Mabini Hall - Access to Justice

IT’S special how we run our country. I guess this is why we are special—a special country that is. We source our candidates for the highest office in the land from our upper legislative chamber. No wonder every politician wants to be in the Senate to cast the proverbial “moist eye” on the presidency. The electoral constituency of the President and the senators are the same, both national. Senate investigations push up the profile of the aspirants backed up by “pork barrel.” There really is nothing evil about this. What is wrong is that we are missing out on the good executive talent. The President of the Republic is not called our Chief Executive for nothing.

In the US where we like to copy our governance system, a qualified governor from a small state like Bill Clinton made to the White House. So can a muscle-bound governor from the largest state. In fact next year, a charismatic former mayor from New York is distinct candidate. There are of course the usual suspects but you get the point.Ex-Sen. Alfredo Lim and now Mayor of Manila is the prime example. He was an outstanding city mayor known for his tough anticrime policy.

Previously, he was a decorated policeman and served as director of the National Bureau of Investigation. His favorite slogan then and now is that “the law should apply to everyone or not at all.” It was on a peace and order platform that he ran and alas, his effectiveness was not enough to bring him to Malacañang. He easily made it to the Senate in 2004 and in his words: “I was bored.”

Legislation takes a lot of discussion and research and a very long process. As senator, one cannot even directly help people who come for assistance. Hands are tied to endless debates. No wonder senators occasionally launch investigations in aid of legislation to shake things up. Back at the helm of the Chief Executive of the capital city, Mayor Lim now has the clear advantage of a better grasp of the big picture and hence much more holistic this time around.

His program includes education, health, social service and even environment tackling climate change while maintaining his police line. Action defines him and in less than two weeks in office, he has reopened congested Rizal Avenue to traffic, dismantled the notorious Little Vietnam and cracked down on overflowing liquor and gyrating girls along our world famous bay.

He is keeping the lights though as it brightens the boulevard. As an aside, the good mayor can perhaps rationalize that Rajah Sulaiman stoplight which senselessly holds up all vehicles during the day with not one pedestrian in sight. Ditto that huge coffee cup and Coke bottle eyesores. Mayor Lim is back in his element. He can move as fast as he wants without being hemmed in by protocol and faced with the constraint that is the collegial body. His pace is as he dictates for the greatest good of the greatest number.

Again in his own words, his sole criterion is “nakakabuti ba o hindi.” Lost in the flurry of initiatives is that he is a sprightly 77-year-old man and yet he commands the respect and fear of law enforcers and the lawless alike.Where else do we have executive talent? The best legislator does not make a competent executive. Neither does the best executive make a decent lawmaker. Our experience and history proves this many times over and we continue to follow the same old pattern and make the same old decisions. Is there really a lack of good managers?

My personal idol Bayani Fernando, chairman of the Metropolitan Manila Development Authority, more than deserves his present position. Education Secretary Jesli Lapus is an awarded AIM alumni and CEO of a big multinational before his stint in public service. Lim energized is Lim unleashed—energized to live his destiny as the man of action and unleashed to leave his legacy as a man of law. He has chosen wisely and so have the people