They are not the only ones. There are others that are no less important.

Among these is the priority that revolves around the strengthening of the fundamental institutions we have in our society. These include the family, the school, and the business enterprise. The governance of these is critical for our long-term future as a people. We have to be convinced of the imperative to strengthen each of these, if we are to strengthen our nation. In this task, as a matter of urgent and practical necessity, all of us should join hands, hearts and minds with a view towards making progress the sooner, the better, and in a persevering and sustained manner.

Then we have the no less urgent task of undertaking a comprehensive reform agenda in our policies and programs for all segments of our economy, polity, and society. The demands of our open society and of an economy that operates and competes within a more inter-dependent world are heavy. For years, these have been crying for serious attention, in part because many features of a feudal culture that we inherited from a past long gone would no longer serve us as a modern democracy and an open, competitive economy.

We should also not forget that much of our infrastructure is inadequate and inefficient. Moreover, many times we seem hell-bent trying to mortgage our future by squandering and even trading away our national patrimony. An infrastructure initiative has to be a strategic priority. This should aim at providing our nation with the IT and public works facilities that functionally and efficiently serve our requirements as one polity and as a competitive economy. More importantly, we should also take much better care of our national patrimony: It is ours to conserve and preserve, use in a sustainable and responsible manner and improve, because it is our solemn duty to bequeath it to all future generations of Filipinos.

Finally, there is the imperative of launching a people’s initiative. This strategic priority recognizes that our people have both rights and duties. It calls for a vigorous and effective defense of all the rights of every Filipino, always recognizing that rights necessarily come with duties, including the civic duty of every Filipino to live and work for our country and each of the local communities in our polity. In this light, it aims at empowering, equipping, and opening avenues for meaningful participation and constructive involvement of our fellow citizens in the governance of our public affairs: The common wealth we create and the nation we develop through our strengthened governance institutions have to be by Filipinos, for Filipinos, and of Filipinos.

Are these broad, cross-cutting strategic priorities mere pie in the sky? Are they for mere hanging up there, attractive to see and good to hear? Are they to remain as mere words, often used in speeches but without any relevance to the dog-eat-dog realities we are confronted with?

The answer to these questions is a resounding "no." Strategic priorities provide common reference points for many initiatives that all Filipinos are called upon to undertake. These reference points are need to bring them together to multiply the impact these initiatives should have on the life of our people.