A TALE OF TWO PUBLIC SERVANTS: A YES MAN AND A MAVERICK

Have you ever thought what it would be like to say yes to everything? To never say no to any request, challenge, or opportunity that comes your way?

Well, that’s exactly what Jim Carrey’s character does in the comedy movie “Yes Man”. He goes from being a bored and lonely bank employee to a spontaneous and adventurous thrill-seeker, just by saying yes to everything.

Sounds fun.

But what if saying yes to everything is not just a personal choice, but a professional obligation? What if you work for someone who expects you to agree with and support everything they say or do, regardless of the consequences? That’s the situation that many people faced under the presidency of Donald Trump. Trump surrounded himself with people who agreed with him and praised him. He did not like people who disagreed with him or criticized him. He wanted people who were loyal to him. He wanted people who were “Yes Men”.

And he got rid of people who were not.

Sounds familiar.

Here and now, “Yes Men” in the government service, regardless of their views, always agree with and support the higher-ups. A “few good men” do not follow conventions, but act independently or innovatively – the “Mavericks”. Let’s examine two public servants, a “Yes Man” and a “Maverick” from the Department of Finance – their roles, actions, and consequences.

THE “YES MAN”- BENJAMIN DIOKNO

Diokno is the Secretary of Finance and the head of the economic team under President Bongbong Marcos (PBBM) administration. He is responsible for policy formulation, revenue generation, resource mobilization, debt management, and financial market development of the government. He is also expected to advise and guide PBBM on economic matters, and to coordinate with other agencies and stakeholders on economic development.

However, Diokno has served as a typical example of a “Yes Man” put on display by his recent support for the price cap on rice amid the rice crisis. He revealed that he was shocked when he heard about the price cap on rice. As expected, being an economist himself, he had understood the basic idea that price caps would have negative effects on the market forces of supply and demand. He said:

“[U]nder ideal market conditions, price controls don’t really work…It had adverse effects if allowed to linger for a longer period.”

Yet, despite having been aware of the consequences, Diokno still supported PBBM’s decision to impose the price cap on rice. He said:

“We agree with the President that implementing a price cap on rice is the most prudent course of action at the moment…”

Another example of Diokno’s “Yes Man” predisposition was his failure to pull the plug on the doubling of salaries for the military and uniformed personnel (MUP) under the Duterte administration as Joel Ruiz Butuyan asserted in his Inquirer column, Pensions that violates the Constitutions:

“The pension and retirement benefits of MUPs have ballooned to humongous amounts because former president Duterte doubled the base pay of active MUPs, to reportedly endear himself with military and police personnel, and despite opposition from his economic team" [headed then by Diokno].

Diokno had a grasp then of the serious implications of the MUP’s humongous pension for fiscal stability. He asserted:

“[The current MUP pension system] is not sustainable and if it goes on, there will be a fiscal collapse. They have to cooperate with the rest of society otherwise, our fiscal deficit will just continue to balloon.”

The consequences and implications of Diokno’s “Yes Man” predisposition for the nation are:

·         Distorting the market forces of supply and demand, creating shortages, hoarding, smuggling, and inflation;

·         Threatening the fiscal stability and sustainability of the government treasury due to the ballooning MUP pension;

·         Undermining the credibility and reputation of the Department of Finance as an independent and professional institution;

Neglecting his duty as the chief economic adviser of the government, as well as his accountability to the public.

THE “MAVERICK” – CIELO MAGNO

Department of Finance Undersecretary Cielo Magno, was responsible for overseeing the Fiscal Policy and Monitoring Group which recommends fiscal policies, formulates tax reform proposals, as well as forecasts and programs the national government revenues.

Magno has been a “Maverick” who has shown her courage and integrity, her willingness to speak her mind and stand up for her principles. She spelled out her opposition to the price cap on rice through a cryptic Facebook post showing a supply-demand graph with the caption “I miss teaching…” It was a subtle way of expressing her disagreement with the price cap – implying it would create a shortage of rice, as shown by the gap between the quantity demanded and the quantity supplied at the price cap.

As a consequence, Magno lost her job. She posted on X:

“I knew when I posted the supply and demand graph that my boss (Finance Secretary Benjamin Diokno) would receive a call from Malacañang to remove me, but I did it anyway. With how things were going, I knew it was time to go.”

Magno’s dilemma reminds me of one fearless whistleblower, Bunny Greenhouse, who helped bring accountability and transparency to a giant government agency, the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers. Featured in the book Your America: Democracy’s Local Heroes, her heroic story triggers this opening thorny paragraph:

“Let’s say you work for a gigantic institution – a corporation, or a branch of the U.S. government. Bit by bit you advance in your career. You make a comfortable salary, and you’re building a retirement nest egg. Then comes the day that you discover something terribly wrong is going on. Do you make a big stink and endanger your job? Or do you just look the other way, knowing that the organization will resist any change and that if you speak out, you’ll likely end up as road-kill?”

The following statement of the Executive Secretary has affirmed the grim reality that “if you speak out” like Magno did, you’ll likely end up as “road-kill”: “The termination of [Cielo Magno’s] appointment could only be expected as she clearly does not support the administration and its program for nation-building.”

While Bunny Greenhouse succeeded, did Cielo Magno fail? If so, at least she failed “while daring greatly.” Magno’s place, as Theodore Roosevelt said, “shall never be with those cold and timid souls who neither know victory nor defeat.”

Now I have questions for you: Are you a “Yes Man” or a “Maverick” in your work? How do you balance between saying yes and no? How do you cope with the challenges or benefits of being either one?

Finally, is the following statement uttered by a “Yes Man” or a “Maverick”?

“I think we are not in a rice emergency, so to speak.” (DTI Secretary Alfredo Pascual)

Or does it belong to another category?

Interestingly, Collins Dictionary states, “You use ‘so to speak’ to draw attention to the fact that you are describing or referring to something in a way that may be amusing or unusual rather than completely accurate.”

Juicy government job, anyone?

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Head collage photos courtesy of cartoonstockdotcom

Video clips courtesy of YouTube