Maremar
When I was director-general of TESDA, I heard a male government official declare “I am a member of MARE.” I expressed surprise, since as far as I knew, only women could be members of MARE.
“What I mean is that I have served under four presidencies,” he explained with a smile. ” I served under Marcos, Aquino, Ramos, and Estrada.”
I thought that acronym was a useful framework for looking at issues, and for having a more realistic perspective. Politicians and their partisans tend to look at issues only within the limited time frame of their term of office. But significant issues cannot be understood fairly in such a compartmentalized manner.
Take land reform, poverty reduction, or for that matter, economic growth. They depend on many more factors than politics and the presidency.
Of course every political leader, especially one as powerful as the president, deserves to be praised and blamed for progress or setback in addressing national problems. But no single president can claim sole credit for achievements during his or her term; in the same measure, we cannot put all the blame on them for problems during their term.
Still, more often than not, sitting presidents claim all the credit for any good thing that happens during their term, even if many factors are involved, including what was done by their predecessors. But when they get criticized for problems that persist, they are quick to blame others, especially the previous administrations.
A few months after I took office in TESDA, I was told this fictional story which rings true. A new official received from his predecessor three envelopes, with the advice: “When you meet any crisis in your term, open these envelopes for advice.”
When he faced his first crisis, he opened the first envelope, and read the message: “Blame your predecessors.”
Faced with the second crisis, he opened the second envelope, and got this second advice: “Re-organize!”
When the third crisis happened, he frantically opened the third envelope. The advice was straight forward: “Prepare three envelopes.”
Yesterday, NEA Administrator Editha Bueno invited me for a free-wheeling discussion with some of her staff about electric consumer education. Among the points I made was the need for NEA and the electric cooperatives to tell the story of rural electrification, so that the general public can have a proper perspective about the problems the coops face under EPIRA.
Whatever the shortcomings of NEA and the electric coops over the years, I told them that they can justifiably claim credit for making electricity accessible to almost all of the 42,000 barangays in the Philippines, including those in remote areas. This couldn’t have been done by private distribution companies, since energizing these remote barangays does not make commercial sense.
Beyond the barangays, there are still the sitios and puroks. NEA has asked the DILG and the NSO for a list of sitios and puroks, but the two agencies have none. The electric coops had to do their own listing.
The current administration has set 2009 ( pushed back from 2008 ) as the target date for energizing 100% of all the barangays. This is the mandate and mission of NEA and the electric coops. It seems likely that this target will be met.
When that happens, who will get the credit? I told them, “Maremar.”
They laughed and wondered what’s the connection of rural electrification to the latest telenovela of GMA 7, which features the replacement of Angel Locsin.
“No, it is not showbiz,” I explained. “Maremar represents the five presidencies: Marcos, Aquino, Ramos, Estrada, and Macapagal-Arroyo.”
The program of rural electrification started during the Marcos presidency, and hopes to cover all barangays during the Macapagal-Arroyo presidency. Each administration can claim its part in the success of the program, just as each administration can be taken to task for problems that have accompanied the program.
Now that EPIRA is under review for possible amendments, it is also time to ask if the electrification of the whole country is still a national policy, and if so, how will this happen under EPIRA?
