"I would rather be correct than popular..."
...That line struck me as I read Alex Magno's article entitled Philistines on the Philippine Star. I would like to share his views here, which I very much agree with. I did so because I want to do my part to help popularize what is right.
The following are taken from http://www.abs-cbnnews.com/storypage.aspx?StoryId=79898 :
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Philistines
FIRST PERSON
By ALEX MAGNO
The Philistines succeeded in taking down Ralph Recto. They did so by turning their backs on the requirements of economic statesmanship — and the need to properly educate the people on the hard facts of proper fiscal management. Instead, they pandered to the miseducated, exploited their ignorance and tried to make political hay by senselessly agitating against a modern form of taxation.
Principal among these was losing opposition candidate John Osmeña. He tried to build support for his candidacy by ranting against the VAT, peddling the misinformation that it was anti-poor and glossing over the glaring benefits this revenue measure had brought about. He was pandering to populism, worshipping at the altar of fiscal irresponsibility.
This losing candidate suggested that the VAT would be repealed if he were elected senator. That itself is a misrepresentation. All legislation on revenue measures emanates from the House, not the Senate. And the House is not likely to ride the bandwagon of fiscal irresponsibility, not with the overwhelming (and expected) majority of the pro-administration coalition in that chamber.
Fortunately, John Osmeña is not more politically important than the electoral outcome indicates. Otherwise, his opportunistic ranting against a perfectly sane revenue measure might have caused the nation a credibility crash. Our credit rating might have been downgraded. Investors might have held back. And the economic blossoming we now see might not have happened.
Remember that the economic renaissance we are now experiencing began exactly the day after the expanded VAT was enforced. This was on the expiration of the Supreme Court restraining order resorted to by misguided and grandstanding politicians who sought judicial intervention on a matter of fiscal policy after they had lost on the legislative floor.
After the expanded VAT came into effect, the budget gap began to close. Our need to borrow quickly declined. The peso gained strength. Inflation was tamed. Investments began to stream into our economy. Our debt service load became lighter.
In a word, after taking the bitter pill the good times began to roll.
Taking the bitter pill required a lot of political courage. At the House, Speaker de Venecia cracked the whip to get the measure through. At the Senate, Ralph Recto argued the case for VAT before his reluctant colleagues. And when the time came to implement it, President Arroyo did so — during the ebb in her presidency, when some of her allies defected and an impeachment case was being initiated against her.
The expanded VAT did not make the President popular. But it made our economy strong. That is what economic statesmanship is all about.
If our economy has been weak and erratic for years, it was for want of economic statesmanship among those who previously led the nation. No one, previously, wanted to court unpopularity as the cost for doing what was right.
And so in previous governments, we borrowed rather than taxed — until the debt load crashed on us and brought our economy to failure.
Now, with the new revenue measures, we have turned a new leaf. We will finance our way to development and no longer rely on debt. That is what national self-reliance means in this new world.Doing that requires heroic political leadership. Ralph Recto delivered that sort of leadership.
I worked with him when he took up the cudgels at the House for the bill liberalizing the retail trade after his other colleagues chickened out due to strong pressure from vested interests. Retail trade was liberalized and a revolution in consumption and distribution patterns followed in its wake. Irony of ironies, those who funded the campaign against liberalization benefited the most from its happy consequences.
In his Senate valedictory, on the day he conceded defeat in his bid for re-election, Ralph said he would rather be correct than popular. I felt sad twice over when he said that.
First, because what is correct should not be unpopular. The first task of modern political leadership is to educate the citizens well about what is good for the commons.
Second, if advocating for a correct revenue measure means shutting out the rest of one’s political career, then who else will stand up for fiscal discipline — the keystone to our nation’s sustainable progress. Who will hold up the candle of economic literacy in the chaos of our politics and the small-mindedness of our populist media?
That populist media — especially those semi-literate babblers on AM radio who militantly refuse to keep abreast with modern knowledge — is the other Philistine that took Ralph down. Everyday during the campaign period, these babblers ceaselessly lambasted VAT and lambasted Ralph for sponsoring this measure at the Senate. Good grief, even the bishops had railed against VAT for being “immoral” — against the mountain of evidence demonstrating that this measure has been the springboard for our economic salvation.
To his credit, Ralph did not evade the issue of VAT during the campaign. Instead, he used his political advertising to educate the public about the benefits of this modern revenue measure. Rather than resorting to a song-and-dance routine to keep the ignorant entertained, he used his candidacy to be a teacher to the people.
Thank you, Ralph for all the work you have done in helping modernize our economic policy architecture. Millions will benefit from that.We must now live with a Senate that, without you, will be vastly less economically literate.
posted by aleyneeee @ 9:05 PM
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