ANEGELS CITY – The Pinoy Gumising Ka Movement (PGKM) is now advocating for a minimum educational requirement for politicians in order to eliminate incompetent and inept public officials.
PGKM Chairman Ruperto Cruz said here yesterday that it is now time for legislators to pass a bill that will require politicians to hurdle a set of criteria or standards in order to be qualified for election into public office.
Cruz said incompetent public officials who know nothing about governance usually resort to corruption. He said unqualified public officials get themselves elected only to advance their selfish interests.
However, Cruz said even if the public official’s intention is noble, his lack of educational background and knowledge in governance will most likely also result in “a weak leadership that promotes poor economic policies resulting to unequal distribution of wealth and poor educational policies that contribute to the unemployment problem and promote social injustice.”
Cruz said public officials should not only be competent and knowledgeable in governance but should also be good managers. But if a public official lacks even the most basic educational qualification, then his constituents will surely suffer because of his ineptitude.
Cruz said the electorate should be shielded from merely popular candidates. Blood relations or through consanguinity to an incumbent public official should not be the key to holding public office, he added.
“Masanting o malagu ya, o sikat ya malyari neng tagal (Just because he is good looking or she is beautiful, or popular is that enough qualification to run for public office)?” Cruz asked: “How come medical graduates are required to pass the state board in order to practice their profession?
Why should law graduates be made to hurdle the bar before they can become lawyers? Why should engineers, architects, nurses, teachers and even government employees pass a minimum set of standards for them to be qualified in their fields of expertise? Why not politicians?”
Cruz said politicians more particularly the incompetent ones take hold of our daily lives and that of our descendants with their policies in governance. Why should they not be required to pass a set of standards? This is imperative, Cruz said.
Cruz said the socalled “committee of silence” will be the first to be booted out in the august halls of the senate, congress or city and municipal councils if a set of standards would be required for public officials. He said dynasties would also be dissolved.
Cruz said the PGKM will support the plan of Gov. Lilia “Nanay Baby” Pineda to establish a Local Government Academy so that public officials will gain competence in governingtheirconstituents. Of astute politicians, he said, “Bad governance is the inability of a public official to manage public affairs and public resources.
Failure of a government to meet the needs of society while making the best use of all resources at their disposal results in a great loss to the people.” Cruz said it was better during the time of the “two party system” when the electorate were voting for the best candidates.
