Sense of urgency

Dr. Ernesto Pernia’s remarks at his book launching of “Virtuous Impatience” inspired me to quote some portions to reflect on the disappointing trajectory of our country’s socioeconomic development:

He begins, “In the nature of things, our thoughts, words and deeds inevitably reflect our experiences during different phases of life. In this vein, the title of the book harks back to my early growing years, under my parents’ tutelage. Both were sticklers for punctuality, and getting things done “ahora mismo” – or simply put “do not wait for tomorrow what you can do today.” This sense of urgency that my parents strove to instill in their children is the provenance, I figure, of the phrase “virtuous impatience” which became the title of this book.” The theme is laid out in the opening article, and runs through the rest of the essays.

“It should not be difficult for many to agree that sense of urgency is a scarce commodity in our country. And, though I have tried to live by it myself, I must say mea culpa, as I have had my lapses and not been totally faithful to it.”

He says that we Filipinos are forbearing, tolerant, patient and uncomplaining, and able to keep their humor in the face of life’s challenges. While this may have served us well in difficult times – such as in the aftermath of nature’s wrath from weather or virus – it has also hampered our response and allowed those we have empowered to govern us through thick and thin to evade accountability. He concludes “our kind of patience often puts our country in a vicious cycle, setting it back rather than sustainably moving it forward which would be more possible with virtuous impatience.”

He relates how during visits to Southeast and East Asia, one can easily notice how countries that have thrived are underpinned by a sense of urgency to get things done – for example in terms of crafting policy and implementing them. In contrast, he says necessary policies to spur growth in our country are characterized by inordinately lagged implementation and efficacy.

“Thinking about how our ASEAN neighbors, which used to trail the Philippines, have overtaken our country one by one, while somewhat depressing, should motivate us to be virtuously impatient with the way progress, or lack of it, is felt by the majority. Malaysia passed the Philippines in the early 1980s; Thailand circa early 1990s; and Indonesia in the early 2010s. And Vietnam, which has consistently been growing faster than the Philippines, may be the next one to see us in its rear-view mirror – biting the dust. A dreadful thought!”

There are many reasons given for this being in our DNA: culture, religion, apathy, risk aversion and fatalism, among others. But this does not mean they cannot be overcome. As Dr. Pernia admonishes, “we have to stop the bleeding with a culture of virtuous impatience that can underpin positive changes – such as better social and physical infrastructures, human capital development, and swifter passage of key bills, not to mention less graft – which would enable our country to catch up with the rest.”

Taking off from Dr. Pernia’s perceptive view of the history of our economic development, let me conclude by offering my humble thoughts. A credible, committed and visionary leadership is of course needed to take us out of this rut we are in. But it starts with every Filipino developing this mindset which will manifest itself in the way people work – whether in government or the private sector; live their lives with civic mindedness; and vote for the kind of leadership with those aforementioned characteristics and to hold them accountable. Leaders proceeding full speed ahead instead of hemming or hawing. No “dropping the ball” on matters of grave national importance such as the procurement of COVID-19 vaccines.

Unfortunately, what we are seeing are far from impatience of the virtuous kind but rather of the self-serving and unprincipled variety. Last Dec. 28, the President in an offhand remark said that some officials and those in the military service have already been inoculated with the vaccine developed by the Chinese company Sinopharm, which has yet to be approved by our FDA. Those revelations foisted on a public already reeling from news that we are late in the game in procuring vaccines because somebody dropped the ball, drew widespread condemnation for the apparent abuse of privilege to jump the queue ahead of those who needed it the most – such as our medical frontliners. This on top of rumors that certain politicians and businessmen had already been vaccinated. What’s worse is that it broke from established public safety norms and health protocols and nobody – the Health Department, IATF and the Palace – say they don’t know anything about it. The narrative has since changed to an unauthorized use of smuggled vaccines by the President’s security detail. But wait, isn’t the IATF supposed to be on top of everything?  Does it mean they are not in control, which begs the question of who is? Or did somebody pull the rug from under them? Either scenario will not dispel doubts about their competence or indeed the efficacy of the country’s overall response to the pandemic. We may never know the truth amid the obfuscation. But one thing is clear, we the public should not consider having the patience of Job as a virtue worth cultivating when it comes to our expectations from our leaders. We need to instill a sense of urgency in them. We need a moment like in the movie Network where broadcaster Howard Beal (played by the late Peter Finch) frustrated by government’s incompetence, exhorts his audience to get out of their chair, open the window and shout: “I’m as mad as hell and I can’t take it anymore!!!”

Link to Network movie clip: https://youtu.be/ZwMVMbmQBug