Start with baseline data

I GOT the chance to watch a segment of the TV program “Profiles with Mitzi Borromeo” over CNN Philippines where she interviewed Rep. Lenny Robredo, the wife of the late Interior Secretary Jesse Robredo. I was so glued to the interview I forgot to eat dinner that night.

Rep. Lenny was so casual during the interview as she shared her experiences story after story on how she implemented project after project and tried to continue the advocacies of her late husband. While she tried to put all the credits to her husband and her husband’s legacy, her stories painted her leadership skills that is distinctly her own. And by far, I say she is the most scientific in conducting the affairs of governance than any other law makers in the country, senate included.

Let me share with you some of the points she stressed in the interview.

First is that leaders should always start with baseline data. One cannot really help a sector or a group if one doesn’t even know how many they are and how severe their problems are. Baseline data gives one a point to start and strategize ones programs, projects and activities. It also gives the leader a benchmark to know whether his efforts have successfully addressed the issues.

Baseline data are essential information for sound decisions. A lot of poor judgments from politicians are sometimes because of absence of baseline data. Without it, resources gets wasted and no significant results are achieved. After all, the greatness of a leader is not really measured on how kind he is to his constituents but how many lives have been changed for the better because of his efforts. If you cannot quantify the outcome then it’s a failure. And a baseline data is always needed to measure such.

This brings me to the point that the national government should make it a mandatory for all local governments to have CBMS before their term ends so that whoever follows next will have baseline data to work with in his term of office, saving millions if not billions of government money on useless projects that don’t address the real problems of the community. For those who are not familiar with CBMS, it is a data bank system that identifies how many people are actually living in the area, what their jobs are, how poor they are, etc. It is a very important tool to be used before any project is conceptualized. it can even help us identify how many women and children are exposed when calamity strikes. Sad to say, our politicians are only interested in how many voters are registered in such areas and whether these voters share their political color or not. In that case, believe me, they have a very elaborate system.

Another distinct practice that Rep. Lenny embraces is that she always validates all requests of barangay chairmen by going to the sites herself and seeing for herself the gravity of the need. Not only is she able to asses things personally, she gets to see and talk to the people who experience the problems first hand.

Rep. Lenny was even seen waiting for a public bus on her way home, something unthinkable for a congresswoman.

And I think that’s what sets her apart from all other solons – she walks the talk. And how I wish we have more of that in Congress and in our local governments.