Governance outreach to the nation
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NOT every governance enterprise is national in scope; but every enterprise has to be national in terms of its sense of “civic duty” and “social responsibility”. Not a single enterprise in the Philippines can ever forget that it has a serious duty and responsibility for the long-term transformation and genuine development of the country as a whole.
Given this perspective, this truism needs to take a much stronger hold on every governance enterprise working in our country: any small light, created by a single governance and transformation initiative, can dispel some of the darkness that had descended on our land. The challenge remains: how to make that light brighter, stronger, and more sustained. Indeed, how to spread that light far and wide?
The governance perspective points to some (certainly not comprehensive) items as food for thought, when a governance outreach is dutifully considered and pitched to the entire Philippine nation.
Pushing the cart in the same direction idealistically set by the national leadership. No matter what our preferences may have been during election time, once officials have been duly elected we are all duty-bound to push the affairs of our nation-state in the broad general direction set by national policy. For now, it is the fight against drug abuse, criminality, and corruption. And this fight has to be carried out under the general rubric of “change”, i.e. “genuine change so as to restore faith and trust in government”. The direction is clear. It is up to each governance unit to take initiatives in order to add specific substance to real accomplishments on our nation’s journey towards these objectives.
Taking advantage and multiplying the demographic dividend. While there continues to be room for debate and discussion about population growth and reproductive issues, the fact is our nation has moved on to reap the demographic dividend: we have a relatively young population that is more easily “trainable”. Why not ensure that our population remains relatively (on average) young? Much more positively, and yielding so many more challenges and offering so many promises: why not equip our people with ever new skills that can be used to good effect for our people’s development. Continuing education for life for all beckons, and does beckon very strongly and very brightly. And let us start giving due emphasis to those in the marginalized segments of our society: the dividends here are enormous.
Meeting the climate change challenge with smartness and with a view towards long-term safety. Instead of continuing to quarrel about the science and future prospects of climate change, why don’t we face up to the need to move more of our communities from the uncomfortable low-lying coastal areas to the more comfortable (temperature-wise) upland areas? Why insist on settling most of our population in high-risk areas, where we are mostly crowded, when in fact we have more of the upland areas, where risks from climate change (rising sea levels) can be more effectively mitigated? Developers have the means and resources: but we need the rules and regulations, and above all the clear vision along with the political will to make the move.
These are broad-brush national priority items. They certainly do not exhaust the list of possible areas for governance initiatives in behalf of our nation’s interest. But they provide a start; and they can serve as a guide to any governance enterprise in search of national issues to work for and contribute towards.
The key, however, lies in working with similarly minded, positive development agents, whose long-term agenda is fully identified with the longterm Philippine future.