“The win-win situation is the basis for America’s entire business world. Instead of wasting our time attempting to defeat each other, let’s find a way that will make both of us gain and go home satisfied. But in Israel, it doesn’t work because the only meaning of victory is seeing your rival’s body lying trampled on the floor,” Yair Lapid, a former Israeli journalist, TV news anchor, who became a politician and Minister of Finance in Israel in 2013-2014, said.
A win-win negotiation can enable both parties in a discussion to feel that they have made a satisfactory deal, and that no one is a “loser.” It’s particularly useful when you have an on-going relationship with the other party and you wish to remain in good terms.
A win-win process has four steps:
a) See the problem from the other point of view, in terms of the needs and concerns, of the other party; b) Identify the key issues and concerns (not positions) involved; c) Determine what results would make a fully acceptable solution; and d) Identify new option to achieve those results.
Every problem has a solution; you just need to discover if. You cannot say which solution will, for sure, solve the problem, but you can be sure that when you hit the right solution, the problem shall vanish. To make it happen, you need to have a firm belief in God and thyself.
Why won’t the Inter-agency Task Force for the Management of Emerging Infectious Diseases (IATF) and Gov. Gwen Garcia come up with a win-win solution to the ongoing deadlock on their respective protocol policies on arriving overseas Filipino workers (OFWs) and returning overseas Filipinos (ROFs)? In their running feud, the concerned sector is the one greatly affected and being inconvenienced after the National Government ordered the diversion of international flights from Mactan-Cebu International Airport (MCIA) to Ninoy Aquino International Airport (NAIA).
Although the order through Executive Secretary Salvador Medialdea expired last June 12 and international flights were allowed to land since Sunday, June 13 at MCIA, it is feared that the diversion will be renewed if Gwen will not blink or reconsider her swab-upon-arrival policy. Presidential Secretary Harry Roque said President Duterte decided that Cebu Province must abide by and implement IATF protocols. On the question what will the national government do if Cebu will not follow the IATF protocols, this question should be addressed to the DILG, Roque said. Reading between the lines, it seems that there is now a threat for the DILG to initiate a disciplinary action against Gwen. The governor has yet to issue a statement on this.
As I pointed out in my column last Saturday, if the IATF cannot confront Gwen because she has legal basis of her policy in the Constitution and Local Government Code, then they should sit down and come up with a win-win solution. The main reason here is that the ego of IATF officials was touched and that they cannot accept that here is a local chief executive who is not toeing the line on their policy. Again, Gwen has a point because her move is still based on medical point of view and still science evidence management. She just wants to lessen the burden of the concerned sector, especially financial, humanitarian and psychological burdens.
In fact, there are also the calls by some national lawmakers and the legal profession strongly supporting Cebu’s policy. There are also calls for proper coordination. The Integrated Bar of the Philippines (IBP) Cebu City Chapter, in its resolution, has urged the IATF to coordinate with the local government units for “smooth” and “harmonious” delivery of services and imposition of health protocols in Cebu and other areas.
We will not just ignore and disregard these calls because it came from non-medical practitioners. Our leaders should take several considerations especially humanitarian in solving this conflict. In these times of the pandemic, there is always that trade-off between the spread of the disease that would result in loss of lives and the economy that would also result in loss of work and income.
Maybe the best compromise between the IATF’s and Gwen’s policy is: for those vaccinated OFWs and ROFs to be subjected to Gwen’s swab-upon arrival policy and those non-vaccinated to be subjected to IATF’s policy. But the IATF should amend its earlier guidelines that it would only acknowledge vaccination taken here in the country. That guideline is illogical. If they are afraid that OFWs or the ROFs will present fake vaccination cards, then they will ask additional documents like certification from the health department of the country of origin or photos of the actual vaccination. Anyway, the IATF has already relaxed its quarantine policy on vaccinated Filipinos from 14 to a 10-day quarantine. It already allowed vaccinated senior citizens to go out of their homes. Every now and then, the IATF is changing its policies. So why not also relax the protocols for arriving OFWs and ROFs?
There are multiple solutions to every problem. The best is to try to solve it. If you can’t, have somebody else solve it. And if both don’t help, then leave it.