Beyond the Seas

By Lyn Lumanlan-Elloso

“Delicadeza”, it sounds like a Spanish word. Filipinos have adapted many Spanish words into its language after being conquered for more than three hundred years by Spain. The word delicadeza in Spanish means delicate or gentle but for some reason this word has a different meaning that probably evolved over the years in the Philippines.

Delicadeza in the Philippines means decency, moral standards or propriety. It is applied usually to conflict of interests or even quitting a public position job when the electorate no longer has faith in a public official.

I have lived in New Zealand since the mid-nineties, and I have always been impressed about the clean governance and decency of its political leaders in general. Take for instance, the recent resignation of Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern whose term has not yet been completed until the next elections in October.

“I’m leaving, because with such a privileged role comes responsibility – the responsibility to know when you are the right person to lead and when you are not. I know what this job takes. And I know that I no longer have enough in the tank to do it justice. It’s that simple,” she said.

Ardern has been hailed all over the world for addressing the Christchurch mosque attack in 2019 stating that the victims of the massacre were beloved, integral members of the New Zealand Community. She wore a hijab as she sat with survivors and the families of victims and emphasising the country’s solidarity with them.

The Prime Minister moved to tighten New Zealand’s gun laws, banning military-style semi-automatic weapons just six days after the attack. More than 62,000 firearms were ultimately removed from circulation through a gun buy-back scheme. She campaigned to eliminate terrorist and violent extremist content online along with other world leaders.

In 2020 when COVID hit the world news, Ardern adopted the elimination strategy and lockdown that successfully stamped out the first wave of Covid-19 in New Zealand. It was incredible how the public united and followed the rules without any incidents of rebellion and social unrest like what we see in the United States and other western nations.

However, the strict measures imposed by her government have taken its toll. The capacity of NZ’s public health services was unequal to the task of undertaking public health measures on anywhere near the scale needed. There were wage subsidies given left and right. The scheme was, however, open to fraud and abuse. Complaints soared of employers pocketing the money intended for employees, forcing them to take annual or sick leave, or making them redundant while still taking the subsidy.

New Zealand is one of the most expensive country to live in – Ardern’s promise to address the housing crisis became a fluke. Private debt — which includes household debt and student loans sits at about 147 percent of gross domestic product. New Zealand is also facing problems with gang violence, ram rages and child poverty which she has also failed to address.

Miss Ardern’s popularity in the local scene began to wane due to growing frustrations over high cost of living, rising interests’ rates and concerns about crimes. And instead of making instant promises like any politician, she announces her resignation before the elections in October 2023.

Now this is what you call delicadeza– the dignity and integrity of her resignation is a graceful exit, a paradoxically powerful example, especially at a time when political transition in democracies from all over the world are marred by violence and insurrection.

Delicadeza is what Trump needs. The old goat is still in denial of how blatant his actions are in profiteering from public office. During his office, he has exercised nepotism by the hiring of unqualified relatives. He is unethical and shameless who has no regard for his reputation whilst breaking the law.

Delicadeza is what Bongbong Marcos also needs. After decades of Filipino suffering in his father’s autocratic rule, he had the nerve to run and get elected as the Philippine president stating that he seeks to vilify the Marcos’ name. Already, his few months in office reeks of bad governance.

Bringing back delicadeza may be far-fetched in today’s society. Leaders seemed to thrive despite their improprieties and lack of moral values.

Abraham Lincoln once said, “If you once forfeit the confidence of your fellow citizens, you can never regain their respect and esteem. It is true that you may fool all of the people some of the time; you can even fool some of the people all of the time; but you can’t fool all of the people all of the time.”