Metro Manila – What an ecosystem isn’t

Imagine if the solar system mirrors Metro Manila, do we think there will be the phenomenon of photosynthesis? Will there be life on earth? If Boracay is a cesspool, what about Manila Bay?

The blog has raised that the dynamism and oneness of creation is reflected in its ecosystem. And conversely why we persist to be underdeveloped and poor. And why linear thinking or looking at a silver bullet (is that what the war on drugs is?) to solve our woes will keep sinking us down the abyss. And why unemployment in the US can’t be compared with unemployment in underdeveloped Philippines.

More to the point, the US being a well-developed nation has a well-developed ecosystem too. And we can start with its (a) political system – because we Pinoys are consumed by politics. A tyrannical Trump is held in check by people from his own party and conservative pundits, among others. And there is the element of (b) infrastructure albeit it can afford updates and upgrades. As well as (c) industry and (d) innovation and global competitiveness.

In other words, classical economics – as in monetary and fiscal policies – when done right has a knock-on effect on the economy in a developed economy like the US. “The last time the unemployment rate remained below 4 percent for a sustained period was in the late 1960s.” [Unemployment Rate Hits 3.9%, a Rare Low, as Job Market Becomes More Competitive, Natalie Kitroeff, The New York Times, 4th May 2018]

Of course, we cannot forget California. “California recorded another milestone … one reflecting a prouder facet of the state’s success. If the state were an independent country, its economy would rank as the fifth-largest in the world, ahead of Britain’s (which has been crawling lately). California held that spot once before, but it slipped a bit during the Great Recession a decade ago.

“California’s economic success underpins the state’s audacity and its defiance of President Trump. It is an invisible buttress when the governor and attorney general harangue the Trump administration … for basically going to war against the state of California.” [The Pleasure and Pain of Being California, the World’s 5th-Largest Economy, Thomas Fuller, The New York Times, 7th May 2018]

But let’s get back to the Philippines. Reads a column, “Eight former Finance Secretaries support TRAIN 2.” The long and short of it is TRAIN is a tax reform legislation, lifted from classical economics. On the other hand, how much drumbeating is there behind “Arangkada” today? 

Six years ago, there was this news report, “Gov't not moving fast enough, say foreign chambers,” Max V. de Leon, BusinessMirror, 27th Jan 2012. “The government only managed to start implementing about 55 percent of the 471 policy recommendations that the Joint Foreign Chambers (JFC) forwarded to Malacañang a year ago to spur economic development and boost investment inflows.

“It means that we are going forward but not fast enough … The JFC recommendations are important because right now, the foreign investors are passing us by … if all the recommended changes were followed, the country could attract as much as $75 billion in foreign direct investments.”

In engineering and project management, there is such a thing as “organizing in parallel” – as in PERT-CPM. It is a great example of how to overcome linear thinking – and move towards lateral and creative thinking. 

Which brings us back to the ecosystem. With due respect to our economic managers, for decades we’ve relied on classical economics, precisely why the Asian Tigers pulled the rug from under the rest of the world. They understood the imperative of creating an ecosystem. Think of Singapore being more competitive than the US.

More than the system of government, what the Asian Tigers and before them the US had was visionary leadership. And the blog singled out FDR, Lee, Mahathir and Deng. These leaders had lots of foresight. That their journey from poverty to prosperity can be characterized by such forward-looking initiatives as infrastructure development, industry and innovation and competitiveness. And which taken together mirrors an ecosystem.

While Metro-Manila is what an ecosystem isn’t. If indeed there is imperial Manila, explain why it has been called the gates of hell? Because our string of leaderships did not demonstrate vision and foresight. Our infrastructure is third-world and we are not an industrialized economy that is founded on innovation and global competitiveness.

We need a master plan of an ecosystem for Metro Manila and beyond – or from Hacienda Luisita down to Calabarzon. Not because JICA says so but because we needed one at least 50 years ago. But we will never have a master plan if patronage and a culture of impunity – leadership after leadership – would reflect who we truly are.

Beyond infrastructure development, as the JFC pointed out, we can [and must] attract as much as $75 billion in FDIs. [Note the collective wealth of our 12 billionaires totals $55.3-B.] We need this magnitude of investment so that we can compete with the likes of Vietnam and Thailand.

We lag Vietnam’s exports by over $140-B and Thailand’s by $175-B. And what are we talking about? MSMEs? They thrive when there is an industrial base that is robust. Not even our billionaires can raise the kind of numbers we badly need. 

And what about financing for subsistence farming? What we need is a massive agro-industrial initiative like the one that was reported to be under consideration for Central Luzon within the framework of the JFC’s seven industry winners. And, yes, then small farms effectively organized consistent with economies of scale and geared for world-class productivity will flourish. It is not new. Our neighbors have done it. Tossing “crab mentality” is key.

Sadly, man sees what he cares to see and why reality is elusive. And why the blog often discusses our “culture” or way of life. For example, given our parochial and insular instincts, we take such stark deficits (against Vietnam and Thailand) for granted instead of a challenge – an existential threat – and why underdevelopment and poverty have come to define us: losers not winners.

Which is not new to the writer. He has encountered such perspectives in emerging and developing nations as well as developed ones where older enterprises failed to stay abreast with technology especially disruptive ones. Or for failing to move their products and/or services up the value chain to respond to ever-changing human needs. It also explains the 1-percent phenomenon, i.e., when the 99% suffer from lack of personal experience on the challenge at hand that their perceptive judgment is suspect.

Where is our foresight? We’re talking poverty and livelihood, not generating the wealth we sorely need via the requisite ecosystem.

If war-torn Vietnam can do it, why can’t we? And why the blog has argued that we must toss “crab mentality” and pursue rapid development consistent with the demands of Pareto and the 1-percent phenomenon. And that means starting with Luzon (as above) plus Cebu, Davao and Cagayan de Oro.

And leverage the top ten export industries because we have the most knowledge in them and can move up the next level much faster, i.e., the pursuit of innovation and global competitiveness. That means the right product portfolio that is scaled up the value chain. The caveat: our industry must intimately understand human needs – that they are ever-changing because of the imperative to raise their well-being, and not be a candidate for extinction.

Which we Pinoys are courting given our fixed mindset instead of a dynamic and growth mindset. That beyond the here and now of poverty, we mustn’t forget to leverage man’s greatest gift compared to the rest of creation, i.e., foresight. And when we think of the ecosystem the buzz word that is inclusion falls short because creation is about oneness.

Sadly, PH not only Metro Manila is what an ecosystem isn’t. 

“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]

“Now I know why Paul dared to speak of ‘the curse of the law’ (Galatians 3:13). Law reigns and discernment is unnecessary, which means there is little growth or change in such people. When you do not grow, you remain an infant.” [Faith and Science, Open to Change, Richard Rohr’s Daily Meditation, 23rd Oct 2017]

“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]