‘Know thyself’

Uriel Quilinguing .

IN the last two weeks, most of Cagayan de Oro’s hopefuls for the 16 City Council and two district seats in the House of Representatives were in a candidates’ forum where they explained why they should be voted upon, presented platforms of government, and exhibited their adeptness in determining issues and concerns and what they can do to address them.

But it appears most of them are missing the point that the posts they are seeking are legislative in nature; crafting and amending laws (ordinances) which, in the process, the work involves long hours of research, consultations with constituents, readings and analysis, and eventually the ability to persuade and convince people while in strict observance of the parliamentary rules and procedures. There will be instances when they would be compelled to engage in debates with their colleagues in the legislative body. Definitely, they should not only master the timing in saying “I second the motion.”

Admittedly, there were those—past and present— who, either by stroke of (good) luck or sheer accident, made it to City Council even if they lack the credentials, desirable traits and communication skills as lawmakers.

Last Tuesday, on my way to the forum for congressional candidates, the mission statement of Xavier University-Ateneo de Cagayan that was mounted on the wall at the Little Theater entrance, caught my attention. Of the six paragraphs I read, three words were retained in my memory bank while listening to the proceedings of the forum—competence, conscience and commitment.  To my mind, these three words would be useful for candidates who wish to do an introspection in between their daily sorties, and they should ask themselves:

Am I competent?

Is my conscience clear?

Am I committed to pursue what I believe in?

Competence should mean, not only the ability of the person to do something successfully and efficiently, but also be knowledgeable in making sound decisions based on facts, not on emotions, and the use of logic in arriving at solutions, not political dictates. 

Conscience should be understood as a sense of right and wrong, based on a value system where one would have feelings of remorse when he commits an act that conflicts with his moral values. There are instances where what is legal may be immoral like gambling, betting and, shall we include prostitution?

Commitment refers to one’s passion, faithfulness and adherence to a cause or a belief, regardless of the temptations to depart from it and one’s willingness to sacrifice comforts if only to keep his principles intact.  

If only every candidate adopts the 3Cs in self-assessment, nobody would be presumptuous that he has what it takes to become a lawmaker, either in the City Council or in the House of Representatives. 

For  voters, the simplified “maka-Diyos, makabayan, makatao at makakalikasan” criteria—often found in classrooms where voting is done—may be used in discerning who, among the list of candidates,  deserve to be voted upon.

Candidates and voters must remind themselves of the aphorism which is inscribed in the forecourt of the Temple of Apollo and attributed to Greek philosopher Socrates—Know Thyself.