‘…when I think about the problems our next president will be facing by July 1, I realize that we will need to engage our regional neighbors and even a greater part of the global community of nations in a collaborative effort.’
I HAD a chance to sit down with retiring San Juan Congressman Ronaldo B. Zamora a few days ago, to shoot the breeze about many things — from his impending retirement to his years in Malacanang, and, naturally, to the coming May elections.
Zamora (or RBZ as we refer to him) is a product of the UP College of Law, graduating valedictorian, magna cum laude, and was No. 1 during the 1969 bar exams. He was asked to join the Cabinet of then President Ferdinand Marcos — who used to tell him that they were the only two bar topnotchers in the Palace. He was a member of the Batasan Pambansa and Minister of State. After the 1986 EDSA Revolution he represented the lone district of San Juan-Mandaluyong until 1995 and became almost uninterrupted the longest serving representative for the lone district of San Juan, with the 9th year of his latest term ending this year.
Turning 78 in December, RBZ has chosen (at least as of this writing, haha) to take a step back from public service and turn over the responsibilities to his children: re-electionist Mayor Francis Zamora of San Juan and congressional candidates Atty. Ysabel Zamora-Jornada (San Juan) and Amparo Zamora (Taguig Dist. 2).
With a more relaxed air around him, RBZ didn’t seem to mind me pestering him with a series of questions, one of which was this: what advice would you give to the next president of the Philippines?
I was watching his face as he took a few seconds before responding. I could imagine the wheels in his head churning, drawing from his over five decades of experience in government service enriched by his wide readings.
Finally, he spoke. “Foreign affairs. I would tell him to focus on foreign affairs. The world is entering a critical moment and we (the Philippines) are being caught between two world powers China and the United States — and will need to steer carefully between them,” the seasoned public servant said, surprising me.
“Local affairs should be left in the able hands of the local officials. They do an excellent job facing and solving most of the day-to-day problems that affect our people, and the National Government should only be a support system and keep from meddling in their affairs. And this I think was proven by the COVID response of LGUs and how ably they handled the pandemic as it swept their jurisdictions.”
I have to admit that I was initially taken aback by RBZ’s reply, expecting him to talk about the economy and peace and order and all that. Of course, I know that RBZ didn’t mean an exclusive focus (only foreign affairs and foreign affairs only and nothing else) but clearly, he was looking at things from a bigger picture, the proverbial view from 30,000 feet up, something I didn’t expect him to be doing.
Maybe it also helped that he had a front row seat observing son Francis tackle the role of a local chief executive, definitely a role far more demanding than that of a legislator. I take it from San Juan residents I know that because of his performance, the Mayor is headed towards a second three-year term in office.
And yes, when I think about the problems our next president will be facing by July 1, I realize that we will need to engage our regional neighbors and even a greater part of the global community of nations in a collaborative effort. The reality is that while some of our problems are for us alone to fix, others are indeed beyond the powers even of an all-powerful president.
Focus on foreign affairs.
I hope the next president of the Philippines will heed this sage advice.
