By Jose Emanuel M. Batoon
Image by THEPHILBIZNEWS/MAS
With all the seemingly unceasing scandal exposes that rocks our government and inevitably affected the country, the Filipino people are in a quandary whether we chose is truly the right one.
As to whether the allegations of the scandals are true or not, I leave it up to the Filipino people. To begin with, I am not a lawyer or justice who has the power to discern the circumstances and evidence as material to the accusations. I am just a young man who still has a long way to go to be able to understand and make the right judgment between truthfulness and falsehood. But my love for our country and desire in the quest to have a true leader that would lead us to salvation and not damnation will remain non-negotiable.
What kind of leader does our country need? I was asked by some people who wonder about such an issue that needs an answer. So my answers are narrated below:
In my humble opinion, our country is truly in dire need of a great leader who would be able to do things like they should be doing as depicted in many movies. Like the dedicated kings who despite their sleepless nights and hard work to improve their kingdom, still go around in the countryside in disguise and observe with their own eyes the condition of their kingdom and the people without so much fanfare and even mingle with them like the common folks. Thereafter, what they witnessed and experienced become their reference in mapping out what to do to improve their lives, without depending on what the court herald would tell them which may have some biases or not the whole truth after all.
I believe, leaders who see and experience the reality on the ground instead of hiding inside their ivory tower give them a better way to govern. Choosing the right people who would truly share the king’s vision is empirical because sometimes the ones who surrounded the leaders have their own selfish agenda that is detrimental to the people and the kingdom that the kings govern. Thus, removing people who don’t share your values and mission for good governance is also needed to make way for a newer and more trusted group of people is also essential to become a great leader.
Doing these can be a great way to handle a country. With trusted people, one can create a government that can be handled after orders from the King are given to them. A leader, of course, must be able to convince people that they’re actually doing everything for their people, not for their family or their own needs. But these must not betray one’s words with his action. Unlike the kings, our country’s leaders past, present and future are politicians and they have the tendency to over-promise but eventually shortchanged the people to their disappointment once they are in power.
Needless to say, they promise the moon and the stars, and even the entire universe when necessary to win the hearts of the less discerning voters.
For me, we must have a leader who can attract people who are greater than them from various expertise and handle the positions that the leader cannot fulfill. Leaders should be able to rule, as well as make oppositions become their allies without the use of blackmailing or abusing their power to intimidate, but rather by showing their pure conviction along with the oppositions and make them co-peacefully exists. When this happens, this will to truly help the country flourish.
They must also know how to make sacrifices by letting go of those who don’t contribute to the positive direction that the country needs to take. They must be sensible and know how to listen not just to their bloated ego.
It is not enough for a leader to just have ideals, they should also have a grasp of reality. They should think more of what can happen if they make this decision, instead of just creating decisions because it’ll make our country look like the other first world countries who are rich which is very evident in how they govern their country and people.
With many of the citizens wanting to improve our country to survive for the time being, but eventually look forward to living comfortably like the privileged ones. Sadly, many leaders don’t realize how much more a country can flourish once everyone has a part to do in improving it by collaborating and not driving a wedge between the rich and poor, pro-administration and opposition. Everyone has the potential to have a role in improving their homeland but only the King among all leaders are those who can make this a reality when he calls everyone to help, show sincerity and competency, respect and inspire, not curse and bully those who dissent. This is a leader we need now, the ones who promote democracy and healthy discourse and can unite us because we are all Filipinos after all.
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Jose Emanuel M. Batoon who prefers to be called JEM is a young man who just graduated from senior high. Fascinated by the writings of other people, loves shows, and movies. During his senior high school years, his eyes and mind were opened to the point of being able to create opinions about certain ideas. Due to the people he encountered online during his junior school years, he was able to hone his writing skills and hope that someday he will continue to write.
