Buena Mano

First Customer, First Sale, First Act, First Deal, First Hit, a good hand, that’s what Buena Mano is all about. Many Filipinos give it some customary importance, believing that it would dictate or determine the outcome of things for the day, the month or the year.

Personally our Buena Mano was a “group hug” under a rain of fireworks. Half an hour later, I learned that an extended family member passed away after a year-long bout with cancer. The rest of the day was cleaning up and the evening was spent at the funeral parlor. If all that Buena Mano un primero dia is a reflection of things to come some Negatrons might opt to jump out the window or hide in a cave, which is why it’s never a good idea to be superstitious or overly literal. Imagine if you sought direction from God, did a Bible cut and then ended up at the phrase “then Judas hung himself.”

As far as this column goes, the Buena Mano would be to suggest to officials in government starting with President Noynoy Aquino to lay down their list of Real and Realistic goals for 2015. From what I heard in the news, Secretary Sonny Coloma gave out a list of laws that the Executive Branch would like for Congress to pass such as the Anti-Trust Law, Right of Way Bill, a law governing shipping, the revised Build Operate Transfer or BOT law etc. As far as shipping is concerned, we should all support the creation of an incentive program for companies that will bring in more ships, especially ROROS (Roll On-Roll Off Ships) because this is the most under developed, lacking and badly needed public utility transport in the Philippines.

In the last two years, we have all seen, heard or experienced what it’s like to be stuck at some ferry port like the one in the Matnog/Allen port going to Samar or Tacloban because there are very few ROROS operating. One of the problems, that caused the delay in reconstruction of Leyte towns is the lack of building materials and this is because of the serious lack of ROROS. During the holidays, so many people were forced to take flights only to end up camping and stuck in airport terminals that looked more like bus depots. In a country of 7,107 islands +/- what China has claimed, what we need to develop and pay attention to is the rebuilding of the shipping industry. A tax-free, subsidized network of ROROS all over the country would boost development, construction, local tourism for Filipinos, vastly improve the transfer of goods such as farm products and animals, and improve the quality of lives for people all over the country. Given the delays in flights and number of disappearing airplanes lately, I have the sentiment that our being in a tropical country gives us a better chance of survival on a shipwreck than a plane crash.

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One thing I either missed or which was not included in the proposed legislation was something that would fast track or totally rebuild our railway and train system. Any leader with a visionary style would know that all countries that stepped into the modern world needed a working train system to help do part of the job. We are putting too much attention to building roads, concentrating on Metro Railways but overlooking the fact that Metro Manila is a metropolis suffering from population constipation and no matter how high up you build you still won’t get around. Sooner rather than later, we will all wake up to the truth we have been living in denial from and find ourselves in perpetual gridlock not just in traffic but in business terms. The port congestion is clear evidence of the fact but our leaders have been “seeing the trees” not the forest.

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While the Presidential Legislative Liason Office is pushing for their list of suggested legislative proposals, Malacañang or the Executive Office on the other hand should also come out with the “Executive to do list” where all the Cabinet members can contribute at least 3 high impact or high visibility and beneficial projects, explain why these projects rise to the top of the list, what the impact will be and when they will be completed. By doing this, the administration gives the public something specific to look forward to, the specific department and their Secretary commits themselves to those projects, and the government of President Noynoy Aquino holds itself accountable to the public.

The need for the list, dates and accountability became manifest from the public reaction to the MRT/LRT fare increase when critics and riders asked what they were getting in return and when? In essence this is what the public wants: to know what to expect and when to expect it. Reading off a list of projects or plans is not as good as setting down an official list, putting it on paper, and placing a self-imposed penalty for failure would be far more impressive than elocution because all the speeches has merely resulted in the public being “electrocuted” or “na-kuryente” or misled by generic plans, goals and promises.

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Someone asked: How do you fight corruption? How can you get the government to change?

In 2014, the most powerful tool or weapon available to the public was Facebook and public humiliation. We all had a better appreciation of how good and how bad a “Viral post” can be and this should awaken all of us into action. No one wants to get hurt, most people generally want to avoid confrontation or get personally involved. So if you want to have your cake and eat it to, then simply taking a photo and factually reporting an incident or sharing/reposting something you strongly believe in or support is a step forward. “Run the race, fight the good fight”. God Bless.

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