The Work Ahead
The Philippine Consortium on Good Governance (PCGLG)
Towards Real Reforms on Governance
by Edmund Tayao
We are in the most trying times now. Government must work if development is to be achieved, or at least if a country is to sustain itself, even its very existence. The government on the other hand will work, only if we make it work. We all have our own views, possibly even means to get to where we assume is the right direction and destination to reach, but in the end, we also need to work with each other if we are to achieve real and lasting reforms in governance.
We are in the most trying times because we face real challenges now than ever before. Yes, society has faced trying times before but not as much as today and definitely not comparable in proportion today. Before the problems were mainly political, I should say ideological. The solutions were primarily political as well, if not diplomatic. The means, at least for individual countries was ‘change’, revolution as we popularly know it. Today however, the problems we face are not only political. In fact, the solution has become principally political, but the problems are natural and at the same time systemic. The solution is principally political because it depends significantly on how a diversity of interests and orientation come to agree and adopt a common front. The approaches have become as significant and crucial as the purported solutions. The solutions in fact are worthless if the approaches adopted cannot fully make sense and realize the solutions.
We can always assume that all we need is good and effective leadership. On the other hand, we should ask, how do we find and put in office a good and effective leadership. Incidentally we’ll have what seems to be a long awaited election next year. Do we support a candidate and assume that all the solutions may be borne by him and his administration? Even if we agree to support a candidate, what is certain is that we cannot agree on whom to support. The better option is to prepare for a new administration, whoever is going to lead the new administration. With this option, we can assume that despite inherent differences, there is more reason for the consortium members to agree.
Why we are in this consortium is a fundamental question we should ask. The reason that we are in the consortium is that all the problems we now face, from the financial crisis, to climate change, population explosion and even terrorism, are all global problems; Problems that threaten not only a country’s security but also the people’s existence. The problems are global, but the solutions are local. The national government can and should always play a vital role in policy-making and implementation. Ultimately however, it will depend on a system of governance that recognizes and relies on local governance. This is the reason why we are in this consortium. We should remember to question why we are in this consortium because we ought to remember the reason why we are in this consortium. We may be able to accomplish what we intend to accomplish by ourselves as individual organizations, but we can accomplish more if we are together or at the very least, could dialogue with each other.
The bottomline is that local governance should be promoted as a fundamental part of good governance. In fact, the bottomline is that ‘good governance is local governance.’
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