Duterte style: ”New normal”
Our traditional concept of a Head of State has been turned upside down by our newly elected President. The establishment elite are aghast at his sartorial style: checkered shirts with undershirt showing and corduroy pants. Jeans are standard for normal business days. At the SONA, he wore a barong with sleeves rolled up. I suspect he knows what it is to be “Presidential” but he has eschewed them to be true to his persona. But for those of us who are used to the conventional, it takes time to get used to it. His performance at the SONA belied the impression one gets from his rambling interviews. His remarks were well-delivered, articulate and straight to the point. But his “off the cuff” remarks in Tagalog added levity to serious issues and served to punctuate his commitment to address them. Yes, it was not structured and far too long but it left us, the audience, stunned, appreciative and wishing him well. He may not be our conventional idea of a Leader, maybe even downright quirky, but he got us hooked on his message. Isn’t that what Leadership is all about? And isn’t it ironic that a man who comes to sophisticated Manila bringing with him his small town bonhomie and probinsyano manner, coupled with colorful language, comes across as more sincere and credible in improving our lives and solving our basic concerns of crime, traffic and the plight of the poor. This is in sharp contrast to the conventional politician who trots out mindless statistics to impress and motherhood statements. Welcome to the “NEW NORMAL.”
Performance Tracking
As I draft this column, I am fully aware that other columns will comment, criticize and praise the President’s remarks. I question my ability to provide new or innovative points. Therefore, I will refrain from making further comment except thanking and commending the President for not going down to the level of “finger pointing” on the sins of the past.
The President’s credible delivery provided an upsurge of approval from all but all expect attainment sooner rather than later. I recommend that every member of his Cabinet must now draw up specific targets which can be measured, preferably with chronological milestones. These targets should be presented to the Cabinet for comment and finally the President’s approval. In turn, the Presidential Management Staff with the assistance of the Department of Information Communications Technology should develop a digital dashboard which will provide the President with a real time snapshot of the performance of every department on key performance indicators, and a status of their ongoing projects. In the spirit of transparency, the dashboards should be made available to the public via the internet.
Notice to friends and the public
More often than I would like, my friends complain that my columns are too long. It would seem our editors share the same sentiment about me and others. Starting next week, we have been notified that our column should not exceed 900 words. In the spirit of cooperation, I’m starting as early as today with this column having less than 600 words. In the future, I will do my best but will only protest if my message requires further clarification.