I hope my friends in the legal community will forgive me for my limited understanding of this legal doctrine, which I will try to apply to development and governance.
The doctrine is “stare decisis et non quieta movere,” a Latin phrase for standing by the thing decided and not disturbing the calm. As a man of science and numbers, I feel delighted to come across this doctrine.
It has been a long-desired intention for development and governance advocates to pursue stability, inclusion, and economy.
Plenty of works and studies have demonstrated the very soul of stability in the increasing tide of progress.
The 2019 Nobel Prize Abhijit Banerjee and Esther Duflo, in their book Poor Economics, mentioned the causes of development failures and pointed out the inertia, intention, and intensity.
Our high school lessons introduced us to the concept of inertia, which is the needed energy to continue doing what one is doing or to stop what one is doing. In science, energy is required to do work.
At the same time, in development and governance, morale is needed, and that sense of pride and joy is necessary to continue doing so amidst the notoriety of obsolescence.
The other element is the intention for development and its principal, governance.
Governance ushers progress that stands on the platform of stability; governance is an impetus of the economy that offers the distribution of the benefits of growth to everyone. It is essential to be conscious of the distribution of the nation’s wealth. Otherwise, a continued exclusion of a segment of society leads to instability.
The last ingredient that the two economists emphasized is intensity.
In the language of management, this is momentum. It is the energy at full use, the substantial use of energy for its intended purpose, and taking note over the period of its expected life.
These three ingredients for growth help us achieve our goals. During the length of our dreams as a nation and the capability of our governance, it is essential to bring union services and customs into the union.
It is crucial to deliver the expected services and physical requirements while supporting the morals, customs, traditions, and public policy that stretches from the nation’s birth to its envisioned inclusion in the League of Great Countries.
Sometimes, we are at fault due to our infirmities in faith and expectation, on the victories we earned, or on the failures necessary to experience.
When triumphs are achieved, often it is short-lived, for many celebrate its momentariness and lose their steam to swagger on the rough road.
Also, plenty takes them personally during periods of failure, as if the failure speaks volumes of the dreams by which reasons for pursuits were established. And we missed the point why we even started. Failures and victories happen to be the same in the life of a society.
It takes courage to remain faithful to an assertion made in a long time and the strength of confidence to remain steadfast whatever life throws.
That is why the doctrine of stare decisis sticks in my mind. It is an appeal, if not a judicial command, to stand on what has been decided. It is to remain faithful to what has been agreed upon, even if it is easy to do otherwise.
The doctrine can lend its strength to development. If it has been decided to pursue the growth of all means, agriculture should be prioritized even if the world has changed already.
The authority maintains its potent effect in the stare decisis and will make a more effective impact. Jim Collins found that the great companies withstood the temptation of changes by sticking to what the founders had decided upon a long time ago.
And it is appropriate for all Mindanawons, both leaders and constituents, to employ this Latin phrase in the many choices that we make daily. Stand by the things decided.
What has been decided, and the one thing that every inhabitant of Mindanao would agree on, is to pursue growth that benefits everyone.
