People, Please Don't Get Delusional

Another Senator Tito Sotto blog, I know. I just need to get this out once and for all. Before that, let me make it clear (and yes this is me being defensive) that, politically, I'm not a fan of this guy. I grew up watching his movies (dahil yun lagi ang palabas sa sinehan sa Tagaytay) but I never voted for him, he never gave me a reason to. This blog is not on his defense either but I know some fanatics (of stuff they don't understand) might look at it that way because ... well, they don't understand. So let me begin discussing the topic by telling you that yes, like many haters and (feeling) patriotic people on the web, right now, I think this guy does not deserve a seat in the senate and that I do not think he knows what he's doing.

Now, most of the people online bash these politicians for the things they say but they may be doing it for the wrong reasons. The main thing that pushed me to write this blog, though, is not what the senator above said, but something I heard from a grown person somewhere ... that it's shocking and sad to know that this country's rulers, the upholders of the law, do not write their own speeches and their own papers (for whatever cause). So ... as the title of the post says ... People, please don't get delusional. 

If you do not know yet, politicians and our country's leaders very rarely (or do not at all) write their speeches. They have a personnel(s) for that, and they have a team who does the research. Why? Because they have other things to do than spend the day in front of a desk writing a speech or going out to do research from scratch. Writing a speech, ladies and gentlemen, is not their job. It's not what they're getting paid for. And it's not the reason why people should vote for them ... although, of course, in this country, mamatay lang kamag-anak qualified na maging presidente.

Granted, the speeches should get their approval first and the content should be what they believe in (or what they got paid for, kee-hee), but that was not my point. The upholders of the law's real job is to, UPHOLD THE LAW. They are the "face" of what people (and again those who paid for it) believes in and fights for. 

Here's an example, the president. This guy's job is not to make laws (yes he can lean and put pressure on some people because he has that power to, and that ladies and gentlemen is the biggest form of corruption, duh!!!), he does not write the law and does not approve it (supposedly). Other parts of the government writes and the other approves. He should also not be wasting his time blaming the past administrations for his failures but that's another story, eh? THE PRESIDENT IS AN ADMINISTRATOR. He administrates, overlooks, leads, inspires etc. Yes he should make sure whoever stole money should pay for it but he is ruling a country with actual people in it and a lot of problems to face. SO he can't just concentrate on that one thing. What does a manager in a company do? DELEGATE. That is what secretaries of departments are for and that is what his allies are for. Get the gist?

So if I am a senator, for example, that gets invited to hold a speech for whatever function or for the RH Bill (there, I said it!), and I have a ton of appointments to go to like a closed meeting with the party to discuss our official stand on an issue, meeting other people who wants me to lobby for their cause, publicity stunts, functions I'm invited too, personal stuff (and TV shows ngehe) I can't slave the day away writing speeches for 8 other functions I'm supposed to give a pep talk at for the month. At best, I should be sitting with the team making sure things are in order. That they know what I want to say, and that we get the facts straight so I don't look stupid in front of people.

So you see, what's really scary here is that the people who works for him (Sen. Sotto) gets away with it because he himself is unaware of what the real issue is about. Also, the people he hired are competent but only up to a point. They do not know how to address an issue, they just deflect it. Maybe it's ego but clearly, they do not want to accept the fact that they made a mistake by not doing their job properly. If our leaders' staff can do that, can the rest of us act the same way? And if we do, could we get away by being arrogant too (like that lawyer who couldn't keep his mouth shut about bloggers being just bloggers).

If anything, this senator should fire his staff and get a new one.