The charisma of integrity

A LOT of people are saying Noynoy Aquino lacks the charisma to be president. They say he doesn’t talk well. They say he doesn’t carry himself well. Some even say he doesn’t look very “presidential,” whatever that means.

The race for the presidency should not be an exercise in emotionalism. Unfortunately that is what it has become. Even the news media has fallen prey to this degeneration, treating the process of electing the next president as a melodramatic theatrical production when it should be characterized by intelligent discourse and debate.

The search for the next president should be similar to the search for the chief operating officer of any corporation. When corporation directors are looking for a CEO, they hire professional search firms to choose the best candidates. But the search begins with the fundamental question: What skills are we looking for? What are, in the words of business, the “critical competencies” required of the CEO?

We should be undergoing a similar process in our search for the next president. The first question we should ask is what skills do we need most in the next president, in the person who would guide this country at this point in our history?

We should not choose the next president based on whim, emotion, looks, a glib tongue. The next president should be “hired’ by the citizens of this country because he or she is qualified to lead and manage effectively.

The election process is no beauty contest; it is not a circus, although many times we have treated it that way. Perhaps that’s why we find ourselves in the mess that we are in now.

What are the skills that we need most in the next president? I would say integrity and competence in precisely that order. Charisma? Sure. But charisma can come from integrity and competence too. The other kind of charisma—that which emanates from public relations, public speaking and communication skills—that can be learned and acquired. But integrity and competence are harder to come by, integrity especially.

Charm without substance is meaningless, even dangerous, as we saw in the presidency of Joseph Estrada. Competence without integrity is meaningless, even dangerous, as we see now in the presidency of Gloria Arroyo.

The people at Edsa Dos replaced Estrada because of corruption and installed GMA who turned out to be much worse. If you ask people the one thing they would require of the next president, they would probably say, “Number one, he or she should be honest.” The next president should not lie, cheat or steal. This is the compelling need that drove the masses of people at Cory’s wake and funeral. Cory embodied everything that they hoped for in a president, and everything that the current president is not.

Noynoy is honest and decent and he would not dare ruin the legacy of his parents. On this alone, he has my vote.

What Noynoy lacks in people skills he can learn. But I tell you, they haven’t seen the real Noynoy yet, they haven’t seen him at his best. Let him grow into the role of a presidential candidate.

He would surprise you yet. –Ernesto F. Herrera, Manila Times