An open letter about our Dream Philippines
You might all be wondering why that guy keeps on writing books about governance. Truth to tell, I, together with a few others, am engaged in a governance advocacy within our country. The work is invigorating, but it takes much more time and effort to get to a tipping point where governance has already spread deeply and widely enough to make a significant, positive difference.
Our governance advocacy demands patience, persistence, perseverance. That is why I am so thankful to you who have been very encouraging to me and my fellow governance advocates. You have been more than proverbial in your support of our Quixotic exertions.
We may have reached a crossroads—given current realities and concerns—where many more of us have to be actively engaged in our governance advocacy. Thus this invitation to all of you not only to dream with us, but also to put your heads, hands, and hearts behind the plow for our dear Philippines.
Governance, after all, goes beyond merely talking. It also insists on delivering.
How then dowe band together so that each of us acts and brings about real, game-changing, and transformative results? This is where we face practical issues relating to the who, how, and what of governance.
We are the who, being called to change our mindset about who should take the lead in the governance of our public affairs. For too long and on the part of too many, we have assumed that it should rest only on the shoulders of our President and, to some extent, on the shoulders of our other elected and appointed public officials. But governance only from the top down has never been all that effective, particularly in our country. The challenge, and the revolutionary way, is to complement it from the bottom up.
As responsible citizens, we should demand leadership that will realize our Dream Philippines in the long term. Elected and appointed officials come and go. They are subject to the term limits imposed by law. We therefore need civil society organizations, think tanks, universities, and other citizen groups to take up the cudgels for articulating, monitoring, and assessing a long-term strategy for public governance.
Next comes the how. How can citizen groups give substance to this governance framework? There is a missing link between the ideals and ideas of governance and year-on-year and day-to-day actions and choices; and citizen groups can supply this missing link by coming up with a specific, time-focused vision for the country.
Vision connects all the dreams already articulated in the governance framework by looking at more immediate realities. Supported by citizens, it can perform the hat trick of promoting a longterm agenda for the Philippines that also takes advantage of those immediate realities.
Pushing a concrete vision makes accountabilities clear. It means that not only government but every part of Philippine society, economy, and polity is accountable for something. This is how we can build our Dream Philippines brick by brick.
The third practical issue is the what. What should be done, and what should be delivered by those accountable? Fortunately, a governance framework that operates from the bottom up can bank on a wide base of individuals, families and teams, and enterprises and communities committed to practicing governance.
This is where governance advocacies must do their most important work—pitching through any means available (forums, publications, traditional and, increasingly, social media) to these micro units of Philippines society, economy, and polity. The pitching itself needs to be done by various macro units madeup of professional and civic organizations in civil society; corporations and enterprises in business; and national agencies, local governments, and government-owned and controlled corporations in the public sector.
They have the influence to reach out to individuals, families and teams, and enterprises and communities that are considered to be their stakeholders; and can and should set up programs and networks in pursuit of good governance and responsible citizenship. This means greater coverage, cohesion, and coordination to realize the Dream Philippines.
Such a shared dream calls for positive and substantive transformation to be delivered by everyone—individuals as the ultimate governance assets; families and teams as the ultimate performance delivery units; and multi-sector groups anchored in civil society and the academe as the ultimate development and transformation agents.
This is a tall order that demands the en masse mobilization of many live forces to be able to work properly. Indeed, it counts on the good will of many Filipinos, and for now it seems it will take a miracle for us to be able to face and take on the practical issues surrounding public governance. But this is what the Dream Philippines is about: the who, the how, and the what.
Your support for the governance advocacy is of great value—and your becoming a governance advocate of even greater value still. You are part of our Dream Philippines. Engage in good governance initiatives from right where you are, and help other Filipinos become good and great patriots for our beloved country.
Dr. Estanislao is the Founding Chairman of the Institute of Corporate Directors (ICD) which advocates good governance among publicly listed companies, banks, insurance companies, and government-owned/controlled corporations. He is also the Founding Chairman of the Institute for Solidarity in Asia (ISA), a non-profit organization committed to public sector governance reform.