BULACAN STATE UNIVERSITY
CITY OF MALOLOS
GRADUATE SCHOOL OF BUSINESS

MUNICIPALITY
OF
KAWAYAN, BILIRAN
TRANSFORMING TRADITIONAL POLITICS

In partial fulfillment for the requirements in
ORGANIZATIONAL MANAGEMENT

JANUARY 9, 2015

SUBMITTED BY: MANALAD, JOANNA C.

DR GEORGE Z GONZALES
PROFESSOR

CONTEXT a. Background of the Case This is a study behind the leadership of Mayor Rodolfo J. Espina, mayor of the Municipality of Kawayan. The case mainly deals with what really happens during the succession of a local executive. What the person goes through as he tries to implement changes to the organization he is leading. b. Issues and Concern Traditional politics in the Philippines often require politicians to cater to all the whims of their associates. Patronage nepotism and over dependence have characterized Philippine politics for many years. Even with Mayor Espinas background of 4 years spent with different jobs in the United States and another four years managing a farm. Still this was not enough when he finds himself mayor of the Municipality of Kawayan. Utang na loob and pakikisama had a major impact to the Philippine politics. It's difficult to balance the needs of the majority versus those of the few who can deliver the votes. Sometimes, a politician has to please his supporters so that in the end the candidate has his assurance that in the end he will get voted. c. Statement of the problem 1. During his term Rudy recognized that the greater need of the people was for the him to provide basic services and infrastructure. 2. He saw that the greater challenge confronting him as a leader was changing the very foundation of the people's values and way of thinking that they are fully dependent on their leaders. 3. Personal problem of mayor Rudy that was triggered when he won for second term for only less than 2,000 votes. STRATEGIES DESCRIBE a. Approach taken 1. He joined the LHP (Leaders of Health Program), a project of the Ateneo Graduate School of business. The program provides poor municipalities with a doctor over a spread of for years. He also provide the community for their physical infrastructures. 2. Rudy realized that giving and providing his associates with their basic needs was not enough. He realized that people needed to change their perspective on their responsibility to their lives. They needed to see that they were accountable and responsible for their own lives and development and not be fully dependent on their leaders. He began to encourage the municipal employees to attend their own “capacity building” seminars. He approved and provided funding for employees who expressed the desire to attend workshops. He talked to employees and told them to avail of the “capacity building” workshops that were given by other agencies. He started to conduct more consultations with the different barangays, asking them about their problems and how they could go about solving this problems. So the people of the Municipality of Kawayan also need to go through their process of finding out how best to become participants in the development of their own lives. 3. One day, Rudy woke up and realized that he had enough of his drinking. He went to Manila for a few weeks to talk to his counselor, got a new haircut, purged himself of the toxins in his body and came back to the municipality renewed. He has gotten back his enthusiasm for his work. He slowly began to build himself up again, regaining his self- confidence. He developed renewed resolve to fight his addiction, surely much wiser now about himself, his weaknesses and his strengths. He began to better understand that as much as he needs to go through a process of understanding and changing his behavior.
b. ACTORS INVOLVE Rodolfo J. Espina- Town Mayor of Municipality of Kawayan People of the Municipality of Kawayan Gerry Espina- Former Congressman of the Province of Biliran Alcoholics Anonymous member- Rudy's counselor CHALLENGES a. Concerns Rudy's experience in his family business and years working in the states enabled him to develop the competencies that proved invaluable when he finally entered public service. Spending four years managing a farm required him to deal with people from different economic and social levels. This honed his ability to relate to people, listen to their stories and understand the unique situations. He acquired important skills that he as future mayor would need to deal with the poor and the needy in his community. His work on the farm also polished problem solving skills in finance and administration, giving Rudy important basic management skills that would prove useful when he played the role of local chief executive. b. Different Perspective Before Rudy believe that he can shift traditional politics which has the 3 G's (guns, goons and gold) through his success in providing basic infrastructure for the municipality. This should have been more than enough to convince the people that he should remain as mayor. He believed that his accomplishments would stand on their own an would win the people's vote. But what he thought was a landslide win from him did not prove to be that easy. His opponent gnawed aggressively on his lead. As his opponent used all the tricks in the trade to wrest the victory from him, Rudy had to fight with all he had just to make sure that he came out the winner. At the end of the day, the pressures and conveniences of patronage politics were simply too much to resist on the side of the candidates and that of the people. He won by only less than 2,000 votes. In hindsight Rudy realized that while he was busy trying to fix his community, he forgot to take care of himself. He now understands better that he must also manage his own expectations of himself and of others and that he should always be in touch with his own vulnerabilities, ensuring that while he tries to change the ways of other people, he should also make sure that he himself goes through his own transformation as a person and as a leader. His experience in the 2004 elections highlighted the reality that adaptive change cannot happen overnight. It involves a long process of change that requires much more from leaders. OUTCOME a. Alternative Coarse of Action Together with the department heads of the municipal government, Rudy and his team are developing a major project that will make Kawayan one of major ports of president Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo's Roll On Roll Off (RORO) development program. If implemented, this proposed port complex will bring significant economic progress to Kawayan. It is expected that small businesses such as lodging houses, restaurants, and other support enterprises will be established. These in turn will bring additional income into the coffers of the municipal government. More importantly, Rudy hopes that his development project will inspire and uplift the morale of the people of Kawayan. Rudy is also moving slowly but surely towards personal transformation. His recent bout with his addiction has made him stronger and wiser. He has become gentler with himself and his people. He realizes that while in the past, he made people follow him out of fear, he now strives to motivate them with compassion and even love. He better understands that if he truly wants to make people change themselves, he must constantly struggle to change himself. He now knows the importance of strengthening his anchors outside his professional roles and has a greater sense of the Divine in his life. b. Recommendation There must be constant communication between the leader and his subordinates. Command and responsibility comes together with proper handling of problems and other concerns. There are many struggles that comes with any position that deals with any government position. As a leader one can shape behavior so much better by being positive than being negative. Inspire people, by being one good example. On the example of the people of Kawayan, traditional politics was still on the mindset of the community. With little steps, Rudy can change this, but he just have to show first what new things and ideology he can give to his people for them to be a much better part of the community. c. Lesson learned As a member of the society, I have not had the chance to think of what lies behind the leadership of officials around me. It does not go to my mind that they themselves has their own down times, they have their own sadness and happiness pertaining to the events that occurs around them daily. They have to go through their personal feelings to be able to serve their subordinates. What usually people thinks was that this leaders must be able to serve their needs and wants without even thinking if this person has their own needs and wants too. Like the saying people first before your self, is the traditional mindset of people that all elected officials should have. On the contrary, we the ordinary public, should also give into consideration their personal feeling as well. The Filipino thinking of being too dependent on their leaders should change and we should be independent enough to aim for the growth of each of us through our own hard work.