Being scared is not an excuse....

There’s talk going around that the newly appointed SBMA Administrator has already backed out of the job way before he even took his oath of office.

Wuzzat? Kind of confusing, isn’t it. I know, I was struck dumbfounded myself.

Turns out the guy got scared of the problems he would be taking on the minute he steps in as Chief Administrator.

You can read about it here.

Tsk.Tsk. I can see Dick Gordon nodding his head in disbelief and running his palms over his face like he used to when he got antsy about something.

And why, because of all people that would show fear of assuming the SBMA leadership, it came from a former SBMA volunteer, and Gordon wonderboy to boot.

Afraid? Come on. What could have been more scarier than assuming leadership of a newly turned over Subic to the Philippine government just as the Americans had left. There was virtually nothing to speak of, yet Gordon, who was appointed Chair of the Authority, rallied on along with thousands of volunteers. People, of all ages, backgrounds and denominations, worked closely to make Subic a perfect investment venue for Foreign Direct Investment opportunities to come in. Then, you had the likes of FedEx, APL and other big brands looking into Subic. APEC even had their leader’s meeting in the area in 1996. All coming from scratch.

Scary? What could have been more fearful than to be in the midst of a turn over? When Gordon was kicked out by then President Estrada and former Congressman Tong Payumo came in as the new Chair and Administrator, everyone who decided to stay behind was left in the middle of a brewing political dance. Your loyalties were in question and you had to prove that all you wanted to do was work. Some stayed on, some left. It was scary because during the first few moths, during the so-called honeymoon period, it felt like people were always watching your back. Your former allies had thought you moved on to the Payumo camp while the Payumo camp thought you were still there because you were asked to key in sabotage moves to ensure failure of the new administration. Where will you stand at that?

So don’t tell me about being scared because two administrations have already laid out the ground work for you not to be scared. One started with nothing while the following term tried to promote harmony and focused on attracting in more FDI. These new appointees are lucky because they’re being served the authority on a silver platter. Not much to do but just maintain the spirit and objective of attracting business, maintaining business and running the business. It can’t get all business wise than that.

If you say you’re scared then I think we should reconsider looking at someone else. Someone who is more technocrat in nature and can see the trends of the future rolling in—for one, Subic is still waiting to be developed to its full potential. We’re not there quite yet; just a little more steps to go.

Scared is not something you tell the manangs and the other former volunteers who are still with the SBMA and fondly recall their early volunteer days like they were old war stories that could be told over and over again. Because they have more courage combined than anyone who says I can’t hack it…way before he even takes the oath.

I don’t think I will even call you wonderboy anymore.