“Let’s do our homework …”

That's lifted from "Homework, first & foremost," Dr. Jesus P. Estanislao, SWIMMING AGAINST THE CURRENT, Manila Bulletin, 14th Feb 2019.

"An idea that we need to give much more importance to is: before we get helpless with our people drain, let us do our homework in expanding economic and social opportunities for all of our people ...

"Many look at our OFWs as a boon ... But ... this currently advantageous people-dependent process of development can turn out to be a bane for us, if we do not watch out.

"Moreover, it is a disgrace: to have many Pinoys as TNTs in various lands; and as a result of which, Filipinos in general are many times not treated properly; and we are all too often looked down upon by others."

The OFW phenomenon simply means we are not creating enough jobs that can put body and soul together? Consider: "Economist Bernardo Villegas once said, 'there was no question that a country with as large a population as the Philippines would never be really considered industrialized if manufacturing does not constitute a fair share of the Gross Domestic Product (GDP) and employing a significant percentage of the labor force. '

"How did our neighboring countries like Thailand, Malaysia, Indonesia, and now Vietnam manage to industrialize while we are still struggling?" [Industrialization, Boo Chanco, DEMAND AND SUPPLY, The Philippine Star, 15th Feb 2019]

What insights must we seek, but have yet to commit because we are not prepared to unlearn (or unfreeze) to provide room to relearn (change and refreeze)? That's from the German social scientist, Kurt Lewin, that the blog has raised numerous times over the last 10 years.

For example, how does Investopedia define the Four Asian Tigers? They consistently maintained high levels of economic growth since the 1960s ... fueled by exports and rapid industrialization ... which enabled these economies to join the ranks of the world's richest nations ... They share common characteristics that include a focus on exports, an educated populace and  high savings  rates ... And are resilient enough to withstand local crises, such as the  Asian financial crisis  of 1997, as well as global shocks, including the  credit crunch  of 2008.

But we can not seem to internalize such insights and so we concluded that: We can not compare ourselves with Singapore because Lee Kuan Yew was an autocrat, ours is a democracy to be proud of. We can not compare ourselves with Thailand because they are a monarchy, that provides them moral compass. We can not compare ourselves with China or Vietnam being communists, we love our democracy.

In other words, can we unlearn or unfreeze the Pinoy instincts that are frozen in the mind? For example: We are parochial and insular, ie, inward-and backward-looking. We value hierarchy and paternalism. We rely on patronage and oligarchy. The bottom line: We reinforce and nourish a "culture of impunity." Says Rizal, "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. "

And until we unlearn or unfreeze the mind, we will pay the price of underdevelopment. Consider these news reports: (a) Korean manufacturers decry port congestion, mull departure; on the other hand, (b) Why Samsung of South Korea is the biggest firm in Vietnam: It makes most of its smartphones there; (c) Living up to the name: 'Representa-thieves' [translation: our legislators are a bunch of thieves]; (d) 'First they came for the journalists ...' [the latest being Maria Ressa.]

Why are we the regional laggard, again? "Maybe it is because of the Filipino First import substitution strategy we have had from the '50s. Our so called 'infant' industries got significant protection through high tariffs and non-tariff barriers to entry.

"As a result, consumers suffered having to buy lower quality products at higher costs. Several decades later, our 'infant' industries refused to grow. Protection gave them no incentive to adopt new technology and improve efficiency. "[Chanco, op. cit.]

Can media help? "Media are part of the problem," Luis V. Teodoro, Vantage Point, BusinessWorld, 7th Feb 2019.

"That former TV broadcaster who's running for senator under Sara Duterte's Hugpong of Change party is not alone in denying that the Duterte regime is a threat to press freedom.

"There are other former and still practicing broadcasts, print and online media people who have never quite understood that the most fundamental values ​​in journalism are independence, accuracy, and truth-telling."

But let's get back to Dr. Estanislao: "Let us do our homework in expanding economic and social opportunities for all of our people ..." Because freedom, democracy, nationalism, etc., etc. will be irrelevant if people are hungry. Recall the beginning of the end of the Soviet empire when people woke up one morning and found out there was not enough bread to go around.

Or imagine flying to Sydney and finding out everyone in the country is poor - that is the equivalent of the poverty rate in the Philippines.

Have the Vietnamese learned the lesson? "Vietnam ... is liberalizing its economy to welcome foreign industry. In 2015 the government opened 50 industries to foreign competition and slashed regulation in hundreds more. It sold a majority stake in the biggest state-owned brewer, Sabeco, to a foreign firm last year. Vietnam's enthusiasm for free-trade deals has made it especially alluring to foreign investors.

"The Samsung Electronics factory in Thai Nguyen, in northern Vietnam, employs more than 60,000 people. Its three canteens serve some 13 tons of rice a day. It churns out more mobile phones than any other facility in the world. It and Samsung Electronics' other factories in Vietnam produce almost a third of the firm's global output. The company has invested a cumulative $ 17bn in the country.

"But Samsung is as important to Vietnam as Vietnam is to it. Its local subsidiary's $ 58bn in revenue last year made it the biggest company in Vietnam, pipping PetroVietnam, the state oil company. It employs more than 100,000 people. It has helped to make Vietnam the second-largest exporter of smartphones in the world, after China. Samsung alone accounted for almost a quarter of Vietnam's total exports of $ 214bn last year. "[Why Samsung of South Korea is the biggest firm in Vietnam: It makes most of its smartphones there, The Economist, 12th Apr 2018]

Are not the Vietnamese nationalistic or patriotic? Why would they prefer foreign investors over locals? Or are they smarter than us parochial and insular Pinoys? Consider: (a) They went to school on the Asian Tigers, ie, beg for Western money and technology and (b) did their homework to rapidly pursue industrialization and (c) drastically reduced poverty.

How do we square the circle with this article? "Everyone should be a populist and nationalist," Jemy Gatdula, Being Right, BusinessWorld, 14th Feb 2019. "Our Constitution was authored by 'the sovereign Filipino people.' A constitutional system described as "of the people, by the people, for the people."

In other words, nationalism does not mean protectionism as Boo Chanco described. Or as highlighted in a recent post, in Liliw (Laguna) the footwear industry relies on labor from Batangas and Quezon because the locals prefer something more interesting than sitting the whole day to make slippers. They are not being unpatriotic, they are being human - that their aspirations are moving up the hierarchy of needs.

People are not automatons as the Soviet Union belatedly learned. [But they were godless; we should know better, ie, man is good, says the Creator.] It is not a matter of providing them what the politburo assumed they need: "You need a job we will tell you what job and where you will work. You need an apartment we will tell you where but you can only have two bedrooms. "And as the couple related to the writer, they protested:" But commissar, we have a boy and a girl, they must grow up in separate rooms. "

The verdict? "I tell you what you need and you be grateful!" Fast-forward to the fall of the empire: The first thing the family did was look for and buy another apartment, where the writer was a guest as family members related the story. The original communist apartment was not good enough and so they relocated, now free to live wherever they wish. They can wait 15 years to buy a car under Soviet rule but no commissar will tell them where to live and how to run the family.

And this is where the delusion of Putin lies. He yearns for the good old days of Soviet power when Ukraine, for example, was where space technology resided. Does the adventure in Crimea make sense? And the effort to influence Ukraine is hallucination? Indeed a handful of former Soviet satellite states are still friends with Putin. But it figures: During the transition from Soviet rule those with direct access to Moscow were able to shepherd big industry from communist control to the new oligarchy.

But not the three tiny Baltic states that embraced democracy and trumpeted their opposition to Putin. Not surprisingly, Estonia, for example, is today a technology powerhouse. Consider:  "The tiny former Soviet republic, with a population of 1.3 million ... is arguably the  most advanced digital society  in the world.

"Some 94 per cent of applicants gain e-residency ... E-residency aims to create a digital nation for all, built on inclusion, transparency and legitimacy to empower citizens globally, and achieve worldwide digital and financial inclusion, as outlined on  e-estonia .com .

"Non-Estonians can apply for e-residency, also known as virtual residency, which gives some business benefits, including company formation, but not tax exemption. Estonia has been ahead of the curve since the 1990s. "[Https://www.raconteur.net/technology/estonia-digital-society]

Estonia came to [the writer's] mind upon learning that Liliw relies on Batangas and Quezon to supply labor for their footwear industry. Does Estonia also explain why Putin and Gorbachev do not see eye-to-eye, the latter being a critic? But he is not alone. Poor Russians - visible when one flies from Moscow to Siberia - are escaping what they thought was destiny, including elements of the powerful sports community. If you want to learn fencing you can find some of Russia's best in New Jersey giving lessons.

Poverty in Russia and in the Philippines share something in common, that is, underdevelopment. Which is fertile ground for oligarchy because (a) opportunities are wanting - as in the system does not work - and so (b) hierarchy is the be-all and end-all.

In the case of Russia oil is the driver of the economy; in the Philippines it is OFW remittances and the BPO industry. In both cases, industry is underdeveloped and thus innovation and global competitiveness are beyond reach - and they are defining the 21st century. Think of Venezuela, friends with Russia and Cuba and very oil rich. This once wealthy nation has plunged itself down the abyss.

In the meantime, the world is waiting how Brexit will play out. And the prognosis appears to get worse every day. Scores of regional offices in the financial services sector have already abandoned the UK when not that long ago they made London the bigger financial capital, bigger than New York.

And in the case of the Philippines, why can not we see beyond the horizon? Consider: We can not even agree on why we are underdeveloped!

It comes from what Fr. Bulatao calls our split-level Christianity: on one hand we can not prioritize because we fall into the trap of "crab mentality" whenever our bias for "inclusion" (an expression of our Christianity) offers no way forward being a non-starter to begin with; and on the other we are simply unfocused ("sabog") because our sense of foresight is suspect given our love of tyranny - so says Rizal.

And so when we are told to jump we ask, "how high" instead of "why." Asking the question why can trigger the mind to look beyond the horizon.

For example, was not Juan de la Cruz told that the war on drugs will be over in 3 to 6 months? What about the value of a consumption economy? That it will sustain us and free us from the vagaries of the global economic cycle? Where is foresight in either case?

Then consider: The Pearl River Delta economic development initiative was the catalyst that made China the number one manufacturing enterprise in the world. It speaks to: (a) Pareto, the 80-20 rule and (b) time and space, ie, there is no efficient coexistence and order if time and space is not respected, as in a civilized world.

Think why we're at least 50 years behind in infrastructure development and why despite Arangkada our bias for industrialization is pitiful, if it even exists.

Here is an aside: Someone commented that the postings appear to be connecting the dots - which is how Steve Jobs defines creativity. And it is tall order if we can not overcome parochialism and insularity. And while we talk about big data and analytics, if we are not grounded in Pareto, we will be hard-pressed. And more so if the sense of foresight is suspect. To figure out the 20 and the 80 out of 100 presupposes we instinctively "Begin with the end in mind." That we know where we want to be: Is our problem poverty or underdevelopment?

And in the case of agriculture, we still could not grasp that to begin with the end mind is to look beyond the "input" and into the "output." You can gold-plate the input but if there is no demand for the output - beyond local needs - we will never be a Vietnam or a Thailand, for example. Why beyond local needs? So that the bigger scale will open itself up for greater imagination and investment, as in economies of scale. Retail politics - as in populism - does not work in the innovation and competitiveness demanded by the 21st century.

But here's one exception and a truly great news: "Unifrutti secures P1-B loan from DBP for banana area expansion," Marifi S. Jara, BusinessWorld, 18th Feb 2019. Disclosure: An economist that has read previous postings shared this enterprise with the writer before the news report. And in the conversation the writer stressed the imperative ... of scale ... and greater imagination ... and investment - if we are to make a quantum leap in agriculture especially in Mindanao.

"The loan package - which will be used for the development of 700 hectares of new Cavendish banana farms in the provinces of Davao del Sur and Bukidnon - is so far the government-owned bank's biggest farm development financing ... Unifrutti currently has about 1,200 hectares of corporate farms and 5,000 hectares of contract growers. Its fresh produce are exported to the Middle East, Japan, China, and Korea ... Unifrutti's expansion program is intended to meet increasing export demand. "

Where are we otherwise? We always demonstrate that we are two generations behind our neighbors and why we can not connect the dots: from (a) our failure in infrastructure development (only three major projects have been awarded by the Du30 administration) to (b) industrialization (Arangkada remains an orphan) to (c) innovation to (d) global competitiveness. And the latter two can only come about if we have a wealth of experience coming out of the first two. Gising bayan! 

But let's get back to Russia. What does Putin share with Trump? In the case of the Philippines, we are not as aggressive as the Americans ... when we should be asking: What does Duterte share with China? Even more fundamental, Trump shares with Russia, China and the Philippines the distinction for transparency.

Sadly we must add the Vatican where for the longest time transparency was not in the vocabulary. That injustice - as in tyranny - was harbored. Recall Padre Damaso. Until now: "Pope defrocks Theodore McCarrick, ex-cardinal accused of sexual abuse." The moral of the story truly hit home to folks in the New Jersey / New York area, the cleric in the 80's being one of their own.

Of course, Trump finds comfort in his shrinking base (a clear minority except for the freak electoral college system) while being abandoned even by pillars of the conservative movement - ie, how conservatives can be holier-than-thou with a Trump in their camp ? But not only. He is anomaly given the American character of transparency, as in check-and-balance. And it is in his character and why he's had a battery of lawyers even when still a private citizen. And as the world knows, his personal lawyer turned against him after Trump threw him under the bus.

Trump can lie through his teeth - as in being caught with his pants down in the Trump University case and the Trump charitable foundation, among countless others - and many within his orbit that likewise lied have been indicted if not jailed. He claimed to be a billionaire many times over than his true net worth and thus needed no political contributions from kingmakers. But was he under the thumb of Adelson, the casino mogul, all along? Which is another thing we Pinoys share with Trump: a gambling economy not an industrial economy.

The emergency he conjured does not add up per a recent Gallop report: 75% of Americans see immigration as a "good thing" and 58% are opposed to "substantial expansion" of a border wall between the US and Mexico. If indeed he is following the Nixon playbook he is on a very slippery road.

What about us Pinoys? Let us do our homework in expanding economic and social opportunities for all of our people. But is there a commissar telling us that we are only good as a regional laggard? We can always protest ... and lead a prosperous life as a nation!

And even more fundamental, we can no longer hide behind the skirts of Vatican and harbor tyranny and injustice - as in a culture of impunity. Where Rizal failed, will McCarrick succeed? 

Gising bayan!

"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 those who submits to tyranny loves it." [We are governed 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, the 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]

"You have to have a dream, whether big or small. Then plan, focus, work hard and be very determined to achieve your goals." [Henry Sy Sr., Chairman Emeritus and Founder, SM Group (1924 - 2019)]

"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 [informed by a people's] worldview, cognitive capacity, values, moral development, self-identity, spirituality and leadership. . ." [Frederic Laloux, Reinventing organizations, Nelson Parker, 2014]