The six years that make up a new President’s electoral mandate is not OJT (on-the-job training) time. Where a new Chief Executive is concerned, there can be no OJT. Whoever emerges as the winner in the May 9, 2016 election must be ready to function as the nation’s managing director as soon as the final results are in. He or she must—to borrow a military phrase—hit the ground running.
A Presidential candidate who has had limited professional training, who has not had wide experience in managing institutions and people and who, in general, has had inadequate exposure to the world of business affairs is not ready to become the nation’s managing director. He or she will not be able to hit the ground running.
Who among the five Presidential candidates—Miriam Defensor-Santiago, Rodrigo Duterte, Jejomar Binay, Mar Roxas and Grace Poe—comes closest to being, and has the best claim to becoming, this country’s managing director? Instead of approaching the question in top-down fashion, I will approach it in bottom-up fashion.
True, more Filipinos may have a favorable opinion of this candidate than any other candidate—as shown by the most recent opinion surveys—but the candidate with the weakest claim to becoming the nation’s Chief Executive is Grace Poe. Compared to the other candidates, who either have strong professional credentials and/or abundant administrative experience, Senator Poe is the least well-prepared for the Presidency. Half of a freshman term in the Senate and a brief chairmanship of a minor government agency simply aren’t sufficient preparation for the nation’s No. 1 job. The first year—or longer—in Malacanang of the late Fernando Poe Jr.’s daughter will definitely be OJT time.
Another candidate whose first year or two years in Malacañang will be largely OJT time is Rodrigo Duterte. True, he has been a longtime mayor of Davao City, but being the chief executive of one of this country’s largest cities is not nearly the same as running an entire country. The fact that the mayor knows the law—before going into politics he practiced law and was a public prosecutor—is a big plus, but Davao City is a long way in terms of both distance and responsibility from Malacañang.
No OJT will be involved if Miriam Santiago were to win the election. Senator Santiago is the only one of the five Presidential candidates who has served all three branches of the government. Before her election to the Senate, Miriam Santiago was a member of the Cabinet—as President Cory Aquino’s Secretary of Agrarian Reform—and a regional trial court judge. There would definitely be no OJT if Senator Santiago were to emerge as winner of the coming Presidential election. She would hit the ground running.
Likewise, there would be no OJT for Jejomar Binay if he were to win in the May 9 election. The Vice President, who is a lawyer, was a member of President Noy Aquino’s Cabinet—as head of the Cabinet-level agencies overseeing the housing and OFW sectors—and in that capacity was able to observe at first hand, and participate in, the making of national policies. Unfortunately, that advantage may come to nought because of the danger posed to Jejomar Binay’s candidacy by the spate of corruption-related issues raised against him in the Senate hearings on transactions entered into by the City of Makati during his incumbency as mayor. Were he to win the Presidency nonetheless, Jejomar Binay definitely would hit the ground running.
The third of the five Presidential candidates who would not need an OJT and who would be capable of hitting the ground running is Mar Roxas. A man with excellent professional credentials—a stint in a New York investment house after obtaining a degree from one of the best US business schools—the grandson and namesake of this country’s first post-World War II President has headed three major Cabinet departments (Interior and Local Government, Transportation and Communications and Trade and Industry)—is arguably the best prepared of the Presidential candidates for the job of directing this country’s affairs. Among the five, Mar Roxas has the widest exposure to, and the greatest experience with, the business sector. He definitely would hit the ground running if he were to win the election.
This brings me back to the title of this column. The Philippine economy cannot afford a Presidential winner who would have to undergo OJT. At this point the worst thing that could happen to the economy is getting a new Chief Executive who would have to undergo OJT. Like a Marine landing on a beach, he or she must be able to hit the ground running. The economy must not be put on hold while the new occupant of Malacanang struggles to learn the ropes.
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