The quest for good governance

AT this period in our history when the quest for good government seems impossible, the inspiring life story of the late Paul Volcker Jr., a giant and legend in public finance and good governance, stands as one of the rare gems that all of us should know about.

Having the blessing of his friendship, I got to know, albeit, shortly, a personal story that he shared in our last lunch together in my last visit in his office at the Rockefeller Center in New York. At that time, Paul has already established the Volcker Alliance which aimed to equip future public servants with the essential understanding and necessary skills to run a good government. Eventually, he wrote this story about his father as his guiding example in public service in his memoir, "Keeping At It."

Much of what shaped Paul Volcker Jr.’s leadership in public service was about the exemplary model of service that his father did. His father, Paul Sr., was a legend in city governance with unquestionable integrity and unassailable character. In his years as the city manager of Teaneck, New York, he transformed this small community into a model town as its city manager for two decades. In his remarks explaining the need to hire his successor two years ahead of his retirement, he said:

“Government is a science and I am happy that the officials and the people of this community agree that the man who is to manage it should be thoroughly trained in the science of government.”

Guided with such clear and steady moral compass drilled into him by his dad, Paul Volcker Jr. became the modern times greatest economist, and the best US Federal Reserve chairman who beat stagflation in the 1980s. Another story he shared to me was his role in keeping the Philippine peso afloat when the Philippine economy collapsed in 1983 after the assassination of opposition leader Benigno “Ninoy” Aquino Jr. When the world community needs someone who could be trusted with some of its difficult economic challenges, it turned to Paul Volcker Jr.

The Volcker legacy started from city management to the management of global economy in two generations. The father and son proved that good governance is intergenerational and it is found, not only in intellect but most profoundly — in character.

Nowadays in politics, we see intergenerational corruption too. Political dynasties are typical of these. While the Volckers viewed public service as stewardship, modern politicians coming from political dynasties view public service as entitlement and privilege to access boundless wealth from the collection of the people’s tax money and unbridled power to bully their way to business and government. While the Volcker’s considered themselves highly accountable to the people and government they had served, political dynasts seek political positions to shield themselves against accountability whenever convenient.

Good governance requires professionalism. Political dynasties breed nepotism, cronyism and shameless abuse of power. Because of the bad examples that their parents demonstrated to their children, the moral compass of modern “nepo” babies became non-existent or eschewed. This young but corrupt generation begotten by their equally shameless parents find nothing wrong with abusing public money and property for their personal comfort and lavish lifestyles. They do not see anything wrong with flaunting their unexplained wealth for the world to see in the social media.

As they gain more plundered wealth and political power, bad governance gets rewarded while the good ones are punished and marginalized. Those who are supposed to speak for the people have lost their moral courage and their voice to speak. Thus, corruption continues unchecked, uncalled and further rewarded by reelection or appointment to juicy government positions where they get more access to more wealth and power.

Thus, the voice of the masses remains muted by the institutions that are supposed to empower them with the cry for the truth and accountability. Worse, those voices of dissent were literally buried by the murderous violence of these corrupt leaders.

When confronted by the gargantuan amount of corruption, we asked why it has become so unimaginably big. But the answer lies right in front of all of us — it is because we have allowed them so.