MANILA, Philippines – While President Benigno Aquino III enjoys “extended charisma” from his parents, this charisma alone is not enough to effectively run the government, a public administration professor said.

The same thing goes for the Philippines’ next president in 2016, University of the Philippines (UP) professor Leonor Briones said in a leadership forum Tuesday, May 12. 

Briones said: “It’s not enough for a president to have charisma. He must also have the savvy to put up a Cabinet which will implement [his] programs and make these dreams into reality, as well as [get] full cooperation from a legislature.”

Briones cited the delayed rehabilitation plan for areas devastated by Super Typhoon Yolanda (Haiyan) as an example of Aquino’s flaws. Aquino approved the rehabilitation plan on October 29, 2014, nearly a year after the disaster struck.

What Briones didn’t mention is that Aquino, on the other hand, also pushed for key measures that previous presidents stalled. Examples included the reproductive health law, which funds contraception, and the Comprehensive Agreement on the Bangsamoro, which seeks to end a 4-decade Muslim rebellion. 

Briones was among the panelists during the second part of #PHvote: The Leader I Want,” a forum organized by Rappler and the Building an Inclusive Democracy (BID) consortium. 

The BID consortium includes the College of Liberal Arts of the De La Salle University (DLSU), the Ateneo School of Government, the Asian Institute of Management, the RSN Policy Center for Competitiveness, and the University of the Philippines National College of Public Administration and Governance. 

The forum is part of #TheLeaderIWant, a social media campaign as part of #PHvote, Rappler’s coverage of the 2016 elections.

‘Out of comfort zones’

During Tuesday’s panel discussion in DLSU, Ateneo School of Government dean Antonio La Viña, for his part, stressed the need for “effective, empowering, and ethical” leaders. 

He said the Philippines, in particular, needs a leader with an “economic vision,” one with “a vision of migration” for overseas Filipino workers, and one with “a lot of compassion.”

La Viña, however, said one leader is not enough to solve the Philippines’ problems, “with a hundred million people in our country, with a very diverse geography.”

“One leader is not enough, so we have to try to shoot for ‘everyone a leader,'” he said. 

Like La Viña, DLSU’s Francisco Magno emphasized “collaborative governance.”

Magno, director of the DLSU Jesse Robredo Institute of Governance, at the same time cautioned the public: “Participation requires skills. It’s not just a feeling.” 

Briones, however, said talking about the #TheLeaderIWant is also not enough. “Hindi uubra ang ating pag-i-Ingles-Ingles,” the UP professor said in a room of students and scholars. (Talking a lot in English won’t get the message across.)

Briones said, “We have to get out of our offices, out of our comfort zones.” – Rappler.com