-level” mentality at work: hundreds of ordinary Filipinos lining up at Gate 7 while “VIPs” entered the Palace through a separate gate reserved exclusively for them. I also saw that, after paying their last respects, the teeming masa were given refreshment (contained in paper packages) while the high-ranking Filipinos and their staff were invited to partake in a buffet dinner inside one of the Malacañang rooms.     

In many ways, Robredo’s notion that the masa (the “maliit”) and elite (the “malaki”) are entitled to the same kind of treatment or service from government officials is “subversive” and even “dangerous.” For what would happen if the people lining up in Malacañang suddenly felt entitled to pass through the “special gate” reserved for VIPs? Or what if they felt entitled to partake in the sumptuous buffet reserved for Cabinet members and their staff? Which brings me to the third and final gospel of Jesse Robredo.

3.    “Good Government Cannot Be Achieved Without People Empowerment” 

I have seen Robredo “in action” when he was still mayor of Naga City. I can attest that the stories about him walking around in his city wearing just shorts and slippers are all true, and he is the only mayor I know who rode a mountain bike to his meetings. I had on several occasions had the chance to walk with him around Naga City and it was quite obvious that the Nagueños adored him - sidewalk vendors would greet him, women would approach and hug him, and neighborhood tambays would swap jokes with him.

Of course, this sort of adulation is not really unique and I know of many other local politicians who merit the same kind of “crowd reaction” each time they visit the public market, shop at the mall or simply walk the streets of their territory. But what makes Jesse unique is the fact that (he said this to me) in all his years as mayor he never handed out any cash to a “supplicator.” He told me that when he was elected mayor one of the first “contract” he had with the people is that they could not expect to get “KBL” money out of him. But in exchange he promised not to steal and vowed to render them “true” public service. During his first term local media practitioners derisively called him a “boksingero” but in time the people grew to accept and eventually admire Robredo’s “idiosyncrasies.” 

In his 19 years as mayor of Robredo did not engage in “tokenism” but tackled problems head on. He solved Naga City’s traffic problem, relocated all squatters (especially those living in dangerous zones) and provided them with decent housing, and published the city’s annual budget in the spirit of transparency. If an indigent person approaches him (usually with a sob story), Jess would usually refer him to the City DSWD or to the concerned city department head for immediate action. This system was instituted he explained so that people will not think that it was his personal money that was used to help them. He also instituted a People’s Congress comprised of urban poor leaders, women’s groups, NGOs, etc. to participate in City Council discussions and help City Hall towards coming up with viable solutions to the city’s problems. Much has already been written about Jesse’s efforts to promote transparency, accountability, good governance and people empowerment, and I do not wish to belabor them here. But let me add just one more anecdote to illustrate how “empowered” the people of Naga City really are. 

Jess often reminded people that “it is not enough for a leader to be good; more importantly, it is the people and the system that must force the leader to be good.” In 1998 Jess reached his mandatory 3-term limit as mayor. As to be expected, people anticipated him to field his wife Atty. Leni Gerona Robredo, a successful career woman in her own right who equally possesses the “matino at mahusay” qualities needed to become a good local chief executive. But the citizenry of Naga City felt that having his wife succeed him would be contrary to all that he stood for. The empowered Nagueños were not afraid to articulate their stand and in the end Jess heeded the people’s voice. But this did not mean that the Nagueños no longer loved him. In fact, Jesse’s handpicked candidates swept the polls that year, winning all positions from mayor to vice mayor down to the ten (10) council seats.  

In a speech before the graduating students of Ateneo de Manila University Jesse Robredo said: “Our political history has shown that we have put the burden of running this country to our ‘best’ people for too long. And yet the gap between the rich and the poor has grown wider. For this country to succeed, we need to make heroes out of the ordinary people. We need to make heroes of ourselves.”

Dios Mabalos Jess!