It’s brain drain, Mr. President.
I am a fan of smart people. I even confess on having a bit of a crush on Albert Einstein, who looked like Shia Lebeouf as an adolescent. Smart people usually operate in systems-think, with an understanding of what an action’s effect will be to the rest of its remote environment. It’s inspiring to say the least, and I really wish we had more smart people around.
Well, especially in government. The government, I am not a fan of. I follow our laws, I pray for the President, I pay my taxes but I am not a fan of government. During last year’s Typhoon Ondoy situation, I was made to believe that we, as a nation, were able to pull through because of civil action and the initiative of the regular citizen. People spontaneously pitched in, helped out, not waiting for authorities to call the shots and direct the next steps. I’m not sure what would have happened had we waited for them and I do not want to speculate. But this is what is true: for the way Manila was able to overcome Ondoy, full credit goes to the Filipino everyman.
Why is it that evidenced by recent events, it seems like we can’t trust that the Philippine government can take care of us with brilliant solutions? Push comes to shove, we had to fend for ourselves with civil society moving to get things done. Why can’t the government make it happen?
I’m treading towards thin ice, and probably towards a false analogy. I’m a fan of smart people, I’m not a fan of government. So is our government bereft of smart people?
There’s a brain drain, I said it in my title. We’ve heard in the news that our scientific agencies are losing its experts to foreign countries or private corporations. My one friend who wanted to work for government, that one genius of a friend dedicated to developmental work was lost to immigration to Canada. I am particularly annoyed with the Malaysia, Truly Asia campaign as I know the Philippines is far more beautiful and interesting, but hey, we have great marketing minds but none of them to market us to the world. By choice and by circumstance, our bureaucracy does not appear to be attracting the smarts. Such a good thing is not with the powers that be.
Why don’t really good people work for our government? Or if they do, why does it seem that their excellence, the brilliance and efficacy of it all is lost?
Fact – an honest post in government is not attractive, it is not fashionable. When a fresh, promising young graduate steps out into the world, working for the government is rarely, almost never considered as a career path. One reason, our government has a poor career development plan. It is a rare occasion for a rank and file employee to rise up to be department secretary. And with most agencies more recommendatory than executive, doers aren’t really charmed.
Another reason is that government scarcely has good vacancies. The good posts have already been filled. Local government, where much of the executive work resides is home to (let’s admit it) political dynasties where incumbents did not earn their stripes, they were born into their seats. The bureaucracy is seen as a popularity contest. And as with high school, rare is it that the smart people ever become popular.
And thirdly, street cred is bad. Government work does not pay well, or if it does, you are probably corrupt. Blame it on our imperial past but the Filipino masses always look at people in authority with a hint of contempt. And any brilliant mind can discern that this isn’t a beneficial choice.
I have yet to see excellence emanate from our government. It really does appear that they, smart and not so smart government leaders, are busy at just not messing up. But that can’t bring this country back to the greatness this generation hasn’t even experienced yet. So I beseech you Mr. President, push for excellence among your ranks. Get rid of corruption and push for excellence. And please tell Mr. Lacierda to stop blaming the past administration for everything else. That’s hardly a solution.
Despite all that I have said, I haven’t fully lost hope. But I am not quite counting on the Philippine government to win it for us either. So civil society, meaning everyone else but the government, grease up. We still have work cut out for us.
photo credits: by Joel Castillo, http://www.seattlemet.com/issues/archives/articles/0608-mud-brain/
