Vote for new Pope, China head reminds us how to choose leaders

LETTERS FROM THE AGNO

March Fianza

At least two important events on March 14, 2013 altered world history – the selection of Buenos Aires Cardinal Jorge Mario Bergoglio, 76, as the new Catholic Pope to succeed Pope Benedict XVI; and the election of Xi Jinping by the National People’s Congress as China President to succeed Hu Jintao.

According to informants based in the Vatican and in Beijing, respectively, the two were unexpected aspirants to the positions they now occupy. While Cardinal Bergoglio was second choice or first runner up when Pope Benedict XVI was elected in 2005, he was not even in the top 40 Cardinals who were being talked about during the selection process last week. And so, people waiting in the Vatican Square were surprised when he appeared on the balcony because he was not popular to them.

The same was true with Xi Jinping who was Vice President then. The voter-members of the Nat’l People’s Congress thought that the more popular contenders would win the elections. It looked as if in both selections of the two leaders, the Cardinals and the people’s congress in China chose to elect candidates with low profiles.

What is more surprising was that the two new world leaders shared many things in common very closely. Pope Francis, the Cardinal who comes from South America where 40 percent of Catholics in the world live, now heads an estimated 1.2 billion Catholics, while Xi Jinping is now the leader of a nation with large population of 1.3 billion. Both have high credits in science as Pope Francis has a Masters Degree in Chemistry while President Xi is a Chemical Engineer and holds a Doctorate in Political Science.

In many cases, scientists and persons whose occupations were related to Natural Sciences were pulled to Atheism, but in the case of the two new leaders, they both believe in the presence of their God, even while one of them is a top Communist Party chief.

Cardinal Bergoglio who chose to be called Pope Francis after St. Francis of Assisi is down to earth as he chooses to commute with the riding public when going to work. According to news reports, the modest man from a middle-class family refused the Archbishop’s comfy residence and preferred to live in an apartment.             Unlike some priests in Metro Manila who scrambled for Pajeros and expensive SUVs that were dangled to them by an agency in Malacanang, Pope Francis traveled by bus and shunned material things offered to him when he was Argentine Cardinal. This should be sufficient suggestion for cardinals and priests all over to do away with material things.

As for President Xi, he was called “a people’s man.” He is married to famous Chinese singer PengLiyuan who described him “hardworking and down-to-earth.” She said, “I have never felt like there's some leader in the house. In my eyes, he's just my husband.”

Aside from being low-key, President Xi was also described as realistic and good at problem solving, stern and careful. Like Pope Francis, he was “not interested in the trappings of high office.” Now, isn’t that how we want our leaders to be?

Both vowed to fight corruption and were expected by their people to bring reforms. Argentineans who knew the new Pope said he scolded priests who turned away people seeking baptism for children of unwed parents. Aren’t these enough indications for all to begin choosing leaders who may not be so rich and popular like actors and actresses but are capable of public service?

An election on any level is a necessary evil in a supposedly democratic society. Ideally, it should lead us to better lives, but in some instances, what happens is the opposite. Voters tend to vote for the popular and corrupt who are “zero” in their performance.

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As I start to write last weekend, I was informed that some officials of the Association of Barangay Councils in Baguio approached the new BCBC leadership and proposed to make the club a “beneficiary” of the proceeds of Bingo games that the ABC will undertake as their project. Why the proposal?

Personally, I am against the proposal whether the Bingo games were legal or illegal. According to information I gathered, the Bingo games were to be a
“front” for bingoteng or jueteng. There was also a financier for the games. I thought bingo games were financially backed up by cards that were sold to players?

Hence, I came to conclude that the proposal was made to tie down newsmen from writing, broadcasting, criticizing gambling as an issue once it becomes controversial. In other words, some of the proponents wanted newsmen to fall into their trap.  –