‘If you play your cards wrong you may step on the wrong toes and find yourself unwelcome, or you may be left holding the proverbial bag, sacrificed to the wolves to protect the principals.’
I USED to work for a beverage giant (“itago na lang natin siya sa pangalang Coke!”) and we once had an executive who sent out a message to everyone in the organization reminding us that the business was built on one simple matter: relationships. How well those relationships are nurtured — with the consumer, with the customer, even with regulators — can determine how well (or poorly) the business does.
I think Asians know a lot about relationships and may in fact give more weight to relationships than do the people of the Western world. The question “kaninong anak ba ‘yan?” was something I’ve heard time and time again over the course of my lifetime, just one example of how we Filipinos do not ignore — and in fact put a premium on — ties that bind, especially but not necessarily only blood ties.
Other ties that matter are school ties (San Beda Law being an important one during the last five years), fraternity ties (Marcos chose many frat brods for key positions in government) and, of course, regional ties (anyone here ever heard of the “Davao Group”?).
With national elections looming on the horizon many people I know are beginning to review their network of relationships to all potential candidates for the presidency. And who can blame them! Pharmally has demonstrated what we already know about the way things work in our country but may have temporarily forgotten (or have tried to ignore) — that who you know in this part of the world can mean a good life, even a great life. And because the victory of the mayor of Davao upended so many of the traditional power relationship — leaving the usual power brokers sidelined and scrambling for even just a toehold in the balls of power — lessons have been learned and people have vowed not to be blindsided again. So it’s connect the dots time.
But this can be a tricky if not dangerous game to play. If you play your cards wrong you may step on the wrong toes and find yourself unwelcome, or you may be left holding the proverbial bag, sacrificed to the wolves to protect the principals. I suppose when you play high stakes then you should be ready to win big as well as to lose big, yes?
Just get a seasoned lawyer and claim elevated blood pressure if and when you are called to an investigation.
A few days back social media was flooded with contrasting photos of PRRD with “friends.”
Two showed him at leadership summits where the photos taken appeared to show every leader present engaged in conversation with other leaders — with only PRRD standing alone with a half-a-smile and a smirk on his face. In those photos he was looking like that relative we all have who attends family reunions but who we are uncomfortable talking to.
Just looking at the photos made me feel so uncomfortable.
The other pic showed PRRD in some receiving room with Michael Yang and Lincoln Ong on a sofa next to him and smiling at the camera. The picture did not evoke a sense of unease among the people in it. To me it looked like how a future bride and groom would look like when calling on a ninong-to-be prior to the wedding.
For better, or for worse, relationships matter. And some more than others.
