“AM I Machiavellian? Well, I’ve studied him quite thoroughly, and I know very many Machiavellians in my life.”
The hornets stirred by this declaration of presidential runner Ferdinand
Marcos Jr. have not gone back to their nests yet so here’s one aged wasp
joining the stinging frenzy.
Finding nothing new to contribute to the discussions – ageing has put the processes
of the intellect to a crawl – I burrowed deep into my Zona archives and found
this piece dated Oct. 30, 2007, A primer to Panlilio. Yup, choice cuts
from Old Niccolo applied to the then Reverend Governor of Pampanga. Here it is:
“A MAN who wishes to make a
profession of goodness in everything must necessary come to grief among so many
who are not good.”
That aphorism could have been specifically crafted for Gov. Eddie T. Panlilio
in the wake of his honest act relative to the P500,000 donation he received in
– not from – the Palace, and the seismic aftershocks it caused.
Easily, the quotation by its inspiring moral tone could have come only from a
tome on values, if not the Holy Book itself.
Wrong. It is vintage 1500. From the little book that launched – and sank – a
thousand political careers: Niccolo Machiavelli’s The Prince.
If he hasn’t, Panlilio should read – and internalize – the book, it being the
definitive handbook of politics, power, and statesmanship.
The Prince – history tells us – nurtured through generations a virtual
Who’s Who in the world political stage: Cardinal Richelieu, the de facto
dictator of France at the time of Louis XIII; Christina, the queen of Sweden
circa 1632-1654; Frederick the Great of Prussia; Otto von Bismarck, the Iron
Chancellor of the German Empire; Georges Clemenceau, French statesman and
premier.
Notables of the 20th century who went to school in Machiavelli included Adolf
Hitler, der fuehrer of the Third German Reich; Benito Mussolini, il duce of
Fascist Italy; Vladimir I. Lenin, father of the Union of Soviet Socialist
Republics, and his heir Josef Stalin; and the Philippines’ Ferdinand E.
Marcos, known to have made the book – not Imelda – as his bedside companion.
A virtual historical rogues’ gallery, that list by itself seems proof
beyond doubt that indeed The Prince is the “blueprint for dictators” and
its author the Devil Incarnate himself. Old Nick, the slang for the devil, is a
take from Machiavelli’s given name. And Machiavellian entered the lexicon to
mean crafty, shrewd, deceitful, immoral. This is an offshoot of the most famous
quotation obtaining in the book: “The end justifies the means.”
Comes the question now: How does one steeped in Christian values – like
Panlilio the priest-and-governor – come to terms with an opus placed in the
Index of Prohibited Books in the Vatican in 1559 and, with the confirmation of
the Council of Trent, decreed to be burned by the Inquisition?
Ain’t the priest and any Catholic for that matter sinning mortally by simply
reading an “Indexed” book? (A confession: I first read The Prince in my
Suprema (third year high school) class at the Mother of Good Counsel Seminary.
The copy smuggled in by my “free-thinking” professor in, of all subjects,
trigonometry.)
Far from being the devil’s handiwork, The Prince – particularly its last
chapter, Exhortation to Liberate Italy from the Barbarians – made a number of
invocations to the Almighty for national redemption and admonition for the
leader to do his share in the effort: “God will not do everything, in order to
deprive us of free will and the portion of the glory that falls to our lot.”
That’s just like the old, old very Christian saying “God helps those who help
themselves.”
Though written against the backdrop of a long gone era, of an Italy fragmented
into five major seats of power, The Prince has found currency through
the ages as well as relevance and validity no matter the political setting, be
it monarchical or republican, autocratic or democratic. Even in such a milieu
as provincial politics and governance. Thus, its importance to Panlilio.
“The first impression that one gets of a ruler and of his brains is from seeing
the men (and more especially the women, if I may add) that he has about him.
One can always form an unfavorable opinion of him, because the first mistake
that he makes is in making this choice.”
Atty. Vivian Dabu as (un)confirmed provincial administrator and Atty. Ma.
Elissa Velez as (un)confirmed provincial legal counsel, choices Panlilio
stubbornly pushed – no matter the media protest rally, the lamentations of
Lolita Hizon and the sangguniang panlalawigan’s rejection – raised all
speculations not so much about Panlilio’s brains as about his balls, and who’s
holding, ay, grasping them.
Speaking of Hizon and other campaign supporters of the governor who reportedly
had a “fall out” with him on some issues, here’s Machiavelli’s advice to
Panlilio: “It is the nature of men (of women too, again we add) to be as much
bound by the benefits they confer as by those they receive.”
Tit for tat or political payback, plain and simple.
Okay, okay, so the mayors are all ganging up on Panlilio on the issues of
quarry and the P500,000 money. The governor, ensconced in his civil society,
can find solace in Machiavelli: “A prince need trouble little about
conspiracies when the people are well disposed, but when they are hostile and
hold him in hatred, then he must fear everything and everybody.”
Again, seemingly written by Machiavelli with Panlilio in mind: “One who becomes
prince by favor of the populace must maintain its friendship, which he will
find easy, the people asking nothing but not to be oppressed.”
Arguably enjoying the support of the people, Panlilio must be wary though of
those previously written about in this column as his myrmidons who do nothing
but sing hosannas to him. Machiavelli cautions: “There is no other way of
guarding one’s self against flattery than by letting men understand that they
will not offend you by speaking the truth; but when everyone can tell you the
truth, you lose their respect.”
A primer on governance, The Prince is required reading not only for
presidents but for every student of politics and power. Moreso for a priest who
traded his parish church for the provincial Capitol.
PAST TO PRESENT. Still stripped of his priestly functions even after
stepping down from the Capitol and two failed comeback tries, Ed Panlilio is
far from having shunned politics. He is currently among the spearheads of the
Leni-Kiko campaign in Pampanga.
