ENGAGING THE GOVERNMENT BUREAUCRACY:

Experiences, Lessons Learned

DPA 302
(Philippine Public Administration)

Petronilo D. Elveña, MPA

 How many of us who have the courage to stand with our principle? How many of us who have the guts
to defuse the paradox of “identity and consciousness”? To live with our true identity resembles having an
honest consciousness that is enduring the courage to put into praxis the principles of truth and moral stance in
responding to the vocation of a virtuous service. St. Paul the Apostle once said, “Vivere Christus Est” or “to
live is Christ is a passage which touches the ground to respond by heart what we are called upon to do with
courage, integrity and honesty even at the expense of sacrificing ourselves. This does not diametrically mean
that we are going to loss ourselves in giving service to other but put ahead others forgetting our personal gains.

Diogenes the cynic, a Greek ancient philosopher, spent his life in searching for an “honest man” until
time befitted nothing, at least in his time he did not find any honest person. However, in our contemporary
time, we have at least found an honest man in the person of Danny Consumido, former USEC of External
Affairs. Yes, he is the alter-ego of Odysseus, the contemporary Odysseus, who plucked the odds of
wrongdoings and massive corruptions in our government depicted by his journey on different sinister epochs
of an either corrupt and fraudulent bureaucracy; impenitent governance and political system. In doing such for
sure, he did with a choice; a choice to be always at the side of what is upright and of the side of the oppressed,
the basic people who are the immediate victims of the corrupt system. When we do something with a choice
spearheaded with integrity, we have to wrestle precluding ourselves to be on the side of a putrid system at the
expense of fighting “deadlier monsters and cyclops, sinister witches and captivatingly corrupt sirens; dealt with
apathetic lotus eaters”. Maybe we could not win and drastically change the unforgiving system of corruption
and malady of deceitful services, however perhaps by emulating Sir Danny Consumido, we can make a
difference. As the Anglican Cleric and Theologian, Desmond Tutu said: “Do your little bit of good where you
are; it’s those little bits of good put together that overwhelm the world.” When we are true to ourselves in
giving honest service, which is channeled by choice defeats any deceits. Serving others is one of the principal
recipes to succeeding with our enterprise. Perhaps, when we focus on serving others to the best of our abilities,
we can live a life of greatness even benefiting humanity and making a difference is of utmost importance.
When we perhaps ask the opinion of Rabindranath Tagore regarding this, he may be retorted “I slept and
dreamt that life was joy; I awoke and saw that life was service. I acted and behold, service was joy.”

Ariel Ureta, a comedian, jumbled the political catchphrase of then President Marcos Sr. by pounding
“sa ikakaunlad ng bayan, bisekleta ang kailangan.” True enough, unless we learn to ride from our bicycle, we
can never learn to ride from our NMAX 2022, Honda ADV 160 and our Ford Raptors. Unless we learn to
become humble leaders and servants, we can never serve with integrity; hence, we can never contribute for the
progress of the country. Perhaps a humble leader or a servant sees problems and needs of his people in a
holistic way. Humble leaders know their identities and behave in a way that is consistent with their knowledge
or consciousness. Being a humble leader could not be a sign of meekness or powerlessness but of great inner
strength. The best leaders are humble on the outside and confident on the inside. A humble leader can sacrifice
his friendship with a treacherous friend and ready to protect the undermined rights of his people. A humble
leader “brings government closer to the people, and can inspire the people to become closer to the government.”
Hence that, Tim Fargo, an American Author, talks about leadership as service not a position. This humility of
a leader is manifested in the acts of Sir Danny Consumido, as he said “hold on and never let go of your basic
principle and objective, your raison d’etre in joining the bureaucracy, be it personal or career-related intentions,
or a quixotic objective of actually “serving the people.”
1 | Engaging the Government Bureaucracy
 Indeed, since we have found one “honest guy” in our country, I could report to Diogenes that there are
still “honest people” around the world seemingly unrecognized, one of them is a Filipino honest man in the
person of Sir Danny Consumido, perhaps he would smile and say “my search did not go in vain.” The evident
existence of honest bureaucrat in the person of Sir Danny Consumido would dispute our claim that “patriotism
in the Philippines is imperiled.” I believe there are a lot of Filipinos, like Sir Danny Consumido, who are meek
yet sturdy in their fights to expurgate frauds and corruption in the system in order that the spirit of the real rule
of law would always prevail.

2 | Engaging the Government Bureaucracy