Which simply means he is incorrigible and unchangeable. Consider: “The latest WEF Global Competitiveness Index showed two countries in ASEAN – Brunei and Vietnam – have overtaken the Philippines to take the fifth and sixth spots in the region, respectively.” [NCC seeks faster reforms to boost competitiveness, Richmond Mercurio, philstar.com, 29th Sep 2017]
“It seems to me that, yes, we are changing, but we are resetting our social, cultural, and political foundations to lower, inferior levels. Six years of what’s happening today will change us, especially the young, but regretfully not for the better.” [Yes, we are changing: Backwards, Benjamin R. Punongbayan, BusinessWorld, 27th Sep 2017]
Yet we recognize that we must reform. “We simply cannot afford to let up in our efforts to improve processes, introduce reforms, and make the country more competitive because other countries are also working hard.” [Mercurio, op. cit.]
“Who are we? Such a question can be answered from different lenses. Let’s confine our conversation to the Filipino values system. What is our values system and how does it work? This may not sound new because we are characteristically known as hospitable, loyal, patient, resilient (so said also some foreign observers after Hainan in Tacloban). We rely on the goodness of God, we say bahala na. Wrongly or right, we believe in fate, in luck or suwerte at diyos na ang maglalaan, etc.
“How do we explain our action? What values are the mainsprings of our behavior? We justify our digging deep into our pockets this fiesta by the fact that our son’s new job has given a better life for our family (familia). We owe (utang na loob) this to the governor. It’s a shame (hiya) if we don’t invite him and treat him as well as we can (smooth interpersonal relations or pakikisama). This example shows that we can better explain our behavior not by referring to a single value but rather to our values system. Jesuit Filipinologist Fr. Jaime Bulatao lists four major Filipino values — familia, hiya, utang na loob and pakikisama. All the rest of the values in the values system are secondary to these four major ones.” [Who are we Filipinos (?), Teresita Tanhueco-Tumapon, The Manila Times, 24th Apr 2015]
We can explain how we behave and why but can we reform? The writer covered the Asia region – including Communist China – for 10 years and Central and Eastern Europe – formerly under Soviet rule – the last 14 years. And in both regions, he witnessed how people can demonstrate a growth as opposed to a fixed mindset. China and the Asian Tigers have figured out and traversed the journey from poverty to prosperity. And while not as dramatic, countries once under Soviet rule have likewise demonstrated a growth mindset.
“‘If you imagine less, less will be what you undoubtedly deserve,’ Debbie Millman counseled in one of the best commencement speeches ever given … Far from Pollyanna platitude, this advice actually reflects what modern psychology knows about how belief systems about our own abilities and potential fuel our behavior and predict our success. Much of that understanding stems from the work of Stanford psychologist Carol Dweck, synthesized in her remarkably insightful Mindset: The New Psychology of Success.
“One of the most basic beliefs we carry about ourselves … has to do with how we view and inhabit what we consider to be our personality. A ‘fixed mindset’ assumes that our character, intelligence, and creative ability are static givens which we can’t change in any meaningful way, and success is the affirmation of that inherent intelligence, an assessment of how those givens measure up against an equally fixed standard; striving for success and avoiding failure at all costs become a way of maintaining the sense of being smart or skilled. A ‘growth mindset,’ on the other hand, thrives on challenge and sees failure not as evidence of unintelligence but as a heartening springboard for growth and for stretching our existing abilities.” [Fixed vs. Growth: The Two Basic Mindsets That Shape Our Lives, Maria Popova,www.brainpickings.org/2014/01/29]
But let’s get back to PH. “Even worse is that those who have an existing business in the Philippines are now planning their exit strategies including a large BPO company which employs more than three thousand call center agents. The exodus is not confined to American and European companies either. Last month, the Korean Chamber of Commerce of the Philippines announced that several of its member companies involved in manufacturing are moving to Vietnam. They cited peace and order issues, rising costs and difficulty in doing business in the Philippines as the reasons.
“All these will manifest itself in lower manufacturing activities, a deceleration in capital formation, and weakening export earnings in the years to come. It’s going to hurt the economy and derail the economic miracle we were all hoping for. To think, just a year ago, we were touted ‘Asia’s Brightest Star. It’s sad how the reputation of the nation plummeted so quickly, so uselessly.
“The war on drugs is doing us more damage than good. The travesty is that the killings will not even save the next generation from drug dependency nor solve the drug menace. Even Malacañang admits it. Instead, it will confine the next generation to a life of poverty since the killings are starving the country of the investments it badly needs to propel the economy forward. The social and economic costs of this war is more than its worth.” [Investors’ Shifting Sentiments: Numbers Don’t Lie, Andrew J. Masigan, BusinessWorld, 28th Sep 2017]
How can Juan de la Cruz embrace change? “Charles Duhigg, an investigative reporter for The New York Times, has written an entertaining book … ‘The Power of Habit: Why We Do What We Do in Life and Business.’ Duhigg has read hundreds of scientific papers and interviewed many of the scientists who wrote them, and relays interesting findings on habit formation and change from the fields of social psychology, clinical psychology and neuroscience. This is not a self-help book conveying one author’s homespun remedies, but a serious look at the science of habit formation and change.
“Duhigg is optimistic about how we can put the science to use. ‘Once you understand that habits can change,’ he concludes, ‘you have the freedom — and the responsibility — to remake them. Once you understand that habits can be rebuilt, the power becomes easier to grasp, and the only option left is to get to work.’ He also suggests that by understanding the nature of habits we can influence group behavior, turning companies into profit makers and ensuring the success of social movements.” [Timothy D. Wilson, Book Review, The New York Times, ‘The Power of Habit’ by Charles Duhigg, 9th Mar 2012]
On the other hand, are we in a race to the bottom to become the world’s pariah? “Palace on international call for end to killings: We will never accept dictation,” Ian Nicolas Cigaral, philstar.com, 29th Sep 2017.
Because we value sovereignty ... including driving investors away ... to Vietnam. Is Juan de la Cruz unreformable?
We are so inward-looking [think Mindanao and why we are a nation divided – in the name of religion?] that we are unable to internalize a growth mindset despite spinning down the abyss.
Which should then not surprise the NCC how thankless a job it has. Let us not forget Brunei and Vietnam aren’t the first ones to have overtaken PH.
Competition, as in winning, is survival … It is a habit as much as losing is … And why tribes either thrive or perish – like organisms as Darwin taught the world.
Too bad so sad ... It will get worse before it gets better for Juan de la Cruz ...
“Why independence, if the slaves of today will be the tyrants of tomorrow? And that they will be such is not to be doubted, for he who submits to tyranny loves it.” [We are ruled by Rizal’s ‘tyrants of tomorrow,’ Editorial, The Manila Times, 29th Dec 2015]
“As a major component for the education and reorientation of our people, mainstream media – their reporters, writers, photographers, columnists and editors – have an obligation to this country . . .” [Era of documented irrelevance: Mainstream media, critics and protesters, Homobono A. Adaza, The Manila Times, 25th Nov 2015]
“National prosperity is created, not inherited. It does not grow out of a country’s natural endowments, its labor pool, its interest rates, or its currency’s value, as classical economics insists . . . A nation’s competitiveness depends on the capacity of its industry to innovate and upgrade.” [The Competitive Advantage of Nations, Michael E. Porter, Harvard Business Review, March–April 1990]
“Learning and innovation go hand in hand. The arrogance of success is to think that what you did yesterday will be sufficient for tomorrow.” [William Pollard, 1911-1989, physicist-priest, Manhattan Project]
“Development [is informed by a people’s] worldview, cognitive capacity, values, moral development, self-identity, spirituality, and leadership . . .” [Frederic Laloux, Reinventing organizations, Nelson Parker, 2014]
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