Working as one

The process of growth of a country is a never ending process. The stage of growth and development, on the other hand, of a country is simply the sum total of what the government and the people had collectively done and accomplished towards that end.

It is essential, therefore, that both the government and the people work in tandem and as one in order to continuously upgrade the level of national development and the quality of life of our citizenry.

Government alone, meaning its present crop of leaders, can go no far in pursuit of economic development without the active support and cooperation of the people. By the same token, even a supportive population cannot do much in terms of advancing the national economic agenda with a government that is run by inept, incompetent and, worse, graft-inclined public officials.

It is axiomatic, then, to achieve a symbiotic relationship between the leaders and the governed that the chosen officials possess the sought after virtues and character of integrity, honesty, probity, capability, competence and dedication that public service is really all about. Absent these leadership characteristics even a cooperative people cannot neutralize such a big national handicap.

At the other side of the coin, it is equally as imperative that the people themselves be imbued with the correspondent virtues and character of godliness, nationalism, patriotism, civic-mindedness, willingness and ability to learn and work, and the spirit of entrepreneurship. This can be summed up as the "five loves" namely: "love of God", "love of country", "love for fellowmen", "love for work" and "love for learning".

"Love for God", the most basic of loves, instills in the consciousness of the human mind the belief and acceptance of and submission to a Supreme Being that is the Creator of Life and everything else in this world. "Love for country" imbues upon the citizenry a sense of patriotism, nationalism and belonging to the one and only country that we have and to which we owe allegiance to. "Love for fellowmen" imparts the virtue of fellowship with our brothers and sisters and fosters peaceful living and camaraderie amongst the citizens. "Love of learning", on the other hand, moves the people to acquire knowledge, information and skills that will make them potential positive contributors to the growth of society. Finally, "Love for work" instills in them the sanctity of honest toil and livelihood and makes them assets as actual contributors to the economy, either as workers or entrepreneurs.

Verily, a country whose citizens are genuinely imbued with these "five loves" will make for a people that is God-fearing, patriotic, civic-minded, skilled and learned, and with a passion to apply their knowledge to honest work – ingredients for a truly successful country and people.

Indeed, without these "five loves" taken to heart by the citizenry, it would be most difficult, if not impossible, for even the best of leaders and the best of government to fully advance the national agenda of growth and modernization. In short, a competent and dedicated government must be working hand-in-hand with a competent and dedicated people to achieve the nation’s dream of progress and economic upliftment. Like the tango that can only be performed by two, government and people must work as one for the nation to succeed.

To fuse this national harmony between the government and the people, a colossal hindrance must be vanished away – and that is too much politics. Politics is not evil of itself as it is the vehicle or process by which the people are divided during election time to choose their leaders after which they shall be united for. Rather, it is the protraction of politics even after that is bad in that it keeps the country and people ever divided even way after the polls. The Filipinos, tragically, are one of, if not the most, politicized or political people in the world. We love too much politics for our own good.

Just imagine. A political party or leadership loses at the polls and is replaced by a regime of new leaders from the opposing party. It has become an all too familiar pattern in the Philippines that in such a case the pending and on-going projects and programs of the former regime, though beneficial and advantageous to the country and people, are halted, abandoned, changed or undone – simply because these were projects and programs of the opposing party formerly in power. Contracts that have already been signed and are in the process of implementation are suspended and reviewed with the eye of changing the proponents and contractors thereon to that of their own political patrons. Government policies, upon the other hand, though sound and effective, are altered, changed and modified to suit their selfish needs now. Policies become inconsistent and variable resulting to a disincentive on the part of investors, both foreign and local.

In the meantime, due to all these shifts and changes, the national agenda of building all our infrastructure such as roads, highways, bridges, railways, ports, airports, schools, hospitals and the like, as well as our utilities such as power, water and telecommunications facilities are greatly prejudiced, derailed and compromised. Because of the insidious head of politics, incoming administrations, far from continuing to build and improve from the good deeds and works of the past regime, instead destroy them, only to start from step all over one again. All because of politics.

We call on our leaders, therefore, to discard this self-defeating attitude and, instead, continue to build and improve out of the good deeds of the past. All modern countries, either socialist or democratic, followed this straight road to national progress. There is no reason we should not follow suit. If only we concentrate less on politics and more of on the countryís good and welfare.

In the end, it is the unity of the leaders and the people, working in common at the sacred task of nation-building, that we can have a chance to achieve our goal of successful nationhood.

You may write your comments / suggestions at 15/F Equitable Tower, Paseo de Roxas, Makati City or through e-mail at HYPERLINK "mailto:[email protected]" [email protected]

(Note: We beg the indulgence of our leaders who are at times tasked to read a lengthy piece. The purpose of our writings, however, being advocacy and not merely commentary in nature, compels us to dissect a given problem, analyze its causes and effects, and offer studied solutions. The length of the article should be irrelevant to such an approach.)