For several years now, our nation has been lurching from one crisis to another. It is as though we have been moving from one embarrassment to another. In the process, we seem to have lost sight of the banner for which we should be fighting, and we have been seeing our morale plumb the depths up to the very edge of despair. No wonder, as a people we have been very divided, as though we had no common cause at all for which we should be willing to put in heroic sacrifices.

This is where a charter statement comes in.

It articulates a vision of what we would like to see us become at a certain date in the future. By 2030, for instance, what society would we like to see our nation become? If we are a nation still in the process of being built, what outcome would we like to see achieved in 25 years.

Note the date: It is long enough into the far future. But it is definitely bound such that many who are alive today would still be around to enjoy the blessings from having realized the vision by then.

Note also with what broad brush the vision is being painted. It is big enough to accommodate many of our dreams and aspirations as a people. It is wide enough to allow for the evolution of our people from what we accomplished in the not-so-immediate past into what we – in solidarity with each other – should be aiming to accomplish in the not-so-distant future.

The charter statement also stipulates the mission we should be undertaking. We make clear the role we as a nation wish to play so as to make a positive difference, not only in the lives of our people but also in the wider community of nations of which we are a member. We make a claim to being different: And so we put forward the difference we should always try to be making. We are putting up high in the horizon a set of guiding stars that shall always inspire us, encourage us, and stretch us as far as possible in our never-ending effort to try and reach them.

In our unceasing efforts to carry out our mission, we abide by a permanent set of core values. These are the principles we embed very deeply into our national soul, so there they remain untouchable. They cannot and will not change: Thus, they provide us with firm anchors to which we – in all our decisions and actions, in all our words and actuations – are moored.

The Charter statement for the Philippines encompasses our nation’s vision, mission, and core values. It provides us with a frame of reference to which we as a people should relate everything we dream about and pursue, and everything we decide and do. It gives us an instrument by which to ensure consistency and mutual reinforcement in our initiatives and undertakings. It enables us to lift our eyes and minds to see beyond passing personalities, the imperative of lasting institutions; and beyond short-term problems, the opportunity for working towards long-term solutions.

If we have been so divided, and if our efforts have been diffuse and dissipated, it has been because we have forgotten what our vision, mission and core values are. And we have been failing to remember what our Charter statement is, as a nation.