For the nth time, there are moves to make “Filipino time,” or the habit of many Filipinos of coming late for their appointments, a thing of the past.
Last week, the Department of Science and Technology, in cooperation with the Philippine representative of the Discovery Channel, announced its plan to make Filipinos time-conscious.
Dubbed as “Juan Time” project, the campaign will start with encouraging Filipinos to synchronize their clocks and watches with the Philippine Standard Time.
With everybody aligned to the same time reference, it would no longer be an acceptable excuse to come late on account of the wrong time indicated in the timepiece.
According to some Filipino sociologists, this tardiness habit is a carryover of the practice during the colonial times of Spanish officials delaying their attendance in formal functions to show their “ascendancy” over those who came earlier.
It was the kastilaloys’ subtle way of saying that they have more important things to attend to so they should not be expected to be as prompt as the punctual attendees.
Fifty years of American rule, which emphasized time discipline, were not enough to wean Filipinos away from this deplorable vestige of Spanish colonialism.
Excuses
Road traffic is often blamed for failure to get to appointments on time. This is acceptable if road congestion during business hours and the early evening is an unknown factor in Metro Manila and other urban centers in the country.
But only the dumb and deaf can truthfully say that road congestion is a fortuitous event. Until new roads are constructed to accommodate the new motor vehicles that Filipinos buy every year, traffic in the metropolis will remain horrendous.
Unless you are the president of the Philippines or one of those obnoxious personalities who think they enjoy superior rights in road usage, sufficient allowance just have to be made for inefficient or disorderly traffic flow in our midst.
Businessmen who are worth their salt anticipate and make provisions for foreseeable delays in getting to their appointments, rather than curse or use them as an excuse.
They know that if they are late for their appointments, the person they’re doing or plan to do business with may entertain serious doubts about their capability to live up to their contractual obligations in the future. First impressions last.
Discipline
Odd but true, it has been said that if you want something done quickly and properly, give it to someone who is busy or has a lot of things on his plate. He will find a way to do the extra job without sacrificing his other responsibilities.
The lazy or unproductive person will always find a reason for not being able to do the job, or failing to deliver the desired output.
Notice how the country’s top business executives are able to hold several management positions at the same time without losing their focus or becoming nervous wrecks.
Their secret? Time management. They know the difference between the essential and nonessential, and they carefully allocate the 24 hours in a day that all of us have.
In business meetings, the efficient businessman sticks to the agenda and avoids, as much as possible, discussions on extraneous matters unless they are relevant to the matters at hand.
When the company’s top honchos are sticklers to time and treat tardiness as no laughing matter, expect their employees to be equally conscious of the need to perform their work within the allotted times.
Contrary to popular belief, management gurus are not impressed by business executives who habitually work late at night, on weekends or holidays and, in the process, neglect their personal lives, including their families.
Unless they’re workaholics, or people who live to work and not the other way round, something must be wrong somewhere with the way they use their waking hours or run their business.
Respect
Regardless of a person’s status or station in life, the way he attends to his appointments or pre-arranged activities is indicative of the worth he gives to the other person or persons.
By coming on time, he is sending a clear message to his counterpart that he respects him and values his time. That he considers it rude, if not a sign of poor character, to make him wait and feel unsure on whether or not the appointment will push through as earlier arranged.
Of course, apologies can be offered or excuses, both real and imagined, can be made for being late. The punctual party can only grin and bear it. But deep within him, he knows that his tardy counterpart did not consider him important enough to be worth leaving early to get to the appointment on time.
Noticeably, when living in the Philippines, Filipinos are prone to observing “Filipino time” in their daily activities. But when they’re abroad, that behavior seems to disappear.
So where does the fault lie? In our cultural upbringing or in the person? Hopefully, the “Juan Time” project can find the answer to this riddle.
For comments, send your e-mail to rpalabrica@inquirer.com.ph.