‘Wang-wang’

From The Philippine Inquirer -

The "interim first lady" of East Timor, Jacqueline Aquino Siapno, is a Filipina political scientist married to Fernando de Araujo, president of the country’s National Parliament. She was back in the Philippines recently, for what she called a private visit. It was not the determinedly private nature of her visit that caught our attention; it was the resolutely modest way she went a-visiting. To quote our report - "After exchanging greetings [at the Manila airport] they [Jackie S. and her mother] took a cab and headed to a bus terminal in Pasay City where they boarded a bus bound for her native Dagupan. The Friday night trip took five hours. At the station, they hailed a tricycle and asked to be taken to their house..."

This isn’t merely a charming anecdote: it is an indirect indictment of the way most public officials in the Philippines conduct themselves. It reminds us of the inexhaustibly surprising quality of human nature. But it makes for a front-page story because it offers a contrast to the “wang-wang” culture of our political VIPs, both high and petty.

Ms Siapno may not know the meaning of “wang-wang”—she has lived abroad for most of her adult life, earning a Ph.D. from the UC Berkeley—but she should recognize the self-importance her old country’s politicians attach to themselves. Wang-wang is the siren that "very important people" acquire, whether they ride unescorted or as part of a convoy; the sound is a sign that the usual (traffic) rules do not apply to VIPs. They are, obviously, too important.

Alluded officials will object, after all her visit was a private affair. There is no comparison with their official travel.

Yes, but they would miss the point. Jackie S. could have used or borrowed a private vehicle. That she did not consider herself too good for an ordinary bus or a rickety tricycle tells us more about the dignity of public office than flashing lights and wailing sirens ever can.

But East Timor is a small, impoverished country. There is no comparison.

Again, they would miss the point. Substantial government resources are spent every year to provide public officials with the illusion that we are already a rich country. How many hundreds of soldiers, how many thousands of policemen, are assigned to public officials as personal security? Does a vice mayor of a second-class municipality really need a close-in bodyguard? Does a Cabinet secretary making the rounds in Metro Manila really need two beige-colored, red-plated AUVs to shadow his gas-guzzling SUV?

We are not asking public officials to use public transportation although that would amount to a moral revolution. We are only asking them to reconsider the sense of entitlement, the sense of inflated dignity they display because of their complicity in the wang-wang culture. Because in her simplicity, in her sure sense of self, Jackie S. reminds us how spoiled, self-indulgent, and corrupt many of our high-riding officials have become.