OBLIQUE OBSERVATIONS

By Atty. Gilberto Lauengco, J.D.

ATTY. GILBERTO LAUENGCO, J.D. is a lawyer, educator, political strategist, government consultant, Lego enthusiast, and the director of CAER Think Tank. He is a Former Vice Chairman of MECO, Special Assistant of NFA and City Administrator among others. His broad experience has molded his unique approach to issues analysis which he calls the oblique observation.

Government cannot solve problems it does not understand.

That is why surveys have also become an important tool of modern governance. They allow government to move beyond assumptions and ask Filipinos directly: What is working? What is not? What should be improved?

The emergence of technology-driven survey firms such as Pulso Intelligence Labs offers a glimpse of how this process can evolve. Using a mobile-app-based panel, Pulso has demonstrated how public opinion can be gathered and analyzed more quickly while still applying sampling controls and statistical weighing to make the results more representative. Its recent nationwide studies have included respondents from across the country.

The significance of this development is that it shows that tech-based surveys can go beyond elections and politics and transcend to governance tools.

Imagine if national and local government executives could regularly ask residents whether a public health program is reaching their communities, whether a livelihood project is actually helping families, whether public transportation improvements are making commuting easier, or whether people in general are satisfied with government projects, services, and programs.

The Pulso survey capability can now introduce a new metric for evaluation. Other than money spent and percentage completed, actual service impact can now be measured. Executives can now practice politics through performance.

Did a new road improve travel? Were scholarships distributed properly. Did livelihood programs actually result in sustainable income? With the advent of a fast and reliable source of information on the ground, government can now have a new instrument for proper governance.

Pulso tech can now ask questions and receive and track information more quickly at a reasonable cost.

The Philippines is already becoming a digital society. Government should therefore increasingly be a government that listens digitally. With the technology to listen faster, government can act faster.