CASE STUDY HONORABLE RODOLFO J. ESPINA, SR.

Mayor, Municipality of Kawayan, Biliran Luisito Montalbo Stories of leadership often fail to fully capture what the person behind the position goes through as he or she tries to institute changes in the organization. Many leadership stories tend to gloss over personal difficulties and highlight only those that make the leader appear bigger and brighter. What these stories fail to recognize is that there is much to learn from the struggles that come before the victory. This is the story of Mayor Rodolfo J. Espina, Mayor of the Municipality of Kawayan, a 5th class municipality found in the Province of Biliran. In this story, we will experience the struggles of one who, from the depths of his humanity, fought not only against the forces of change, but even against the forces that threatened his very soul. Born into Politics Rodolfo Rudy J. Espina was born into politics. His father, Gerardo Gerry Sabinay Espina was an Assemblyman and Majority Floor Leader of the Batasang Pambansa from 1978 to 1984, during the time of President Ferdinand Marcos. Congressman Gerry Espina also held various Cabinet positions in the Marcos era, including Minister of State for Labor from 1981 to 1984, and concurrently Deputy Minister of Trade and Industry. Today, the elder Espina continues to be the lone Representative of the Province of Biliran, a position he has held since 1995.1 A number of Mayor Rudys siblings are likewise in politics. His younger brother, Hon. Gerry Boy Espina, Jr. has been a Congressman in the Province of Biliran since 2004 up to the present. His elder twin brother Governor Rogelio J. Espina is Governor of our province of Biliran since 2001 up to present. Rudy and his siblings had an early start in the world of politics. At 11 years old, Rudy was already campaigning for the 1971 Constitutional Convention, where his father was a delegate. This experience gave him early exposure to the pressures and demands, as well as the rewards and temptations inherent to Philippine politics. It also shaped his early political life, giving him models and ideas on what politics is and what politicians are expected to do.2 My first exposure in politics dates back the years 1971 Constitutional Convention up to the present during Expresident Ferdinand E. Marcos. I was only 11 years old during that time. My family especially my brothers and sisters used to render a song while playing our instruments in front of crowds gathering during campaign sorties of my father in Manila. I would speak in front of the people in political rallies trying to convince them to vote for him ( I used to say salamat po or thank you after the song rendered and say huwag po sana nating kalimutan ang tatay do sa darating na eleksyon, maraming salamat po during the assemblyman eriod (1978 1984). I used to attend political meetings of my father and trying to listen and know their strategies and concept; meeting political leaders, talking to them and in sometimes absorbing inputs and minsan giving ideas also. I was already 18 years old na during that time. Ive been assigned to campaign areas or places where I will be in-charged of setting up political posters, giving of political pamphlets in a house to house manner. I used to coordinate with leaders where I am assigned, trying to know the most convenient and effective way of delivering my work assignment in less time. I used to talk to people while doing my sorties, asking for their support for my father and convincing them the programs and projects to come ones my father will be elected. In a way Ive been a people pleaser and at the same time facilitator and mediator. After graduating from the Far Eastern University with a degree in Architecture in 1978, Rudy helped manage the family farm in Tanay, Rizal. He later moved on to manage the different real estate properties of the family, i.e., collecting rent, dealing with tenants needs, ensuring maintenance of the different properties . In 1999 I was assigned to be the administrator/manager of the familys farm in Tanay, Rizal for four (4) years. The farms consist of two farm lots. One is 44 hectares and the other is 23 hectares. Both farms is full of fruit bearing planted trees (700 grafted mango trees with 44 mango century trees existing, 17, 000 calamansi trees,

Unlike many provinces in the Philippines, the Province of Biliran only has one Congressional District, requiring only one Representative to the House of Representatives. 2 Traditional politics in the Philippines often require politicians to cater to all the whims of their constituents. Patronage, nepotism and overdependence have been used to characterize Philippine politics for many years.

250 dalanghita, rambutans, pamelos, lecheas). The farm has livestocks also. Around 500 cockfighting cocks others for breeding and 10 race horses for breeding. The farm is situated near Ex-president Joseph Estradas resort. Overlooking the Sierra Madre mountain and Laguna de Bay.

As administrator I started managing both farms by knowing first their existing conditions, both physical and financial. I then tried to find out what was needed to uplift its condition and to be productive. I exposed myself to the community, the town itself and tried to know the right people to talk to in relation to our farm business. There were around 25 workers in all excluding other families. Most of the time, I was with them in the field. I would provide their families with medicines, food at lunch and dinner. After dinner, we would converge in our favorite place and share our accomplishments of the day, discuss future plans or just talk about life. Many times, I sought their advice on how to better manage the farm. I guess thats the best part in a days work because it provided us with avenues to better understand our relationship and work. I also managed the finances of both farms. I researched what equipments, tools we needed Rudys experience in these various businesses provided him with competencies that proved invaluable when he eventually entered public service. Spending four years managing a farm required him to deal with people from different economic and social levels. This honed his ability to relate to people, listen to their stories, understand their unique situation. He acquired important skills that the future Mayor would need to deal with the poor and the needy in his community. His work in the farm also polished his problem-solving skills in finance and administration, giving Rudy important basic management skills that would prove useful as local chief executive. He also spent about four years in the United States doing all sorts of odd jobs. I had different kinds of jobs. At first, I was hired as a draftsman and at the same time a carpenter by my cousin. I also worked in National Car Rental Agency as a driver. I was a courier in a banking facility, delivering and transferring bonds, documents to different banks across the Bay area. I worked in PRICE CLUB also in Daly City for four (4) months as a stocker. My last three jobs included working for an architectural firm in San Francisco as a draftsman. I would draft, finalize sketches done by architects of that firm, doing revisions earning 6 dollars an hour. I worked there for 4 months. My last two jobs were working with Mc Gill-Self-Martin Architectural and Engineering Firm for 1 year and 3 months. I was a Junior Draftsman for 2 months, then became a Senior Draftsman I developed designs for town planning, structural and landscaping designing. At night I work with New York Times delivering newspaper around downtown in San Francisco earning $600 net a month as a second job. I used to fix my schedule by going home from work by 6:00 PM, preparing my food, relaxing, sleep for a while then wake up by 9:00 PM to go the newspaper warehouse get my assigned route, pack-up the newspaper and deliver it house to house. I usually went home by 1:00 2:00 AM. I did learned a lot while in the States. My first month in the U.S. was full of negative emotion, sadness, insecurities, denial and discomfort, full of struggles but what kept me moving on was my determination and courage, believing that I can work hard to secure a better future. Politics When his father first invited him to run for Mayor of Kawayan in 1995, Rudy turned down the invitation..3 He was content to lead a private life.. He was not willing to take on the difficulties of public servicethe pressures, temptations, and demands he saw his father constantly dealing with. One of the dilemma of being an executive. Thats why were called politicians. We have to strengthen our political pull with our constituents. At first di masisis ang ganyang pakisama. Di maiwasan ang pakisama. Mahirap
3

Kawayan is one of eight municipalities in the province of Biliran. A fith class municipality, it has a

population of 17,507 (2005). Main industry is coco farming, palay farming and fishing.

to balance needs of nakakarami vs. needs of a few who can deliver the votes, i.e., those who own the land and employs a substantial number of possible voters. Sometimes politician have to please his supporters so in the end the candidate has his assurance that he will get the voted. However, by 1998, the pressures from the family proved too much for Rudy to resist. His father persisted in asking him to purse a public office, and that there was no one else to do it. He felt the heavy obligation to abide by what was expected of him by his father, he could no longer fend off his destiny. Rudy ran and won as Vice Mayor in 1998. In 2001, Rudy became Kawayans youngest Mayor. When Rudy became Vice Mayor, most of the basic necessities were not available to the people of Kawayan. Potable water was difficult to access in many parts of the municipality. Electricity was sporadic, with little power available most parts of the day. at the town center and unavailable in most barangays. Many of the school buildings were dilapidated. Access to many barangays were cut off due to a lack of passable roads, thus reducing the peoples ability to bring farm goods to the market. The town plaza was a dark and dirty empty lot over run by cogon grass. Rudy saw the need to devote his time and energy as Vice Mayor to putting up the needed physical infrastructure to deliver basic necessities to the people, a priority that he continued to focus on when he became Mayor in 2001. However, being a manager of a 5th class municipality, Rudy had one basic problem: the municipal government did not have any money. Total tax revenue per year was just about P1 Million. The money it received from the National Government through the Internal Revenue Allotment was about P22,000 annually. 4 Given the needs of the municipality, such funds were clearly not enough. What Rudy did was leverage on the fact that his father was the Congressman of the province of Biliran. Using the Congressional Development Fund5 allotted to his fathers constituents, Rudy was able to harness the needed resources to improve the municipality. By the end of his first term, he was able to put in place most of the basic infrastructurewater, electricity, and roads. One of his most visible accomplishments is the transformation of the municipalitys town center into a cemented, colorful, well-lit plaza where all the communitys activities are conducted. This represented not only a physical improvement, but provided a locus of social activities that bonded the people during special occasions like fiestas, municipal Christmas parties. Rudy also successfully organized a meeting where representatives of provincial and regional offices met with the municipal officials to review development projects that require financial and logistical support. This meeting, the first of its kind in the province gave the municipality the opportunity to present its priority projects to different regional and provincial agencies in order to obtain their support for these projects of Kawayan. As a result, a total of P83 Million was committed by the government agencies for development projects. Both the approach and the outcome of this convergence meeting merited the attention of the local press, as well as that of other government agencies. All these accomplishments in three years should be enough to satisfy any local executive, as well as his constituents. If a track record of unquestionable accomplishment was all it took to win the elections, Rudy clearly should have been a landslide winner in the next elections. But the elections of 2004 proved otherwise. The Greater Challenge While it is true that at the start of his term, Rudy recognized that the greater need of the people was the provision of basic services and infrastructure, it is also true that when he started as mayor, he thought that this was the main, if not the only, responsibility of a local chief executive. Having been exposed only to politics in the traditional sense, Rudy had little appreciation for the other aspects of community leadership. For instance, it was known in the municipal government that Rudy was not a very big fan of training and building the competencies of his personnel. and would not easily accede to requests for such activities from the municipal employees.

Internal Revenue Allotments (IRAs) are funds provided by the National Government to all local government units of the Philippines. Amount of allocation is computed depending on the size of both the geographical area and the population of the local government unit. 5 Each Congressional Representative receives a certain amount from National Government. Called Congressional Development Fund or CDF, the money can be allocated by the Congressman for development projects in their respective Congressional districts. Amounts are determined together with the entire budget of the Philippine government.

Rudy acknowledged that during this period of his incumbency, he basically used his positional power and even fear to make things happen. For example, he would find himself admonishing employees at the top of his voice. He felt that the municipal employees should have no choice but to follow him, and that he should enforce what he wanted regardless of what the employees felt or thought. Dati kasi, masyado akong speedy Gonzales heto ang gusto ko projects, programs, employees hindi ko in anticipate yung stage nila before I was Mayor lax. So I required them to do my bidding. Dati more instructing fear into them now I learned there are lots of ways to convince people kailangan din to practice compassion ba. Thats why very broad ang meaning ng passion for service not just basic services how to empower them by changing their ideologies, their values about life. But I have first to change mine. They will not follow me. Pano kami susunod kung ganyan ka. We are their examples. I need to do this not just for them but for myself as well to practice my rigorous honesty for myself. So Im also learning from them. In 2002, the municipality joined the Leaders for Health Program (LHP) 6, a project of the Ateneo Graduate School of Business. The Program provides poor municipalities with a doctor over a spread of four years. Since Kawayan had been doctor-less for a number of years this offer was too good to pass up and so Kawayan joined the first batch of LHP sites. By its very nature and design, the LHP, however, does not simply parachute doctors into poor municipalities like Kawayan to work on their own steam. The program, in fact, is built around harnessing the very community the doctor will serve so that its leaders take on the responsibility of health care themselves with the doctor as partner. Thus, the Program requires the mayors of participating municipalities, as well as selected community leaders (CLs) to attend capacity-building activities. This is so that the local chief executive can better understand the role a mayor plays in ensuring the good health to his constituents. The Mayors and CLs are required to attend a series of workshops during the four-year program, either in Manila or at their municipality, designed to make them understand that health should be the concern of all stakeholders, especially those who hold political and economic power (these are the stakeholders), and that it is only through the collaborative effort of these stakeholders can the problems on health be sustainably resolved. Initially, Rudy did not want to attend the LHP workshops. It was only when threatened with the pull out of the volunteer doctor assigned to the area that he found himself sitting in classrooms, listening, and participating in twoor three-day learning activities. Because the approach of the program is to provide not just technical skills but make the participants also reflect on who and what they are as persons and as leaders, Rudy began to better understand what it truly means to be a mayor. Many of the sessions under the LHP challenged his traditional ways of thinking and feeling about governance, health and leadership. The program introduced to him new ways of doing and seeing things. How can I alleviate poverty, I dont have trade and commerce, I dont have industries. We collect 1 Million from taxes. Our IRA is 21k all from national government. So the RORO port is really promising to boost morale of people, as well as provide livelihood. So we can practice the LHP values. Ive been a member of LHP for 2 years what LHP taught me is: good governance, how to empower and how to look into ourselves. To assess ourselves based on the actual situation. And it helped me understand myself and understand what Im into, accept my reality 5th class, 70% are poor, no trade and commerce and accept that population are increasing how to sustain the programs. Slowly, Rudys perspectives about leadership and his responsibilities as mayor began to shift. He realized that his role as mayor involved more than providing basic physical infrastructure. He saw that the greater challenge confronting him as a leader was changing the very foundation of peoples values and way of thinking. He better understood the need for empowerment, and that for people to be empowered, they need to be capacitated with skills and perspectives different from what they already have. Habang tumatagal ako bilang Mayor, as I learned from my experiences, I began to learn certain things. I realized I have to empower people, for them to know their responsibilities. Thats why very broad ang meaning ng passion for service not just basic services how to empower them by changing their ideologies, their values about life.
6

The Leaders for Health Program provides leadership formation and competency building to local leaders of selected communities in order to equip them with the necessary skills and attitudes to better manage local health systems. Participants undergo a series of workshops and classes that tackle a wide range of topics and teach skills related to political governance, management, leadership and self mastery. The Program also seeks to strengthen the coordination between the different stakeholders at the local level, i.e., political leadership, health professionals, community representatives, in improving health activities in the community.

Ronald Heifetz, in his book Leadership on the Line, defined adaptive challenges as those which require experiments, new discoveries, and adjustments7, and requiring people to learn new ways of doing things, including changing attitudes, values and behaviors8. Adaptive change is needed because the problems confronting the community are not amenable to authoritative expertise or standard operating procedures. When none of the previous solutions available to the organization works, we need to identify new ways of solving the crisis. Such new modalities almost always require a shift in the very way people feel, think and behave. Although Rudy did not have the benefit of Heifetz terms and distinctions, he began to realize that while he may have been successful in putting up the physical infrastructures for his community, these were not enough to bring the kind of development his people needed. This reality became vividly clear when, when only two years after water pipes had been laid out for his municipality, local leaders approached him again to have new pipes put in. The reason: the pipes were busted because the community did not take the responsibility of managing and taking care of the water system. Rudy realized that peoples perspectives about their own responsibility for their lives needed to be changed. The people needed to be see that they were accountable and responsible for their own lives and development. As Rudys perspectives changed, he expected others around him to change their perspectives too. He began to encourage the municipal employees to attend their own capacity building seminars. He approved and provided funding for employees who expressed desire to attend workshops. He talked to employees and told them to avail of capacity building workshops that are given by other agencies. For the community, he started to conduct more consultations with the different barangays, asking them about their problems and how to solve these problems. He felt that the people should become more accountable for their own lives, and not be totally dependent on their leaders. Now that Im done with infra, I need to concentrate on empowering people through us talking together, coming up with one solution that all of us will understand. Di naman pweden sa akin lang manggaling ang solusyon. We need all sectors to participate, to talk about our responsibilities for ourselves and for our community. However, such a mental shift expected by the Mayor, while seemingly simple and even basic, apparently was posed to challenge more foundational beliefs. In a political setting where patronage and dependency on leaders are almost encouraged, making people feel more responsible for their own lives is something that both the leaders and the constituents resist. Many political leaders are able to maintain and consolidate their powers primarily because people feel dependent to them. The political power dispenses favors, i.e., employment to supporters, assistance for personal needs of constituents including funeral expenses, medicines, throughout their term, regardless of whether this is what is really needed to develop the community. In return the people pledge support to these leaders during the time of elections, regardless of whether these people have really brought about the development required by the common good. By taking on the perspective of people empowerment, he was going against the very essence of traditional politics. While Rudy slowly learned about empowerment, he also believed that providing the basic infrastructure should be more than enough for people to be convinced that he should remain as mayor. He expected that because of what he had done, he did not have to resort to the 3 Gs of Philippine politics: guns, goons and gold, and that his accomplishments should stand on their own. By the time the elections of 2004 came, Rudys views on leadership and development was so changed that he campaigned using the principles of his new politics. He believed that based on what had been accomplished under his term, and because people wanted change, they should be able to vote based solely on performance and that no other consideration should be at play at the ballot box. He thought that the peoples perspectives have been changed as radically as his and that the results of the 2004 elections would surely reflect this change. As the election day neared, however, Rudy realized that patronage politics was more imbedded than he initially perceived. What he thought would be a landslide win for him at the elections did not prove to be so easy, his opponent gnawed aggressively on his lead. As his opponent used all the tricks in the trade to wrest the victory from him, Rudy had to fight with all he had just to make sure that he came out the winner. At the end of the day, the pressures and convenience of patronage politics was simply too much to resist, both on the sides of the candidates and the people.

7 8

Heifetz, Ronald, Leadership on the Line, Harvard Business School Press, 2002, p. 13. Ibid.

Rudy won by only less than 2,000 votes. While his supporters cheered his winning, for him, it was an empty victory. He felt betrayed. He thought that the people were ready for a new way of doing things. He thought that good intentions and solid performance were enough for people to select their leaders wisely. While he won the elections, most of the people still voted out of other considerations aside from what should really matter. At that point, Rudy felt that all that what he had done was not worth it. So while he got the position, Rudy backed off from the responsibilities and slowly sunk back into his old addictions: alcohol Fighting His Hungers Unknown to many of his constituents, just as Rudy was trying to fight against the prevailing norms and perspectives, he was also struggling with a much more personal fight. For most of his adult life, Rudy has had a continuing struggle with an addiction to alcohol. In fact, one reason why he initially did not want to enter politics in 1995 was because he felt that the public life would be too stressful that he might revert back to heavy drinking. This was exactly what happened. Social drinking was expected of a Mayor. As he began to drink at the early part of his term as Vice-Mayor, Rudy found himself getting more and more deeply into his old addictions. As he continued to perform his duties in the public eye, so did his dependence on alcohol to manage stress became more apparent. There would be occasions when he would perform his duties drunk. People in the municipal government would recall some episodes where their Mayor would act in manners not befitting the position simply because he was under the influence of alcohol. Ronald Heifetz identified three basic hungers that leaders should learn to manage since these hungers can overwhelm a leader and lead to his or her downfall. These hungers were: power and control, affirmation and importance, and intimacy and delight. Clearly, Rudys primary hunger was affirmation and importance. When after the elections, he saw that despite all his efforts, people still did not recognize him and his accomplishments, he felt overwhelmed with self-doubt. This condition further pushed Rudy into his alcohol addiction. For the next ten months, Rudy performed his duties as local executive in the most minimal way possible. He continued to sign documents required by the municipal government, but gone was the drive and passion that marked his first term. All the activities he did were perfunctory, conducting himself with the least resistance. No new projects were introduced. The ones initiated during the first term were propped up more by the own initiatives of the municipal employees, with little direction or inspiration from their leader. During these ten months, the Mayor indulged his alcohol addiction. He would start the day with alcohol. All his visitors he would invite to drink. By the end of each day, he would find himself still drinking. There were even instances where he would attend social and official activities struggling to keep himself sober. I felt sad, disappointed, disillusioned, self pity. So what I did was I let go of public service. I did not go to work for 10 months. I was just in my house. My negative side said: panahon naming ikaw naman ang magsaya. Let go. Pera pera lang naman yan eh. I was overcome by that way of thinking. So I let go of public service papers were brought to my house for signing. Pinupulutan ko ang self pity ko. Talk about insanities justifying my insanities. Until one day, Rudy woke up and realized that enough was enough. He said to himself that he has done enough self-pity, that he still has many things to do as a mayor, that other people depended on him to show the way. So, he went to Manila for a few weeks to talk to his counselor as part of being a member of Alcoholics Anonymous, got a new haircut, purged himself of the toxins in his body and came back to the municipality renewed. At this moment, Rudy could have chosen to remain in the pit of self doubt, allow the haze of alcohol to protect him from the realities of public service. Instead, Rudy chose to open himself up again to his constituents, risk being disappointed again by them. He did this because he understood that his was a life of service, that he had committed to improve the lives of his constituents, and that this was what he needed to do. So Rudy chose to leave the safety of his alcohol induced cocoon and went back to his active life as Mayor. And this time, he did so fully sober. What brought me back: God through my conscience sabi Niya, tama na. You are here for a purpose. People depend on you, not just your family but also your constituents. I was struck by that thought I went to Manila, and went to my counselor in AA, started to attend meetings. I relayed all my feelings to my counselor. Thanks to God, here I am again, coping with both personal problems and those of the community.

Since that time, Rudy got back his enthusiasm for work. He slowly began to build himself up again, regaining his self confidence. He has a renewed resolved to fight his addictions, surely much wiser about himself, his weaknesses, as well as his strengths. He began to better understand that as much as he needs to go through a process of understanding and changing his behaviors, so do the people need to go through their own process of finding how best to become participants in the development of their own lives. Before I thought that if you want to be a good leader, just give them what they need in physical and basic services now, with my new recovery, I believe that being a good leader kailangan siya muna ang ayusin nya bago ang bayan, kasi hindi biro ang maging executive, hindi biro ang serbisyo. Lahat ay may insanity anything that is dishonest gambling, womanizing. Ngayon mas maganda ang tingin ko sa being executive not just to deliver service, but also personal change paano ko ipresent ang sarili ko sa mga taong kausap ko. Learnings and Insights In hindsight, Rudy realized that while he was busy trying to fix his community, he forgot to take care of himself. He now understands better that he must also manage his own expectations of himself and of others, that he should always be in touch with his own vulnerabilities, and ensure that while he tries to change the ways of other people, he should also make sure that he himself goes through his own transformation as a person and a leader. The incident of the elections highlighted the reality that adaptive change cannot happen overnight. It involves a long process of change that requires much from the leader, even at the level of the personal. Mayor Espina in expecting the people to embrace the new way of politics and development was not able to fully learn from the lessons imparted by Heifetz for leaders doing adaptive change: a. Pace the Work Heifetz said that people can stand only so much change at any one time. You risk revolt, and your own survival, by trying to do too much, too soon.9 The people were clearly not yet ready to take on the kind of responsibility pushed to them by the Mayor. The benefits of the status quo were too much to resist, and for the Mayor to expect that people to change their ways on how they deal and select their leaders was too much, too soon. b. Control the Temperature Leaders leading adaptive change need to know when to increase the pressure, and when to lower the heat to avoid too much stress. While the Mayor explained to the people that there is a need to change their ways of dealing with their leaders, he did not give them sufficient structures on finding new ways of engaging their leaders, thereby easing the tension of the unknown by providing new skills and perspectives. The stress of trusting a process of greater empowerment was unfamiliar, making them vulnerable to the pressures of tradition and the status quo. c. Anchor Yourself This was the most critical lesson that Mayor Espina had to learn. He failed to distinguish himself from his role. The manner by which the people made their choices during the elections became to his mind, a rejection of himself. He failed to realize that it was not about him and who he was - it was more about who the people were and what they were willing to accept and change. Because of this, he felt his own self-esteem eroded. Combine this with his own personal addictions and weak personal anchors outside of his professional roles, the net effect almost devastated him at the personal level. Into the Future The second year of the second term of Rudy Espina holds a lot of promise. Together with the department heads of the municipal government, Rudy He and his team are developing a major project that will make Kawayan as one of the major ports of President Gloria Macapagal Arroyos Roll On Roll Off or RORO. If implemented, this proposed port complex will bring about significant economic progress to Kawayan. It is expected that small businesses such as lodging houses, restaurants, other support enterprises will be established. These in turn will bring about additional income into the coffers of the municipal government. More importantly, Rudy hopes that this development will provide greater inspiration and morale to the people of Kawayan. For too long, he feels that the people were used to not expecting much from their lives. The influx of people, ideas and resources into Kawayan can enliven the people to greater self sufficiency and progress.

Page 17.

Already, Rudy is laying the groundwork for the social infrastructure needed to support the RORO port. He is drafting policies and regulations with regard to sanitation, traffic, land use, law and order. He feels that providing the social net is necessary not only for people to enjoy the benefits of the project, it is also important to strengthen what he remain committed to accomplish: changing the way people feel, think and behave about themselves and their leaders. Rudy is also moving slowly but surely towards personal transformation. His recent bout with his addictions has made him stronger and wiser. He has become more gentle with himself and his people. He realized that while in the past, he made people follow him out of fear, he now strives to motivate them with compassion and even love. He better understands that if he truly wants to make people change themselves, he must constantly strive to changing himself. He now knows the importance of strengthening his anchors outside of his professional roles, and has a greater sense of the Divine in his life. Overall, things are looking up, for Kawayan, and for Mayor Rudy Espina.