Huffington Post: Benigno Aquino; Transformational or Transitional Leadership?

at Thursday, November 08, 2012 23 comments

How could you describe the leadership of the world famous Philippine leader President Benigno imeon !o"uangco Aquino ###?

$A% Transformational Leadership? $B% Transitional Leadership? $!% &one of the abo'e? $(% &o !omment

This Article is written by Richard Javad Heydarian, and published in Huffington Post. The author described Mr. Aquino as ore of a transitional rather than a transfor ational

leader. The world want to !now your point of view to Mr. Aquino.
"""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""" Without a doubt, the Philippines is finally on the move -- and ell on its ay to re!ain its lon!sou!ht place of pride amon! "sian nations# "fter decades of sta!nation, political uncertainties,

and anemic economic performance, the country has emer!ed from the ashes of despair, confidently ridin! on a ave of cautious optimism# Today, the country has one of the orld$s fastest !ro in! economies, one of "sia$s most bullish stoc% mar%ets, a constantly improvin! credit ratin!, a boomin! real estate, and a stron! currency that is helpin! an increasin!ly mobile and confident consumer class# &espite its reputation as "sia$s $sic%man,$ or even a re!ional bas%et case as others have su!!ested, the Philippines hasn$t been a stran!er to success -- definitely far from bein! a lifetime la!!ard# 'ac% in the $(0s, the country as one of the orld$s fastest !ro in! economies, relishin! "sia$s second hi!hest per capita income after )apan# *anila$s soft po er lied in its status as a re!ional hub of fashion, commerce, travel, and culture# +t as a beacon of democratic capitalism in the hole "sia -- reflectin! the relatively beni!n colonial le!acy of "merica# ,o ever, over succeedin! decades, the Philippines found itself steadily fallin! behind its re!ional peers# -irst came the Ne ly +ndustriali.ed /ountries 0N+/s1 of 2outh 3orea, Tai an, and 2in!apore# Then, the Philippines atched ith much envy the li%es of *alaysia and Thailand overta%in! it# 'y the early 21st century, 4ietnam and +ndonesia -- to *anila$s horror -be!an outdoin! their -ilipino counterpart# With *yanmar openin! up its economy, some commentators have sardonically su!!ested a ne competition for the Philippines# There is nothin! romantic about a former hi!h school 5oc%ey atchin! all his classmates cruisin! past him# 2o, hy has the Philippines -- a former re!ional leader -- fallen behind its "sian peers6 Why does it suffer from one of the hi!hest rates of underemployment, malnutrition, ine7uality, and poverty in "sia6 Well, basically because of a lethal coc%tail of bad policies, cultural complacency, and ea% 0if not bad1 leadership# The issue of culture is a tric%y one# +n his a ard- innin! essay, $" &ama!ed /ulture,$ veteran 5ournalist )ames -allo s su!!ested that a culture of dependence, complacency, corruption and ineptitude lies behind Philippines$ dramatic decline in the latter half of the 21st century# 8et, the problem ith $culture ar!uments$ is that they have a static analytic approach, failin! to understand the dynamic and mutually constitutive interaction bet een culture, on one hand, and the broader political economy, on the other# *odern history is replete ith e9amples of ho so-called $bac% ard societies$ -- described as la.y and sava!e by status 7uo po ers -- have been transformed into one of the orld$s most innovative and pro!ressive nations# "fter all, at the be!innin! of the 1:th century, ho ould have thou!ht that the feudal-a!ricultural )apan ould rise -- than%s to the $*ei5i ;estoration$ -as a !lobal industrial po er6 <r, at the be!innin! of the 20th century, ho ould have ima!ined that relatively isolated 2candinavian states such as 2 eden and -inland or resourcepoor Northeast "sian countries such as 2in!apore, 2outh 3orea, and Tai an ould leapfro! to the top of !lobal indices, in terms of infrastructure, innovation, science, and technolo!y6 This is here policy and leadership come into the picture#

+n 2outheast "sia alone, if there is one thin! that the li%es of *alaysia$s *ahathir or 2in!apore$s =ee 3 an 8u could teach the Philippines, it is the fact that culture is malleable> it can chan!e and be shaped alon! a particular vision -- than%s to information technolo!y, universal education, and varyin! forms of state indoctrination and?or mainstreamin!# The very concept of $nation-state$ is in itself a construct, so hen e say $national culture,$ e are also describin! a specific construct# Thus, + find it a bit $orientalist$ to ascribe an essential cultural trait to a particular country, especially one as !lobali.ed and cosmopolitan as the Philippines# +n short, the maladies of Philippine society could be traced bac% to decades of bad leadership and ron! polices, hich have failed to create the conditions for sustainable economic !ro th and political stability alon! democratic lines# -or decades, a combination of corrupt leadership and technocratic incompetence has !iven birth to crony capitalism, oli!archic politics, and concentrated economic !ro th# This is here the second 7uestion comes in@ 2o, hy is the Philippines re-emer!in!6 Well, lar!ely because of the ne leadership of President 'eni!no "7uino +++# When one starts from a relatively lo base -- hi!h rates of poverty, corruption, cronyism and political indifference -- it simply ta%es a clean, credible, and sincere leader such as "7uino himself to a1 restore a measure of trust in state institutions and b1 calm nervous mar%ets# 'an%in! on his lar!er-than-life pedi!ree, "7uino$s main focus has been to rid his country of corruption, especially in the upper echelons of the state# 2tayin! true to his campai!n promises, he has successfully pushed for the impeachment of leadin! ma!istrates 0tied to the previous administration1, ho have been accused of public misconduct and corruption -- pavin! the ay for the e9ecution of "7uino$s ultimate plan@ to put former President Aloria "rroyo in 5ail for !ood# 2ince President$s "7uino$s economic policies are not si!nificantly different from his predecessors, the current economic resur!ence is lar!ely a reflection of !ro in! mar%et confidence in the leadership$s ability to maintain political stability, shun draconian re!ulatory reforms, and provide a measure of macroeconomic predictability, especially in terms of interest rates and inflation# Bven rebel !roups such as the *oro +slamic =iberation -ront 0*+=-1 have been encoura!ed by "7uino$s sincere leadership, precipitatin! a historic $frame or% peace a!reement$ that as si!ned bet een the rebels and the Philippine !overnment -- potentially endin! decades of conflict in southern Philippines# <verall, the Philippines$ resur!ence is not so much about "7uino$s technical e9pertise as it is the !ood ill e9pressed in his actions# ,o ever, "7uino is yet to propose an economic a!enda that ill reverse Philippines$ hi!hly une7ual, unsustainable, and concentrated patterns of !ro th# ,e has also been critici.ed for his lac% of support for important transparency-boostin! measures such as the -reedom of +nformation 0-<+1 bill# This is hy "7uino is perhaps more of a transitional rather than a transformational leader#

Written by ;ichard )avad ,eydarian, Published in ,uffin!ton Post ,uffin!ton post