More better leaders

Our country has a host of problems. One of them is the ethical quality of our public leaders.

You must surely know of a person who covets an elective public office, or tries to wangle some government post not so much for altruistic or patriotic reasons but more for the opportunity to make money through the influence and authority the position wields. Many are of this stripe. Like the policeman or traffic aide who extorts from the driver; or a judiciary official who solicits favors from litigants; or certain functionaries at the tax, customs or immigration agencies whose consciences have long been deadened by the pervasive culture of graft. (The U.S. State Department recently voiced concern over the rampant corruption at the Bureaus of Customs and Immigration which could compromise the country's anti-terror campaign and render it vulnerable to terrorist attacks.)

Our leaders pay lip service to morality and integrity. These values are the first to be thrown out of the window when the slightest temptation of grease money enters the heart -- quick riches without sweat. Welfare of the country? Well, yes, no doubt, of course! Self-interest? Bull's-eye.

What our country needs now more than ever is a larger breed of better leaders. Men and women who are uncompromisingly honest, hardworking, value-driven and sacrificing. Men and women who love their family, yet put their public duties at a higher premium. This is not to say we don’t have them around, but we do need more of them, from the barangay level up to the very top.

We cannot hope for much national progress if the people who lead us do not have superior moral gravitas.