Using business paradigms in a time of elections

I am no fan of Noynoy Aquino. But he definitely is in my list among the presidential wannabes I am going to choose from. But amid the hoopla about his running for the highest office, I really don't feel anything at all. I yet have to see what comes next after he gets elected.

At this point, What is clear to me is just only a declaration. A declaration any politician would do during elections peppered with strings of promising catch-phrases as ituloy ang laban, ibangon natin ang Pilipinas, reporma, etc. all articulated well to elicit hope and to appeal to the desperation of the Filipinos. But for those who have been used to all these wornout themes they are but the same motherhood statements repeatedly spoken without fail as if it is already customary in every election to hear such discourses.       

This is not to single out the good senator here. I do believe that it is incumbent upon any candidate to attach in their declaration not just who he is or what he wants to do but also how he is going to do what he wants to do. And as citizens, on other hand, we are charged to make that very important decision to be from out of our own judgment and not out of euphoria, sympathy or even political alliances.

It is a very personal decision that reflects not only our personal aspirations but the aspirations of our children. In the language of commerce, it is what we call caveat emptor. In other words, we are responsible for assessing the quality of what we buy in the same way as we choose those who promise us of a good representation in the position that they are vying for.

As it is hard to reform the prevailing paradigms that is in politics, it may be worth adopting the paradigms that is in business to help us in our decision to vote.

Risk doesn't only come in business but also in politics. For the longest time, we have chosen mostly candidates or politicians bereft of performance and productivity. I believe it is not enough to be competent because at the end of the day, it always brings us back to how well the job was performed and how much of the job was accomplished. One of the keys to electing a good leader is to look back how he was doing in the past. Key areas are the number of sponsored or authored bills and the impact of such legislation to the populace. A neophyte running for an elective post may not have a track record yet but it is good to find out the projects he initiated in the past. The nature and impact of such projects to the community.

Credit standing is a measure of willingness and commitment of a borrower to his creditor. I would like to liken this as the level of sacrifice a candidate must do in the course of his performance of his duties. This can be translated into time he is willing to spend so as to ensure that he understands the needs of his constituents and that those needs will be met thru programs and projects by seeing for themselves if the programs are delivered and well executed as promised.