Popularity ratings and the burden of leadership

When a leader makes decisions only to seek popularity, he stops being a leader and becomes a demagogue. Precisely, the people elected him to make hard, even unpopular decisions to achieve a higher purpose. Of course, we concede that we are a democracy and the president is answerable to the citizenry. But we need to stress the president, being both head of state and head of government, has tremendous burdens to carry, and his ultimate accountability is to the people. Cabinet members help him run the government, presidential advisers give him advice. But at the end of the day he makes the decisions, and he, alone will be judged by these exercises of presidential judgment.

There are presidents who always look at SWS and other surveys before making decisions. Not President Rodrigo Duterte. He is not like Cory, Noynoy, FVR or Erap. He is Mayor Digong who has his own perspectives, paradigms, and ways of looking at things. As long as he does not commit an impeachable offense, high crimes, or betrays the people's trust, he should be left alone. In the end, he alone will answer to the Filipino people. We are passengers and he is driving. We should stop interfering with his style and unique way of approaching the goals. The burdens of leadership demand that if we cannot help, we should shut up.

According to the late Lee Kuan Yew of Singapore, the problem with the Philippines is too much democracy and too little discipline. The opposition is always critical, but what have they done? The reds, the yellows and the oranges are always making harsh comments, but what positive contributions have they made? The president has a whole country to defend and 110 million Filipinos to protect. He has to think of national defense, foreign affairs, peace and order problems, and the war on drugs. He has a war in Marawi, a Communist movement to fight. He has many enemies of the state arrayed against him, like the rebels from the left, the noisy and always complaining privileged elite from the right, and the scribes and Pharisees of the centrist church who believe that they speak ''ex cathedra''. And the press pretenders and self-righteous critics.

The vice president's rating has increased. But what is her responsibility? She has no line or staff accountability. She is nothing but a spare tire. She just cuts ribbons, attends ceremonial affairs, and prays that the president resigns, gets impeached, or passes away. And so, as long as she smiles and looks good on TV, answers questions in ways that are politically correct, then her ratings are bound to go up. But the president has to deliver the bad news. He has to answer for all the incompetence, dishonesty, and ineptitude of millions of government employees. He leads according to his best light, and not to become popular. That is the meaning of leadership.