By the time you read this piece, you may have already forgotten your New Year’s resolutions. Many, probably the majority, write their resolutions on water. But for those who are dead serious in the project of a better self, or a better nation, let me humbly offer some tips.
1. For resolutions to be clear, they are preferably measurable. For instance, “character change” is necessary but as a resolution, it is vague and not measurable. More specific will be, “I will limit myself to less than an hour and a half a day with my cell phone.” “More healthy lifestyle” is equally vague. One needs to specify, “I will jog twice a week for an hour, refrain from eating lechon and go to the doctor twice a year.”
2. Some resolutions inevitably conflict with each other. A person may resolve both to earn more money and to spend more time with one’s family. But more often than not, trying to earn more money would take one away from loved ones. Thus, one needs to be clear with priorities in making resolutions. Which value would subordinate the other? In this case, the hierarchy of values needs to be spelled out: Presence in family affairs takes precedence over business-related concerns. This is also true in the affairs of the nations. Priorities must be spelled out: ecological sustainability over monetary gains, local employment over labor export, health and education over Suroy-Suroy sa Sugbo, social justice over counter-insurgency.
3. Time frames are crucial in order to avoid empty promises. Some officials may not be clear on time frames for fear that the people may remind them of the unfulfilled promises. Examples of unfulfilled promises with definite time frames abound. Remember the Duterte promise to eliminate the drug problem in three to six months? He also had clear time frames for problems as varied as the elimination of rice cartels and the decongestion of traffic. But he ended his term without coming any closer to real solutions. It is my fear that the current administration is no better.
The current National Government also promised that the so-called big fishes will be put to jail before Dec. 15, 2025. But the last time I have heard, Chiz Escudero and Joel Villanueve are still scot-free. In the local level, different Cebu City mayors used to give specific time frames for the completion of the construction of the Cebu City Medical Center and for the Bus Rapid Transit to be operational. But exactly when these projects will be actually completed is getting murkier every day.
The solution is not to avoid coming up with clear time frames. Making public the time frame implies the willingness to be judged by one’s constituents. Rather, the time frames must come not from bravado but from rational analysis of the situation. And once this is done, all efforts must be exerted for following the time frame.
It is important to note that this point is also applicable to church affairs. The new Archbishop Alberto Uy is to be commended for giving new momentum to the establishment of a standardized living allowance for the clergy. It is understandable that such a ticklish issue for the clergy should not be railroaded. Thus, I trust that he has a definite time frame in mind, even if he has not revealed it yet to the clergy.
Hopefully, the project of a better self or better nation is not a Sisyphean labor. Sisyphus would push a rock up the summit of a hill. Then, just as the rock reaches the summit, it again rushes down. And Sisyphus, as a punishment for going against the gods, is supposed to repeat this task over and over again all his life.
History, they say, keeps repeating itself. Does this include personal histories?