The Master Meets His Apprentice

“Inspiring scenes of people taking the future of their countries into their own hands will ignite greater demands for good governance and political reform elsewhere in the world…” ― William Hague

Having been asked by Dr. Jess to sit as a member of a revalida panel tasked to evaluate meticulously-designed systems on improving public services for the local level on quite a number of occasions, I have personally witnessed firsthand the transformative power of governance as a positive complement to the massive anti-corruption efforts undertaken by local governments.

Dr. Jesus Estanislao is the Founding Chairman of the Institute for Solidarity in Asia (ISA), a non-profit organization committed to public sector governance reform. Recognized as the foremost authority on good governance, he developed the Performance Governance System (PGS), a Philippine adaptation of the Balanced Scorecard, which is now being implemented in over 40 local government units, national government agencies, and government-owned enterprises. He served as the 6th Socio-economic Planning Secretary and concurrent Director-General of the National Economic and Development Authority (NEDA) from 1989-1990 and Secretary of Finance of the Philippines from 1990-1992, during the government of President Cory Aquino.

Greatly honored to have met up with the eminent Dr. JESUS ESTANISLAO in one of our regular, private tête-à-tête sessions at the Taipan restaurant in the fashionably elite Tower Club. Amidst the restaurant's opulent setting of vibrant crimson amidst dark walnut woodwork, we casually conferred on a rather broad range of issues: good governance, the truth behind our Philippine business chamber, modern Chinese ethos, spiritual formation, the current state of economic affairs and the future of local government. It is always a thrill to pick brains with one of the most revered economic gurus of this generation. Despite his great achievements, Dr. Estanislao comes across as extremely humble and contagiously jovial. Grandfatherly, even.

Over delectable servings of steamed black garoupa, Cantonese-style crispy noodles served in a hot seafood gravy, spinach with crispy mushroom flakes, wok-fried beef with young corn chili sauce and chilled mango sago (which he generously hosted, by the way), our two-hour-long discourse was reminiscent of my private academic mentoring sessions with some of my professors when I was still at the University; this time, however, without any pedagogic pretensions that may impact my grade-point average.

Dr. Estanislao holds a Ph.D. from Harvard University, where he was also a Teaching Fellow and Research Fellow. He obtained his MA in Economics from Fordham University and a Ph.B. (summa cum laude) from the University of San Carlos-Cebu. A bemedalled luminary, he was awarded the rank of Commander of The Philippine Legion of Honor in 1992, and Management Association of the Philippines - MAP Page's “Management Man of the Year” in 2010. He received “The Outstanding Filipino (TOFIL)” award in the field of good governance for 2011, among many other accolades.

I first met him in late 2011 when I was then heading the prestigious TOFIL Awards (and he was one of that year's honorees) and I consider my warmhearted friendship with this greatly admired “Yoda” as one of my most treasured outcomes as TOFIL Chair. Indeed, he's probably the ideal Jedi Master any Padawan could ever ask for.