Once upon a time there were two villagers working the fields in a remote boondock. The fields were well-tilled as they were a hard-working people. Fortunately they had good soil and because of that there was minimal need for water. Still, the village needed more water and a council decided to have a competition on who can best serve the needs of the village.
The water source was roughly 5 kilometers away from the village – they both needed to fill a huge vat of water by the end of the day.
The villagers were presented with two challengers -Leon and Pablo. Leon and Pablo wanted the village to be happy and so each were given a day to come up with a solution.
The following day, Leon and Pablo met at the village plaza. All the villlagers were there to see what they were up to:
Pablo worked hard from dusk till dawn. He got his wheel barrow and his bucket. And filled it up to the brim. Walked all day long filling the bucket with water – filling the vat. He braved the heat of the sun, put on a hat and went on his way. The villagers admired Pablo for being hardworking and praised him.
Leon meanwhile, took out a piece of paper with a drawing on it which showed the highest point at which he can place a bamboo that will just flow downwards to the river. He estimated that he can string enough pieces of bamboo, mount them on bamboo stands, figured he will have the set-up ready by mid-afternoon, giving him an extra hour to make corrections. The villagers thought Leon was crazy, arrogant, and a braggart. Leon didn’t he went to the woods with his bolo. And went about his way. He worked inch by inch. Cutting the bamboo, the pegs, and the mounts.Whistling as he went about – under the shade. The villagers thought he was lazy and said Leon was cheating because he was under the shade. They even insinuate that the game is rigged because Leon was taking it easy. Leon just kept on working.
By the afternoon, Pablo was getting a second wind because he already had lunch. The villagers passed the hat and gave food and drinks to Pablo because after all, Pablo worked so hard. By early afternoon, Pablo had filled two thirds of the vat. Leon’s vat was still empty.
Leon on the other hand just went home to eat and reviewed his plan and where he was at that part of the day. By early afternoon he had put his bamboo pegs down – slightly after mid afternoon, he had tied all the bamboo’s in a neat tube.
Pablo meanwhile, was getting tired, his back was getting store. He rallied people to his side saying Leon was cheating and that his work will cause all the bamboos to be gone, and that Leon was instigating anti-village ideas.
By late mid-afternoon, Pablo’s back was extremely sore from all the lifting. His vat wasn’t full.
Leon was aligning the end of a bamboo tube with the water source.
By the end of the day, Leon’s vat was overflowing with water and had room for more vats. He had to change the directions of his tube so the water can flow into a more permanent structure from which the villagers can draw water.
P.s By evening Pablo was complaining about unfair competition and exploitation by…. LEON. He referred to Leon’s focus and discipline as dictatorship. They also thought that it wasn’t fair for Leon to be paid more because he didn’t sweat as hard as Pablo. For short, the villagers rewarded Pablo.
Leon moved to the next village – were they implemented Leon’s system and rewarded him well.
Pablo still complains about his back pains every day, Leon has a rewarding bath on-demand, every day, a nice cottage too – in a lot overlooking the valley.
Who was efficient? Who was effective?
This shows that given the same situation – two parties can look at it differently and present a case.
There are just too many questions – If you were the villager whose plan will you go with? Have you encountered similar situations? Your life? Your family? Neighbors? Your TV shows? What do we Filipinos value most? Do we even have these values at all? Should we assimilate these values into our culture?
Given the unruliness of the presidential system and the more systematic parliamentary system – which one will the Filipino villagers prefer?
What’s your take?
Loading ...His advocacies include education and and the environment. BongV is a founding trustee of READ Philippines, Inc - a tax-exempt, non-profit organization registered in the State of Florida and recognized as a charitable organication under Section 501(c)(3) of the U.S. Internal Revenue Code -. He is also a trustee of the Kinasang'an Foundation (KSFI). KSFI is the community service arm of the family-owned Shimric Beach Farm a best environmental practices World Wildlife Fund-Philippines awardee.
His initial entry into politics started in high school, after an Arrest Search and Seizure Order (ASSO) was slapped against his father who at that time was undergoing training in reconstructive surgery in San Francisco's Bothin Burns Center. He was in the frontlines in the 80s as Chairman of LFS-AdDU, and subsequently LFS-Davao City Secretary General. His militant views underwent a transformation after working as an investment promotions officer (later on Division Chief of the Investment Generation and Project Development Division of the Davao Investment Promotion Center) - a project of the Davao City LGU, USAID, and the Phil Exporters Confederation-XI- with the goal of achieving an economic turnaround for Davao City based on the growth of investments, trade, and services.
He opted out of medical school, after finishing BS Biology from the Ateneo de Davao University. Instead he dove into IT consulting/freelancing as a system integrator and developer. BongV is a certified Professional Logistics Specialist and is a member of the American Society of Transportation and Logistics. He is currently working on his advanced certification in supply chain management at the University of North Florida
4 Comments
BongV,
I believe this question was addressed quite some time ago. Most Filipinos don’t appreciate the different concepts of “efficiency” and “effectiveness”, and all too often equate the former with the latter. The proof lies in the fact that we don’t have a word for “efficiency” – except that bastard loan word from Spanish, “episyente”.
And until the Yellow masses learn to appreciate the difference, this country will always be the depressed hellhole it has always been since the late Marcos era.
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That’s Pinoys — always looking to labour-intensive rather than capital-intensive solutions. Capital input into Leon’s solution were his brains and the time he invested to build his system. Results weren’t instant, but when they came, they were sustainable in an efficient manner.
Hirap sa Pinoy e. It is always those who come up with pwede na yan solutions that become “heroes” and those that apply a bit of brain who are seen to be “mayabang”.
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i still blame the catholic church for the ineffectiveness of the filipino through their propagation of the concept of sacrifice – carrying one’s cross – as a way of life. those who carry their crosses (as what Pablo does by pushing his wheelbarrow) will be rewarded in heaven, while those who just sits in front of the computer creating blueprints for solutions to ease the existing redundant systems are servants of the devil – they are lazy & their work aims to remove manual labor, thereby, decreasing available jobs for the poor. “we should pray for the salvation of their souls. amen!”
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dapat ganun yung nangyayari sa agriculture natin. we are agricultural nation it is so ironic we are more of industrialized courtesy of the oligarchs than being innovative of our most impt part of livelihood. the hacienderos should help their farmers bloom their crops than just paying them 9 pesos of tyranny.
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