Misunderstood purpose

He who does not know his purpose will be confused when he arrives at his destination.

This is certainly the case with Pampanga Governor Ed Panlilio, DTI Secretary Peter Favila, Customs Commissioner Napoleon Morales and a whole bunch of government officials who are either confused about their priorities or are trying to confuse the public about what should be our priorities.

In the case of Governor Panlilio, he is currently in a place called “Purgatory”, which according to Pope Benedict does not exist. The Governor would like to get on with the business of running the Province and getting their development programs up and running.

Instead he has been involved in a running battle with the dark forces in Pampanga who have committed everything including a deal with the devil to stop him, block him or remove him from office.

So where did Governor Panlilio err? In the very same place many of us fall….Whatever your agenda may be, you must first know your purpose and serve your purpose.

Often times, we embark on a mission, a business or a project with a purpose, but not many are willing or honest enough to admit that they do so more for the agenda than the purpose.

Every business, office, or mission has a purpose. Who it serves, what it serves, why it serves. Same thing with government, but people think of the profit, the power, the publicity or the privilege more than they think of the purpose.

 All of these fall under the category of “agenda”. Sooner or later the purpose is compromised or defeated by the agenda. With Among Ed, the agenda was what propelled him to office, but it is that very agenda that has given their enemies a sense of purpose.

Being Governor of Pampanga is first about governance. It is about services, peace and order, and development not an agenda against jueteng. Being a Cabinet member or government official requires that your actions or activities are aligned with the purpose as well as the priorities of your office and subsequently your position.

When the Catholic Church or the CBCP decided to wage their war on jueteng and used this as the rod to chastise the Arroyo administration, they came upon an effective tool for their agenda against government corruption , but not for their “true purpose” as shepherds of the Catholics and not frontline combatants to fight a corrupt government.

As a priest, it may be the duty of Among Ed to stand on the moral high ground. But as Governor, his “purpose” for which he was elected is to serve and govern the province and not get caught in the undertow of a moral tsunami that holds governance hostage. Yes, we all want moral governance, but even Proverbs tell us to first consider the cost of whatever we wish to do.

Whether you want to build a house or wage a war, you should first study the cost and consider if you have the logistics or the money to do so or you may risk the possibility of falling short and looking like a fool or losing a war you could have avoided or won by proper planning.

In a way, Governor Panlilio ended up like a Prince too eager to go to battle even before he had raised for himself a real army. Once again Among Ed and his friends at the CBCP dealt with the wrong problem and came up with the wrong answer.

Secretary Peter Favila on the other hand has made efforts to be visible or to be seen doing the rounds and speaking out against profiteers and importers of “risky” products. He spoke out against the “bakers” group who were trying to raise the price of bread especially pandesal. Recently Favila was portrayed as making the rounds with Customs Commissioner Napoleon Morales to ban dangerous Christmas lights.

That is not the purpose of your position, gentlemen. Your “palengke” visits trivialize the power and the purpose of your respective offices. Secretary Favila’s focus on “Christmas lights” pales in comparison to the DTI’s failure to seriously and effectively deal with the continuing but unsubstantiated price hikes for cement!

Business people are certainly wondering why Secretary Favila is not dealing with the Cement Cartel as strongly as he acted against the organization of bakeries and wheat importers. What kind of business logic are we applying by opening cement importation for a handful of people as a response to the high prices of the cartel?

First you woo the manufacturers to invest hundreds of millions of pesos to build cement plants, then you allow them to abuse your hospitality by setting up a cartel on prices and then you let a select few take advantage by opening cement importation so they can make money or buy cement cheaper than the investors you wooed.

In the last two months, members of Congress and people from the Dept. of Energy as well as DTI have used the term “profiteering” particularly against the oil companies. What I can’t figure out is why none of them ever talks about the “profiteers” who sell bottled water at 330ml for P38 to P50, which is more expensive by comparison to beer, soft drinks or some brands of rum.

What about the profiteers who sell wooden coffins equivalent to the price of a new car? Or powdered milk which is emotionally priced, and costs as much as a sack of rice.

If you don’t have babies, then you might have dogs. Did you realize that feeding dried dog food is just as expensive as buying powdered milk?

Seasonal publicity and press release is not the purpose and function of the Secretary’s position nor of the Commissioner. They are merely supposed to be a consequence of a truly performing purpose driven leadership.