12th in a series on GMA's 9th State of the Nation Address

MANILA - On her second year in Malacañang, President Arroyo was buffeted by institutional tremors that tested her leadership as well as our democracy.

Under her watch, two co-equal bodies—Congress and the Supreme Court—clashed in a fierce combat that almost led to the impeachment of a chief justice. At about the same time, military rebels holed out in Oakwood hotel and declared a mutiny, protesting corruption in the armed forces.
 
As it turned out, the Supreme Court won over Congress in a bruising battle. The rebellious soldiers, fractious and unprepared, lost.

All this was a victory for President Arroyo and democracy. But soon after, as she faced growing opposition because of poor governance and unending scandals, she forgot about institutions and building them so that they could grow strong and do not threaten our democracy. Instead, she governed using a very personal lens, trumping institutions. She used her power of appointment for political survival. This has been a hallmark of her presidency.

“Short-term thinking at the expense of long-term institutional values results in long-term loss of credibility,” Hugh Heclo, professor and author, writes in On Thinking Institutionally.

Thank you, generals and justices
 
To keep the military from straying into perilous territory, she appointed as many generals as she could to lead the armed forces. In her eight years in office, she has had 10 chiefs of staff, more than Ferdinand Marcos’s 7 during his 20 years in power. (Read: GMA had most military chiefs: Ten in eight years)

It was her way of saying thank you to the generals. She even cut short the term of Gen. Alexander Yano, who is well regarded by the officers and men, to give way to other aspiring officers. 

This has slowed down reforms as the chiefs-of-staff stayed in office briefly. It shows us that more than pushing for systemic reforms in the military, the president pushed for loyalty. 

In Congress, she worked with her allies to tinker with the Constitution and shift to a parliamentary system and, in the process, extend their terms. Clearly, more than pushing for a legislative agenda, she pushed for her perpetuation in office.

In the Supreme Court, she has appointed justices—and continues to do so—based on political connections. This applies to lower courts as well. More than pushing for independence and integrity in the judiciary, her concern was fidelity—to her.  (Read: Judiciary independence compromised under GMA; read also: Politics to Arroyo's choice of economic team)

Other institutions have not been spared. President Arroyo has placed close allies in critical anti-corruption bodies: the Ombudsman and Sandiganbayan. Ombudsman Merceditas Gutierrez has failed to act on high-profile corruption cases involving administration allies. Frustrated, civil society groups have filed an impeachment complaint against her in Congress.

Like a deck of cards

President Arroyo also likes to shuffle her deck of people at the expense of continuity of programs. Hermogenes Ebdane, former police chief, has served as Arroyo’s national security adviser (6 months), defense chief (5 months), and is now public works secretary.

While at the public works department, Ebdane was yanked out to keep watch over the interior and local government department when Secretary Ronaldo Puno was on a two-week sick leave, bypassing DILG officials. This sent a disturbing signal to other government agencies. 

Former military chief Hermogenes Esperon became Arroyo’s adviser on the peace process, but was transferred to head the Presidential Management Staff after the failed talks with the Moro Islamic Liberation Front.

Culture

This personal-over-institutional culture has seeped to other government bodies. It clearly emerged in the National Broadband Network (NBN)-ZTE broadband scandal that someone didn’t belong to the picture: the chairman of the Commission on Elections, Benjamin Abalos, who had nothing to do with the project, was negotiating with the Chinese company.

The apolitical National Economic and Development Authority (NEDA), which reviewed the broadband proposal, got dragged into the mess, demoralizing its staff. When Congress and the public clamored for transparency, NEDA employees, in a rare public statement, urged the disclosure of the documents that would shed light on how the $329 million NBN deal with Chinese telecommunications firm ZTE Corp. was approved.

They said that withholding these documents “wrought the most damage to NEDA’s integrity and credibility," and that economic planning decisions are affected by politics since the "hand of the President is too strong."

Six former NEDA chiefs got together and expressed their disappointment over the way the agency has turned into a "rubber stamp institution.”

In the Supreme Court, some of the actions of Chief Justice Reynato Puno reflect that he’s not thinking much about the institution’s interest. Puno has been treading on political ground, organizing a “moral force” that will choose the country’s leaders.

In doing so, he makes himself vulnerable to compromise when he meets with personalities who are either lobbyists or litigants. Ultimately, this contributes to the erosion of the judiciary’s credibility. 

Heclo puts it well: “The performance of leaders and the performance of institutions are inextricably bound together. When institutions fail, it is living, breathing human beings and not mental abstractions that fail.”

The next leader faces the big task of repairing institutions and restoring lost credibility—and halting the spread of the culture where personal trumps the institutional.