Effecting change
published 29 Sept 2008, MST
Two Mondays ago, I was invited to attend the flag-raising ceremonies at the Quezon City Police District headquarters in Camp Karingal, Quezon City. A friend’s civic group was giving plaques of recognition to two police officers whom it felt embodied the essence of how policemen should conduct themselves. I arrived just in time to hear an officer delivering a curious speech.
That officer was Police Supt. Norberto Victoria Babagay, chief of traffic of the QCPD. In front of him was a large tarpaulin on which was written various traffic signs: One Way, Two Way,No Entry, No U-turn and No Left Turn. Given prominence were the signs for Give Way and Keep Right. The simplicity of it all. Babagay said that whatever there had to be learned about being upright, in their professional and personal lives, both, could be summarized by these traffic signs. The speech was short and did not introduce any new or complex issues. But it was well-applauded, anyway.
It’s common sense from somebody who manages traffic issues in big Quezon City. Babagay exudes a gung-ho aura that tells you he knows his job inside out— and loves it. He is visible out there, on the roads, but at the same time, when he sits on his table and processes the statistics generated by his staff, he knows how to interpret them and translate his analysis into useful action. He is proud of his weekly updates, which he gives to his superiors and to the Metropolitan Manila Development Authority. He says nobody has come up with this before; he hopes his successor will continue producing them.
His boss, QCPD Director Police Senior Supt. Magtanggol Gatdula, is more reserved and deliberate. Two years on the job for the man whose leadership is credited for the district’s being named Best NCRPO Police District in as many years, Gatdula is grateful that his city government officials give him enough independence to run things as he sees fit. Admittedly, their biggest logistical inadequacy is number. The ratio of policemen to every Quezon City resident is about 1:750. Even then, Gatdula’s men and women try to shape up and do their best.
He is quick to add, though, that there remain many members of the police force,not just in his district but anywhere in the country, who remain rude and resistant to change. Not very “Mamang Pulis” or “Aleng Pulis,” after all.
Does this mean that the campaign initiated by former National Police Chief Avelino Razon, who retired two days ago, has failed?
Not at all, Gatdula, who is likewise a member of the Philippine Bar and holds a doctorate in peace and security administration, insists. He explains that there is in fact a Philippine National Police Integrated Transformation Program which has been in place for several years now. According to the PNP Web site:
“...the act of reformation is often similar to a surgical strike at the heart of an organization’s rigid culture and system. It involves convincing people to take the extra mile and move out of comfort zones. Change management is affected by several factors, namely: the ability to effectively communicate the message and wisdom of reform; commitment to win active supporters or build reform constituencies that will actually implement and embody the said reforms; and the leadership, strategy, plans, and projects needed effect the change process. These are the very factors that lead to failure or success in achieving the desired institutional change.” The program is a long-term approach to overhauling the police force. The results are not immediately perceptible.
Gatdula adds that total transformation is difficult because children’s first exposure to value systems is in the home. Parents play a pivotal role, and everybody else is secondary.
Gatdula, whose battlecry seems to be “moral ascendancy through setting a good example,” says that programs should be perceived by the public as projects of the institution and not of the personality that pushes them. Otherwise, what will happen if it was time for that personality to retire? Must there be a re-orientation of priorities as well? Of course not.
Ideally, that is.
