A few days before the Barangay and SK elections, President Bongbong Marcos publicly advised the candidates, “Be honest.” A notable knee-jerk reaction in the social media, we read “What? He did say it? Really?” People were wondering how on earth he could utter such a word in public, given his track record of spewing lies since he entered politics.
We guess that he simply felt that as president he had the duty to project himself, being the head-of-state, as a model of honesty. He just had to dispel the ‘rumors’ that he faked his educational background in that school in the United Kingdom famous world-wide for its expertise in the field of Economics. He was aware too that people had the impression that he lied in his Certificate of Candidacy for the presidency by not mentioning about his conviction for being a tax evader by no less than the Court of Appeals. He also wanted to deny what people have been saying about his father’s regime as a brutal one with massive human rights violations and plunder of the country’s economy.
In short, he just had to remind the candidates that public office is a position of trust, hence, if they win, they have to be honest to themselves in truly serving their constituents with integrity and selflessness. And more to the point: winning candidates should especially look at how the families living within their respective jurisdictions are able to cope with the current economic problems facing the country. He knows that the officials at the lowest ground-level unit of the country can really make an impact on raising the economic status at least to a decent level of those considered poor, that is, 48% of Filipinos, according to the latest SWS survey.
Thus, among his most recent significant decisions was to appoint a full-time Secretary of Agriculture, the department which he thinks can prove his honesty to fulfill his promise to bring down the price of the Filipinos’ staple food, rice, to P20 per kilo. He also hopes to lower the prices of fruits and vegetables, along with fish, chicken and pork, especially since such can directly impact on the economic lives of the masses, particularly in the marginalized barangays.
HONESTY in public office is indeed a must for officials in government, most especially in the president and his vice-president, who are supposed to be paragons of honesty. Only then can we also expect all the rest of the officials, down to the ‘kagawads’ in the barangays nationwide, to honestly carry out their mandate of genuine service, particularly focusing on raising the standards of living of the millions of poor Filipinos.
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