New Year's resolutions for the Philippines, another chance to get it right.

The information and commodity deluge can be treated like a buffet. Just because your $12.95 allows you to eat unlimited everything doesn’t mean you have to. Bite what you can chew and focus on the actions with the biggest ROI.

Cut through the darkness and mental labyrinth of Pinoy dysfunction. Here are some actions that you can focus your energies on for 2011.

The Eight Goals/Big Dreams for the Philippines just got an upgrade – in time for the new year (as if the new year will bring in anything new to the Philippines) – with 17 goals.

#1 – Free the market. Remove the protectionist provisions to stimulate competition, innovation, and economic velocity.

#2 – Federalise government to unleash the dynamism and innovation of regional diversity towards the shared goal of peace and prosperity.

#3 – A good balance of issues and personalities – go parliamentary or at the very least have a strong republic under the rule of law.

#4 – Propagate a culture of excellence to do away with the culture of mediocrity. Just because Charice Pempengco and Manny Pacquiao excelled in their fields does not mean Filipinos are the greatest. We are a long way off – in case you all didn’t notice, our botched approaches to operational excellence exemplified by our management of Mendoza, Ampatuan, Vizconde, Lacson, Trillanes, Nobel boycott. And that’s not even calling attention to this mega eyesore of mediocrity – a student government presidency that makes the phrase ‘comedy of errors’ an understatement.

#5 – Promote a culture of personal responsibility to counteract the culture of impunity and the ‘mobocracy’.

#6 – Provide, discuss, and weigh alternative models of behaviour, attitudes, belief systems, practices, and identify which can be adopted or rejected to deliver positive and equitable results to the bottom line.

 

Tessie Millan Mora added the following to the list.

Stop being so onion skinned. We take everything personally.

# 7 – Stop the culture of utang na loob (debt of gratitude) which obligates, if not forces, a person to pay back, especially the politicians.

# 8 – Stop being so onion skinned. We take everything personally. Let us take genuine criticism in a good way, to change and reform. We put too much emotion into everything.

# 9 – Encourage entrepreneurship and teach the children to think business instead of being a lifetime employee.

# 10 – The children should not be relegated to the background and hushed when there are visitors around. We should introduce our children to our friends formally so they become confident early on.

# 11 – Children should be heard, should be talked to in soft tones; not shouted at, especially in public

# 12 – Pregnant women should take their babies in the womb seriously by eating healthy food so that the Filipino children are healthy in mind and body at the outset

# 13 – Education is still the equalizer. When one is educated, it presupposes no one can fool you, most especially the politicians!

 

And from the original Eight Big Goals

#14 – Support the passage of a strong Freedom of Information Act

#15 – Support the passing of the Divorce Bill.

#16 – Eliminate the pork barrel.

#17- Tax religious organisations that get involved in politics. The Catholic Church can participate in politics only if it waives its tax exemption status.

 

This post was originally published on Anti-Pinoy in December 2010.