‘Red light means stop’

If that’s what President Aquino is teaching us then he is on the right track! There can be more to the siren ban if as a nation we truly do an examination of conscience: ‘red light means stop’! Red light can mean everything that is wrong and egregious like corruption or illegal gambling and a host of negative things that are plaguing our government, our economy and our country.

And if the first target of Aquino is our hierarchical culture then he is indeed on the right track! And if it also means that we as ordinary Filipinos must obey traffic rules and regulations, then he is on the right track! But then again, there must be no compassion for tricycle or jeepney or bus drivers who violate them blatantly! (Many years ago the writer was a visitor to a poor fisherman’s home in Bulacan; and to this day he has so much respect for that family – a modest but very clean and organized home standing on stilts. And living outside the Philippines – and helping the wife with the household chores – that modest home remains his model because he still remembers like it was yesterday!)

If a Cojuangco was identified with jeuteng then Aquino must demonstrate that ‘red light means stop’. And if he does then he is on the right track! And so if he applies the Caesar’s wife’s test to his appointees! And if he commits and behaves that he is not above the law!

Discipline with small things disciplines us for the big things. Consistent with the Millennium Development Goals of the UN, we have adopted the Balanced Scorecard to instill a performance culture in public service. And that is truly a big undertaking – that needs to be underpinned by discipline! (Disclosure: the writer many years ago in the private sector piloted Balanced Scorecard; and Activity-Based Costing, both developed by the same Harvard professor.)

Discipline is also focusing on key initiatives. And it is encouraging that the new cabinet members are talking of focusing their efforts on the vital few – given our resources are pretty limited – and on product development in tourism, for example.

But we Filipinos don’t like discipline? That is the root of our evils? Whatever initiative we pursue is bound to fail if discipline is something we can’t live with. For example, when inside our gated community we obey traffic rules but that discipline goes away the moment we step out of the gate. In one of the writer’s (family’s) trips back home, the wife was pulling him to cross the street when the ‘walk’ sign appeared; and so the writer said, ‘don’t you remember that those coming out of that gated community don’t see a red light’?

Surprised why we have endemic corruption? It is inside us – because discipline goes against our grain? Or at least that’s what Lee Kuan Yew is thinking?

An editorial piece talks about zero-based budgeting; obviously written by one who knew the subject. But it was a big caveat re the pitfalls of the technique. Of course, in an undisciplined-government entity it won’t work. Then the issue is not zero-based budgeting but discipline!

So we can’t be disciplined? We can if we accept that being a commoner is not a humiliation – it’s character-building? When we visit London or New York we marvel that we are able to commute using the tube or the subway? Commoner isn’t bad?