WHAT A GREAT MAN-VICE-PRESIDENT OF PHILIPPINES!

By Mawutodzi Kodzo Abissath

Philippines Vice-President at ISS

An American Philosopher and mystic Ralph M. Lewis once wrote: “A great man is not necessarily of a huge stature. He is great because he has the ability to command his environment to serve his purpose.”

On Tuesday, 25 March, 2014 around 9:00 am, I saw a high profile letter on our ubiquitous Moodle system. Because such letters do not appear every day like other communications, it caught my attention instantly.

And it reads:

“Dear colleagues and students,

“I am honourned to invite you to a Special lecture in a big aula by the Vice-President of the Philippines, Mr. Jojomar Binay, and this Wednesday, 26 March at 16:00. Mr. Binay is a Harvard University educated Human Right lawyer and will be giving a lecture on migration and development on perspectives of Philippines. The lecture will be followed by questions and answers.

“I hope many of you as possible will join us for the lecture and afterwards a reception at the atrium.

“Leo de Haan.”

Dear reader, I reproduced this letter of invitation for two simple reasons:

First, for the benefit of those who might not know the actual designation of Leo de Haan. He is Professor Dr Leo de Haan and Rector of the International Institute of Social Studies (ISS) of Erasmus University Rotterdam.

Second, to signal how polite and humble the tone of his invitation sounds like. And he did not even quote his title to show off  that he is  the Rector of this globally acclaimed school or as if he was commanding everybody to be there whether they like it or not. And that is the sign of greatness. We students  must endeavor to learn something like this from the authorities and  lecturers of this Institute. After all, does it not pay to be humble?

On Wednesday, 26 March, 2014 three wonderful things happened at ISS:  In the first place some six giant motorcade riders including a lady escorted  the person who came to give the lecture at our institute. He was the Vice-President of Philippines, Mr. Jojomar C. Binay.

H.E. Mr. Binay came to the Global City of Peace – The Hague to participate in the Nuclear Security Summit 2014. This was an extraordinary event attended by over 50 world leaders addressed by the only super power President of the world today. He is in the person of President Barako Obama of America. So, Vice-President Jojomar Binay has killed two birds with one stone.

The second wonderful thing that happened was that, most people including this writer gathered in the big aula were expecting Prof. Leo de Haan, the Rector to accompany the Vice-President of Philippines into to the lecture hall. But he could not come himself due to some ‘circumstances beyond his control’ as we say in Ghana. So, when the Deputy Rector in charge of Research  Affairs, Prof  Mohamed Salih with a large entourage, entered the auditorium, many people who did not know the Vice-President including this author, were still expecting the Rector to come in with the distinguished Speaker for the day.

It was only when Prof. Salih mounted the platform and started to introduce the Speaker that it dawned on many that H.E. the Vice-President was already in our midst. After the introduction a very, very, simple man with cute diminutive stature like a Ghanaian, stood up and went to the lectern. And he is not only a great man by intellect but he also possesses a huge sense of humour!  

When he mounted the platform placed there purposely for him, he looked at it curiously and thanked Prof. Salih for creating the special platform for him. As he put it, something to the effect that but for that platform, nobody would be able to see his face when speaking. And the entire auditorium burst into hearty laughter. That was the mark of a great man! It is not his stature that matters so much but his brain; his mind; his ideas, his knowledge and his service to his nation and his contribution to the advancement of mankind. That is what we are talking about here.

And when the Vice-President started delivering his lecture, one could feel the wisdom and sense that were streaming from his dreams through the train of his brain. It was beyond compare. H.E. Jojomar Binay did more than justice to the topic under discussion; “Migration and development perspectives of the Philippines.”  He spoke not only  as a politician but as an academician as well. He gave facts and figures and quoted sources of his information.

For example, he related that there were over 400 000 Filipinos scatted all over the face of the earth at the moment. He recalled the very first Philippines nurse who came to The Netherlands or Europe as far back as 1947. In fact, he gave the positive and negative aspects of migration as experienced by his country men and women over the years. But he underlined a point that it is not only Philippines citizens who  travel to other parts of the world.  Others too, migrate into Philippines as well. He mentioned how Philippines was the first country to play host to hundreds of refugees trooped to his country during Vietnam wars and other conflicts in the Far East.

Still, it was during the questions and answers time that the intelligent politician in H.E.Jojomar Binay emerged. He has a unique way of answering questions. Having served as a Mayor in his country for over 20 years before becoming a Vice-President made him a man in his own class. He carries a bag-load of professional and academic experiences. He is an astute politician to say the least. It is not a fluke that he is a Harvard University educated Human Right lawyer.  He knows his left from his right. He goes straight to the point when answering questions and would end up throwing a question back to the questioner rhetorically. It was fantastic to listen to him.

Strategically, he did not fixed himself like a statue on the platform at one place when answering questions. He pans left, right, center and closes in on a questioner as if to interact with any person posing a question to him.  Even after the session he started interacting freely with the audience as an ordinary member of the public. His human relationship was wonderfully depicted at once. It was a magnificent style that I have yet to witness anybody public speaker employ to maximal effect.  One thing that he said that sent my own brain orbiting in my skull was that: “Modern man prefers to move instead of remaining static in one palace.” So, to him, nobody can or should stop people who want to migrate to any part of the world from doing so.  People must be free to move around as they please, he concluded!

The author is MA Student at the International Institute of Social Studies of Erasmus University Rotterdam, The Hague. abissath@gmail.com

(See more pictures)

Prof. Mohamed Salih, Deputy Rector Reseach introducing the Veep

A questioner posing his question to the Veep