We picked up from the grapevine that the reason no appointment yet of the Department of Agriculture secretary was the right timing has be awaited. The prospective appointee is a national politician related to the President. So patience, as it might cause the hackles of the public to stand, “Kamag anak na naman!”
But that is our defect since time immemorial. Politics. The DA secretary is such an important position for politics to be the main consideration. Any incompetence there would mean hunger for the people. And the continued slide of the country further down to the abyss of agricultural backwardness. Hence, it is imperative to base such appointment on the merits. That is, appointing someone who knows what he is talking about when it came to agriculture.
But what do we expect? It is our already well-entrenched culture that any appointment is based on the applicant’s MBA— “may backer ako.” We can recall what used to be the supposed main considerations for appointments during PNoy’s time. It was the KKK (Kaibigan, Kamag-anak o Kabarilan). The last word, Kabarilan, refers to the then President’s shooting buddies.
Another strong contender for appointment to the DA, as we heard, is the “bata” of a former president. The implication of the word “bata” is he would do that former president’s bidding anytime as he was a member of the latter’s syndicate in the past.
As we used to say here, if you wanted to join the mafia in the States, you did that. Here, it is different. You join the government. So that “bata” will be part of that former president’s mafia, corrupting or pocketing mind boggling amounts—our money— from the government coffers.
Our incumbent president owes the people the duty to base appointments on the merits. More so for the DA as the existence of the masses is dependent on it. And that should also serve his purpose if he really intended to cleanse the Marcos name.
But does he really care? The masses would still vote for him even if they are enduring now a lot of hardships. Well, stupid votes are valued or counted the same as the intelligent ones.**