A Crisis, An Opportunity

Friday, 20 August 2010 00:00

Written by Malou Tiquia

Two days before the torture video was made public, I was conferring with a colleague and an official of the Aquino administration essentially offering assistance because I truly believe in the capacity and capability of this leader. In the process of that meeting, I saw a distant gaze that was like saying, the official was ready to throw the towel. There was a pained look, an exasperation, a longing to do more yet the person just can’t because of the nature of appointment and since the official has supervision and control over only half of the agency.

In the process of discussion, I even stated pray tell nothing happens that would warrant you to be responsible for the other half. As our meeting ended, I felt that here was a poster person for good governance but greatly compromised by his president. So when the torture video came out, I told myself, here goes the crisis and as I called it, the person who has supervision over the other half was totally silent. Then came 23 August 2010. Mine was not your typical Monday-morning quarterbacking, it was a reading of a tenuous situation arising from having worked in government and doing political consulting work for years. You just don’t appoint that way. Such an appointment is the surest way for the official to fail. And looks like the stage are being set in the Roman tradition of conspirators and gladiators. I hope the official weathers the storm and turn it into opportunity to cure the appointment and consolidate the base and from there create a stronger institution.

The officials of the Aquino administration have quite often justified errors as them just being in office for 55 days. But that is not leadership. If that is the way they would often rationalize their errors of omission or commission, then why ran for the Presidency? Why accept appointments to the various portfolios. You are now fair game so grow a thick hide and buckle down to work.

Three things stand out in this horrendous episode: grievance mechanism, at least in the PNP, does not work effectively; the inner core of BSA3 will have to be trained in terms of knowing heads of state (that’s is quite easy by putting together a booklet of names with photos and hot lines) and establishing procedures when foreign leaders break protocol to call BSA3 (one does not break protocol if there is no emergency), and the absence of an Incident Command System (ICS) in the bureaucracy.

With the crisis, the Aquino administration should set in place an ICS and revamp other protocols in an open and participative manner where the public is allowed to submit their comments, say in a 15 day window. That rebuilds the image and reinvigorates the political base. We therefore turn this crisis into an opportunity to rebuild systems and usher in a new way of doing things, whether in terms of logistical and operational management.

ICS was developed to overcome five problems: nonstandard terminology; lack of organizational flexibility to expand and contract; nonstandard and nonintegrated communications; lack of consolidated action plans and lack of designated facilities. We do not have to reinvent the wheel, we merely need to learn from the best practices in other countries.

ICS is a standardized, on-scene, all-hazard incident management concept. It allows its users to adopt an organizational structure to fit any situation regardless of jurisdictional boundaries. ICS is very flexible and can grow or shrink to meet the changing needs of an incident. This makes it applicable to both small and large incidents.

Incidents typically begin and end locally, and are managed on a daily basis at the lowest possible geographical, organizational, and jurisdictional level. However, there are instances in which successful incident management operations depend on the involvement of multiple jurisdictions, levels of government, functional agencies, and/or emergency responder disciplines. These instances require effective and efficient coordination across this broad spectrum of organizations and activities.

The United States, said to be the only remaining political power, was caught off guard during the 9-11 incident and Hurricane Katrina, which resulted in the revisiting of their operational protocols and the redefinition of Federal Emergency Management Agency. Ours is not isolated but our leaders should learn how to handle incidents in a very timely and professional manner. Wishful thinking? Nope, more of a call to action.

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