How you leave defines you
For some reason, the pictures of Sen. Jinggoy Estrada’s former office made a mark on me. The floor with tiles ripped out. Naked lighting wires dangling from the broken ceiling. Walls and columns stripped of their paint. The cavalier attitude with which his staff explained that turning over an office in this condition was standard practice. That the fixtures they removed were bought from personal funds anyway.
My reaction was visceral because I’ve seen this before. Years ago, what was supposed to be a mental health space on campus was turned over to us with no flooring. (The contractor claimed that floors weren’t included in the agreement.) There was literally a gutter running through the edge of the hallway that leads outside. Consequently, rat droppings were everywhere. This was how the project was turned over. Marked as complete and delivered. To this day, that space is still unusable.
How the senator’s staff treated the office move shows us how they treat public property and, in turn, the public. Through Sen. Panfilo “Ping” Lacson’s pictures showing that he turned over that same office to Estrada, we see clearly that they received a fully usable office. They, however, left it worse than they received it. If it was intentional, and they wanted to make things difficult for the next occupant, then it is petty. If it wasn’t and they genuinely thought that this was standard practice for turning over public property in this state, then at minimum it shows a lack of care and consideration.
Amidst the squabbling happening in the Senate, what gets lost is keeping the public foremost in their mind. This seemingly minor incident betrays a mindset that is self-oriented. What matters are what they perceive as belonging to them. They treat their public office—literally and figuratively—as their own, not recognizing that they are mere temporary custodians. They were elected to office, not given the office. That they sit in their positions of authority is by the explicit blessing of the public. The public are the true owners.
As such, with the true owners in mind, they need to treat public resources, such as our facilities and taxpayer funds, with great care and responsibility. As public servants, they need to take their stewardship seriously and focus on growing what was given to them. At the very least, it would be a sign of good stewardship if you left your constituent community in a much better place than when you started. Instead of focusing on what is yours and what you keep with you, a good public servant cares about what they are leaving behind. They care that their efforts have made it easier for the next steward. They join in the hope that greater things can happen beyond their term.
How you leave, in some ways, defines you. In psychodynamic work, we were taught that how we end relationships matters. The years of trust building can be undone by a messy end. Think of your past romantic relationships that are now, for better or worse, defined by how the breakup was handled. Was the last interaction marred by pettiness? Were the last words intended to hurt and wound?
Endings, be they in a relationship or a job, can be extremely stressful, especially if the decision to end was not up to us. Transitions are also challenging in that they force us out of our comfort zone and confront us with the new and unfamiliar. How a person deals with such changes can expose their vulnerabilities and temperaments. It is easy to be patient and kind when conditions are good and resources are plenty. It is much harder to do so when we experience significant discomfort and insecurity, unsure if the coming changes will bear good things.
Times of stress and strain can regress the way we cope. Hence, some end up acting in immature ways when it comes to breakups or when they quit their jobs. In couples work, I encourage clients to observe how their partners react to stress or when they don’t get their way; this tells us a lot about how they’ll be in future disagreements. This is not to say that these tendencies are set in stone or immutable. The person can gain awareness and work with intention to respond rather than to react. In this context, this is usually motivated by their care for the other person and a desire to strengthen their relationship.
How a public official leaves—or transitions from one office to another—can show us how they treat their relationship with the Filipino public. Did they have the Filipino people in mind as they made use of public resources? Do they engage with others with professionalism and humility, taking seriously that their words and actions represent the Filipino people?
At least by democratic standards, an elected position is inevitably temporary. How they approach their responsibility as temporary caretakers of the state, knowing that Filipinos are the ones to suffer the consequences of their (in)action, shows us how they really feel about us.
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