“It is a magician’s bargain; give up our souls, get
power in return. But once our souls, that is, ourselves, have been given up,
the power thus conferred will not belong to us. We shall in fact be slaves and
puppets of that to which we have given our souls.” – C.S. Lewis
A staunch defender of VP Sara Duterte’s confidential
intelligence funds, Rep. Stella Quimbo, talking of her breakthrough offer from
Speaker Martin Romualdez, exclaimed in a tell-all interview by Rappler:
“I was offered to be the whip of the appropriations
chairperson. Oh, my goodness, this was offered to a Liberal Party member.
Can you imagine being the whip of the appropriations chair and being an LP
member? Oh my God. This was something that was coveted. How can I even refuse
that?”
Quimbo’s use of the words “whip” (scourge) and “coveted”
(greatly desired or envied), and the exclamation “OMG” (expressing supreme
excitement) twice is a plain giveaway reflecting the handwriting on the wall in
C.S. Lewis’ words about the problem of getting power.
IMPRESSIVE CREDENTIALS & CAREER
Beyond the shadow of a doubt, Quimbo, given her
impressive academic and professional credentials that set her apart from most
of her peers, has deserved such a breakthrough offer. She is not a typical
politician. Graduated summa cum laude with a Bachelor of Science degree in economics
from UP, where she also obtained her master's and doctorate degrees, she
served as professor and department chair at its School of Economics.
She was appointed with the rank of full professor to
the prestigious Prince Claus Chair in Development and Equity at the International
Institute of Social Studies of Erasmus University Rotterdam. Her research
expertise: health economics, industrial organization, microeconomics,
education, poverty, and public policy.
She served as Commissioner of the Philippine
Competition Commission from 2016 to 2019.
She entered politics in 2019 when she ran and won as a
representative of the second district of Marikina City under the Liberal Party.
She was one of the few opposition members who managed to secure a seat in
Congress amid the overwhelming victory of Marcos Jr. She quickly rose from
assistant minority leader to deputy minority leader, becoming one of the most
vocal and visible critics of the government.
She stood as the lone dissenter in the rejection of ABS-CBN’s
application for a new franchise.
Quimbo, with a
new title of senior vice chairperson of the appropriations committee, in the
same Rappler interview, added:
“The budget offers many opportunities for policy
reform, using the budget as leverage. Every single agency will go through you.
All the policy problems, you will have to fix. Oh, my goodness, it was to me
the perfect playground for somebody with my know-how. It was an obvious thing
to me. I felt so blessed.”
The above paragraph spells out Power.
POWER
Charles Colson, who served as special counsel to U.S. President
Nixon, in his book Kingdoms In Conflict: An Insider’s Challenging View of Politics,
Power, and the Pulpit, wrote about getting power that spoke volumes:
“I’ve seen [power] up close.
“So, when the offer came… There was glamorous
protocol, the possibility of shaping headlines and history, and the enticement
of being part of the inner circle surrounding the president of the United States.
Deep down, though I wouldn’t admit it, the White House represented the pinnacle
of the power I had pursued all my life… One of the first visible yardsticks of
power is the size and placement of the office… I maneuvered my way across the
hall to an office commanding an impressive view of the South Lawn. From there I
edged my way down the corridor toward the seat of power.
“Within a short time, my brusque
get-it-down-at-all-costs approach won Nixon’s favor, and I began to work
directly with him. With that kind of clout, I had little difficulty rearranging
several secret service agents and secretaries so I could occupy the office
immediately next to the president.
“Though the evidence of my change in status was
visible in the attitude of my visitors when they realized that the president
himself was just on the other side of the wall, the move was symbolic of
something much more important. It meant I had passed an invisible divide. I was
now inside. A Newsweek feature article heralded my arrival with the news that I
was now on the top of every Washington hostess’s guest list and that the mere
mention of my name 'makes the tensions come in like sheet rain.' In Washington,
that means power.
“[T]he perks and public adoration… are enough to
inflate nearly anyone’s ego. This leads to the self-indulgent use of power some
have dubbed the Imelda Marcos syndrome, which reasons, 'because I’m in
this position, I have a right to do whatever I want,' with total selfishness
and disregard for others.
“Power is like saltwater; the more you drink the thirstier you get.”
IMELDA MARCOS SYNDROME
Was Quimbo sullied by the Imelda Marcos syndrome
when she took the breakthrough offer from the Marcos Jr. administration?
Many were surprised and disappointed by Quimbo’s decision
to jump to the supermajority coalition of the Marcos administration in the
House led by the President’s cousin. But what dismayed many people was Quimbo’s
defense of VP Sara Duterte’s confidential and intelligence funds. It undermined
her credibility and integrity as a lawmaker and a public servant. She eroded
the trust and confidence of her constituents. She lost the respect and
admiration of many people who once looked up to her as a leader and a role
model.
Quimbo’s political journey reminds me of Robert Frost’s
poem The Road Not Taken – a metaphor for the choices and consequences
that we face in life. The writer stands at a fork in the road where two paths
diverge in a yellow wood. He has to decide which path to take, knowing that he
cannot come back and try the other one later. He chooses the one that seems
less traveled by and claims that it has made all the difference in his life.
Quimbo faced a crossroads in her career where she had
to choose between two paths: one that is more ethical and principled (the road
less traveled by), and one that is more opportunistic and self-serving (the
road more traveled by). She chose the opportunistic path which has offered more
power, wealth, and influence.
CAUTION: Down the road, power corrupts; absolute power
corrupts absolutely (Lord Acton)
Head collage photos courtesy of istockphotodotcom
& Rappler
Still photo with poem courtesy of Shortpedia Voices
Video clips courtesy of YouTube
No comments:
Post a Comment