Beyond the quick fix lies the road from poverty to prosperity

Like democracy, to traverse the path from poverty to prosperity is hard work. It demands foresight and dynamism. Not “pwede na ‘yan.” Moreover, in the 21st century, it likewise mandates skills that conventional wisdom had assigned to information technology, not to Juan de la Cruz. Take big data and analytics. Because the challenge of prosperity comes with massive information to process that requires analytics.

These skills aren’t instinctive. That is why democracy is self-government and representative government all at once. Sadly, populism undermines this very principle that makes democracy works. For example, the creation of LGUs, contrary to popular belief, did not raise the quality and effectiveness of local governance and worse undercut economies of scale, a classic example of the crab mentality.

Did we take the wrong turn at every fork in the road? Consider these events over several decades: we gave Marcos carte blanche to create the New Society by catering to our paternalistic instincts as “road, rice, and school” via massive foreign borrowings while simultaneously building his personal wealth that triggered a balance of payment crisis and for the IMF to step in, including begging Lee Kuan Yew for foreign exchange to cover foreign debts that were due; the comprehensive agrarian reform program did not arrest persistent poverty and instead saw agriculture in a downward spiral; we celebrated the OFW phenomenon, then the BPO industry and more recently POGO, instead of the pursuit of industrialization that is at the heart of why we’re the regional laggard; we kicked out the US military while former Soviet satellite states did the exact opposite; we applauded EJK, supposedly the answer to the drug problem, and threw prescience out the window. 

Until we acknowledge our shortcomings, we shall remain a third-world, underdeveloped, impoverished nation. There is no free lunch.

Let’s look at two crucial building blocks of prosperity, infrastructure development, and industrialization. That we lag in both contributed to the perfect storm we face.

Is Mayor Isko the answer? 

Try foresight and dynamism. Consider: “JICA proposed a (1) restudy of the gateway airport options for Metro Manila, (2) the feasibility of a Mega-Manila subway system, (3) a reform of the road-based public transport system, (4) secondary mass transport system lines and (5) a redevelopment of the congested Manila North Harbor.” [“JICA: 5 ways to decongest Metro Manila roads,” Mike Frialde, The Philippine Star, 8th Jul 2016]

Recall how long it took Greece to put up a modern airport and the Athens Metro. While Mahathir embarked on Build-Build-Build four decades ago.

JICA, which has been supporting the Philippines for over 60 years, showed us what foresight and dynamism entail.

Let’s get back to the Manila mayor because we must give credit where credit is due. 

Indeed, we must thank Mayor Isko for what he has done: “Manila Mayor Isko Moreno launched massive cleanup operations in his first month on the job, organizing informal hawkers that used to crowd the streets and public places and ordering a more efficient garbage collection system, among other efforts.

“Clearing up Manila was among his central campaign promises.” [“Mayor Isko Moreno's reasons for a major Manila makeover,” interaksyon.com, 25th Jul 2019]

Still, there is the imperative of putting up the building blocks of an ecosystem, and the proposal of JICA is a great example.

What about industrialization? Recall Arangkada. Shouldn’t we in the chattering classes be talking more about it?

“The good news is that we have an astute Secretary of Trade and Industry who is aware of the problem. Last year, Secretary Mon Lopez crafted a plan to accelerate exports of both goods and services to minimize the trade deficit. The program, dubbed the Philippine Export Development Plan 2018-2022, was completed last June. President Duterte ratified it.

“At the heart of the plan is to accelerate exports to between $122 billion and $130 billion by 2022 on the back of three action points.

“The first is to improve the overall climate for export industries. It will be done by removing regulatory impediments for exporters, by raising productivity and competitiveness, by improving benchmarks of quality for export goods, by improving access to export finance, and, by enhancing exporter's innovative capacities.

“The second is by exploiting opportunities from trade agreements. The Philippines enjoys preferential export access and special tariff terms with certain countries under trade agreements in which we are a signatory. The Department of Trade and Industry (DTI) recognizes that the country has not maximized its preferential export rights to many markets; thus, Secretary Lopez' plan lays out the ways and means to do so.

“The third is to develop a new set of export winners. Products identified as having good export potentials are electronics, processed food, fresh vegetables, and beverages. Surprisingly, footwear, textiles, yarns, fabrics, and garments were products that waned in the 1990s but are now showing signs of a comeback.” [Export or fall deeper into debt, Andrew J. Masigan, Numbers Don't Lie, BusinessWorld, 8th Sep 2019]

Let’s pause and figure this out. To succeed and be export winners can’t be a quick fix. Consider: For the longest time, the OFW phenomenon and the BPO industry have driven our income stream. 

Pleasingly, we now recognize that we must add electronics, processed food, fresh vegetables, and beverages; and exploit the resurgence of footwear, textiles, yarns, fabrics, and garments.

However, to be an industrialized economy is not a walk in the park. 

Similarly, while the agenda of the new Agriculture secretary is spot on, moving from subsistence farming to agribusiness best exemplified by Nestlé is hard work. We must establish Nestlé as the benchmark, and that includes picking their brain because we don’t have a competitive advantage in this enterprise. Recall that in the 21st century, industrialization is the ante, the price of entry. There is still the hurdles of innovation and global competitiveness.

Moreover, we must learn from the Danes how to pull the farmers together in a cooperative to seek the community and the common good, i.e., their pig industry is world-class, a significant contributor to their export initiative and economy; while the Swedes can show us how to succeed in tree farming in contrast to how we denuded our forests.

As far as infrastructure development is concerned, beyond JICA, we can learn from our neighbors, like the Malaysians, for example, while Greece can teach us why infrastructure development and tourism alone won't suffice. We must industrialize. 

In other words, while we want to celebrate that finally, we will have a modern airport in Bulacan on top of Build-Build-Build as well as the Philippine Export Development Plan 2018-2022, what ails this country will not go away this year, not next year, nor the year after.

The bottom line: Neither infrastructure development nor industrialization is a quick fix – both demand foresight and dynamism. Sadly, neither is our bag of tricks. See above re we took the wrong turn at every fork in the road. 

Consider our instincts: We are parochial and insular. We value hierarchy and paternalism, rely on political patronage and oligarchy, that at the end of the day, ours is a culture of impunity.

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 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]

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

“Democracy is hard work”

Are we predisposed to deal with what is hard? Does “pwede na ‘yan” stand in the way like “que sera, sera”? For example, is dynamism in our bag of tricks? What about foresight?

Consider Build-Build-Build and the debate between PPP and ODA. Can they address PH pressing needs in infrastructure development? 

Like the rest of the world, we heard about Greece and their economy. Let’s peek into their economy and figure out how we compare.

“Greece has a capitalist economy with a public sector accounting for about 40% of GDP and with per capita GDP about two-thirds that of the leading euro-zone economies. Tourism provides 18% of GDP. Immigrants make up nearly one-fifth of the workforce, mainly in agricultural and unskilled jobs. Greece is a major beneficiary of EU aid, equal to about 3.3% of annual GDP.

“The Greek economy averaged growth of about 4% per year between 2003 and 2007, but the economy went into recession in 2009 as a result of the world financial crisis, tightening credit conditions, and Athens’ failure to address a growing budget deficit.

“By 2013, the economy had contracted 26%, compared with the pre-crisis level of 2007. Greece met the EU’s Growth and Stability Pact budget deficit criterion of no more than 3% of GDP in 2007-08, but violated it in 2009, when the deficit reached 15% of GDP.

“Under intense pressure from the EU and international market participants, the government accepted a bailout program that called on Athens to cut government spending, decrease tax evasion, overhaul the civil-service, healthcare, and pension systems, and reform the labor and product markets. Austerity measures reduced the deficit to 1.3% in 2017. Successive Greek governments, however, failed to push through many of the most unpopular reforms in the face of widespread political opposition, including from the country’s powerful labor unions and the general public.

“In April 2010, a leading credit agency assigned Greek debt its lowest possible credit rating, and in May 2010, the IMF and euro-zone governments provided Greece emergency short- and medium-term loans worth $147 billion so that the country could make debt repayments to creditors. Greece, however, struggled to meet the targets set by the EU and the IMF, especially after Eurostat — the EU’s statistical office — revised Greece’s deficit and debt numbers for 2009 and 2010 upward. European leaders and the IMF agreed in October 2011 to provide Athens a second bailout package of $169 billion.

“The second deal called for holders of Greek government bonds to write down a significant portion of their holdings to try to alleviate Greece’s government debt burden. However, Greek banks, saddled with a significant portion of sovereign debt, were adversely affected by the write-down and $60 billion of the second bailout package was set aside to ensure the banking system was adequately capitalized.

“In 2014, the Greek economy began to turn the corner on the recession. Greece achieved three significant milestones: balancing the budget — not including debt repayments; issuing government debt in financial markets for the first time since 2010; and generating 0.7% GDP growth — the first economic expansion since 2007.” [https://www.cia.gov/library/publications/the-world-factbook/geos/gr.html]

Democracy is hard work.

Something we Pinoys must note is that tourism accounts for 18% of the Greece GDP. In the Philippines, it is 12.7%. However, then consider: “The number of tourists who visited Greece in 2018 rose to 30.1 million, with incoming tourist traffic recording an increase of 10.8 percent compared with 2017, data released by the Bank of Greece. Tourism revenues increased by 10.1 percent compared with 2017 and stood at 16.1 billion euros.” [http://www.ekathimerini.com/237970/article/ekathimerini/business/greece-hosts-over-30-million-tourists-in-2018]

That is a staggering number, 30.1 million tourists (an increase of 10.8 percent), more than four times the 7.1 million visitors the Philippines had in 2018, up 7.7 percent from 2017. Likewise, how it translated to revenues in billions of euros.

Indeed, they have something going for them, i.e., tourism infrastructure is well-developed. Take the Athens International Airport (AIA) and the Athens Metro, for example. We read about them when Greece hosted the Olympics in 2004.

“AIA began operation on March 28, 2001. [Its] ownership is divided between the Hellenic Republic (Greek State) and Private Sector in a 55%-45% stake following a PPP scheme for the airport company.

“Studies for [the] airport had been carried out from as early as the 1970s, with as many as 19 different locations being looked at before an area close to the town of Spata was chosen as suitable.

“Athens Airport SA, a state-owned company, was established in 1978 to proceed with the plans. However, after delays and slow development, the project was revived in 1991 with the then government launching an international tender for the selection of a build-own-operate-transfer partner for the airport project, with Hochtief of Germany being selected.

“In 1996, Athens International Airport S.A. (AIA) was established as a public-private partnership with a 30-year concession agreement. That same year, the €2.1 billion development finally began with an estimated completion date of February 2001. The airport construction was completed five months before schedule but was delayed opening a month due to surface connections to Attiki Odos not being completed. The airport officially opened on March 28, 2001.” [Wikipedia]

As the blog has raised, infrastructure development is not about a quick fix because like human development, it is generational – with many twists and turns. It demands foresight and dynamism.

Note the Greeks demonstrated foresight, especially if we consider another major infrastructure project: “The Athens Metro is a rapid-transit system in Greece which serves the Athens conurbation and parts of East Attica.

“It incorporates the former Athens-Piraeus Electric Railways (ISAP), which opened as a conventional steam railway in 1869, was electrified in 1904 and is now part of Line 1. Beginning in 1991, Attiko Metro constructed and extended Lines 2 and 3 and the Attiko Metro Operations Company (AMEL) operated these lines from 2000 to 2011.

“The metro network merged in 2011 when the Greek government created the Urban Rail Transport Company (STASY).

“It has significantly changed Athens by providing a much-needed solution to the city’s traffic and air pollution problem, as well as revitalizing many of the areas it serves.

“An extension of Line 3 is under construction towards Piraeus and also other extensions of existing lines, as well as a new line, are under consideration. The Athens Metro is actively connected with the other means of public transport, such as buses, trolleys, the Athens Tram and the Proastiakos suburban railway.

"The Athens Metro is hailed for its modernity, and many of its stations feature works of art, exhibitions, and displays of the archeological remains found during its construction.

“The three-line Athens Metro network serves 61 stations. The Athens Metro’s three lines carry approximately 1,353,000 passengers daily.” [Wikipedia]

Infrastructure development and tourism did not prevent economic contraction in Greece. Compared to the Philippines, they are even wealthier with a GDP per capita (PPP) of $27,800, to our $8,400.

Like the Philippines, services account for the most substantial chunk of GDP at 79.1% against our 59.8%. In short, Greece is not an industrialized economy with industry contributing a mere 16.9%. We are better with the industry at 30.6%. However, that is a function of population and our local needs, i.e., OFW remittances and the BPO industry drive our income stream. We are over 100 million people, and they’re less than 11 million.

Democracy is hard work. Is that why we can’t move beyond OFW remittances and the BPO industry despite Arangkada? 

A nation like Greece that is a service economy and not an industrialized one should be a lesson for us. Conversely, the Asian Tigers should be a lesson for us as well. See below re “match the world as it is.”

“Democracy is hard work and requires a lot from those who participate in it. It requires people to respect those with different views from theirs. [It] asks citizens to be able to sift through large amounts of information and process the good from the bad, the true from the false. It requires thoughtfulness, discipline, and logic.” 

[Translation: Democracy demands skills that conventional wisdom had assigned to information technology, as in big data and analytics.]

The good news: “Human beings by nature readjust their ideas to match the world as it is and not as they’d like it to be—just as democracy requires.” [https://www.politico.com/magazine/story/2019/09/08/shawn-rosenberg-democracy-228045?cid=apn]

Does it apply to Juan de la Cruz? Can we adjust our ideas to match the world as it is and not as we like it to be? Recall Darwin.

Are we predisposed to deal with what is hard? Does “pwede na ‘yan” stand in the way like “que sera, sera”? Is dynamism in our bag of tricks? What about foresight?

Consider: We are parochial and insular. We value hierarchy and paternalism, rely on political patronage and oligarchy, that at the end of the day, ours is a culture of impunity.

“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, December 29, 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, October 23, 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, November 25, 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 [is informed by a people’s] worldview, cognitive capacity, values, moral development, self-identity, spirituality, and leadership . . .” [Frederic Laloux, Reinventing organizations, Nelson Parker, 2014]

Between a rock and a hard place

“THE SENATE Finance committee will zero in on the government’s spending catch-up and impact of the escalating Sino-US trade war as the chamber begins on Wednesday its parallel hearings on the proposed P4.1-trillion national budget for 2020.

“The proposed spending plan for next year is 12% more than the P3.662-trillion 2019 budget and is 19.4% of GDP, with planned infrastructure expenditure topping spending priorities at P972.5 billion, equivalent to 4.6% of GDP.” [Senate body keen on GDP catch-up plan, Charmaine A. Tadalan, BusinessWorld, 26th Aug 2019]

Catch-Up to us means spending. Because it is the elixir, the silver bullet?

Consider: “Powell Highlights Fed’s Limits. Trump Labels Him an ‘Enemy,’” Jeanna Smialek, The New York Times, 23rd Aug 2019.

“Jerome H. Powell, the Federal Reserve chair, kept future interest rate cuts squarely on the table on Friday but suggested that the central bank was limited in its ability to counteract President Trump’s trade policies, which are stoking uncertainty and posing risks to the economic outlook.

“While monetary policy is a powerful tool that works to support consumer spending, business investment, and public confidence, it cannot provide a settled rule book for international trade.

“Trade policy uncertainty seems to be playing a role in the global slowdown and in weak manufacturing and capital spending in the United States [and] there were no recent precedents to guide any policy response to the current situation.”

In other words, even in a $20-trillion economy, monetary interventions can’t be the cure-all; and especially in our case when we aren’t the favored destination for foreign direct investment, among our many shortcomings.

Are we between a rock and a hard place? Isang kahig isang tuka? Isn’t this like a broken record to Juan de la Cruz yet? Does PH have a design flaw? Here’s a quote from a posting in December 2015, “The same kind of thinking?”

“We can’t solve problems by using the same kind of thinking we used when we created them.” [Albert Einstein]

“Poverty alleviation is the main concern of many countries. Poverty is said to be an economic, social, cultural, political and moral phenomenon. Like the issue, its solutions are multi-faceted. It requires a collective action from governments, corporations, citizens, consumers, workers, investors and educators . . . The country’s poverty is more of a shameful condition than a pitiful one. It has not substantially improved since the 1990s.” [Ethical business actions and poverty reduction, Marie Annette Galvez-Dacul, Green Light, The Standard, 6th Dec 2015]

“Economic Growth Didn’t Ease Poverty,” Benjamin E. Diokno, Core, BusinessWorld, 8th Dec 2015. “The first Millennium Development Goal (MDG) is to halve poverty incidence by 2015. Despite the above normal economic growth during the last four years, the Philippines will miss this goal. By contrast, the same goal has been reached globally in 2000, five years ahead of schedule.

“Likewise, our ASEAN-6 (Association of Southeast Asian Nations) neighbors -- Indonesia, Malaysia, Singapore, Thailand, and Vietnam -- have met this lofty goal many years ago. This suggests that our Asian peers are doing things right while we continue to muddle through.” 

“To argue that jeepneys should not be phased out because they are a tradition is to say we never should have stopped burning wood for fuel . . . The romanticized notion that the jeepney is a testament to Filipino ingenuity and resourcefulness because it was built out of army jeeps left behind by the US forces after World War II is today as outdated as the vehicle itself. We need a better symbol of Filipino ingenuity and resourcefulness—preferably one that doesn’t belch smoke.” [Smokescreen arguments, Editorial, The Standard, 9th Dec 2015]

Does PH have a design flaw? Several postings ago, the blog talked about the writer visiting the Museum of Flight. It was once known as “The William E. Boeing Red Barn; the two-story barn is the historic birthplace of the Boeing Airplane Company.”

Note they are not exempt from design flaws: “The fatal flaws with Boeing’s 737 Max can be traced to a breakdown late in the plane's development, when test pilots, engineers, and regulators were left in the dark about a fundamental overhaul to an automated system that would ultimately play a role in two crashes.” [Boeing Built Deadly Assumptions Into 737 Max, Blind to a Late Design Change, Jack Nicas, Natalie Kitroeff, David Gelles and James Glanz, The New York Times, 1st Jun 2019]

In our case, and why the blog keeps raising that Mahathir embarked on Build-Build-Build 40 years ago, infrastructure development is like human development. It takes a generation. Unsurprisingly, “Top economist urges gov’t to tap PPP as ‘Build, Build, Build’ sputters,” Ben O. de Vera, Inquirer Business, 15th Aug 2019.

With due respect, there is no way to catch up for PH, in the foreseeable future, from an infrastructure standpoint. If spending per se is not a magical potion, so is Build-Build-Build. Catch-up is a euphemism for “quick fix” aka “Pinoy abilidad.” 

Consider: We stopped talking about Arangkada, which could have been the key in our pursuit of industrialization.

Instead, wittingly or not, we chose to mortgage the future, especially of the succeeding generations. [See below re toxic Filipino culture.] Why? We continue to narrow our income stream to OFW remittances and the BPO industry. [See above re Einstein.]

It is not about catch-up. It is about putting up the building blocks of an ecosystem.

Consider: (1) Marcos was supposed to be the quick fix with the New Society otherwise known as martial rule; (2) We wanted to keep the Philippines for the Filipinos, so we wrote a constitution that won’t attract foreign investment; (3) We want an exclamation point on that and kicked out the US military; (4) We assumed we had addressed unemployment and celebrated the OFW phenomenon and the BPO industry instead of pursuing industrialization; (5) To solve poverty and insurgency we saw land reform as the prescription; (6) To bring governance closer to the people we created LGUs – and to add insult to injury, we now want a federal system; (7) To fix the drug problem we applauded EJK. We can all add to the list.

What is an ecosystem? Recall Mahathir: “Mahathir came to power in 1981 and was the first non-aristocratic leader of Malaysia.

“He is credited with replacing colonial subservience with national pride and raising a country from the Third World to developed world status at an astounding pace.

“Mahathir also ambitiously pursued economic reforms, such as orienting the economy toward the production of export goods, promoting joint ventures with Asian firms, and privatizing many state industries.

“Mahathir bin Mohamad was the leading force in making Malaysia into a major industrial power. He is credited with turning Kuala Lumpur into a modern city with (for a while) the world’s tallest building and high-tech industrial areas but criticized for ignoring the villages and provinces. Even, his home province of Kedah seems undeveloped and stuck in a time warp.

“Mahathir developed the ‘Malaysia Can’ slogan in 1993 and developed the Vision 2020 program in which he planned to make Malaysia a fully developed country with 70 million people (compared to 20 million in 1998) by the year 2020.

“Mahathir put much money into expansive infrastructure projects … and high-tech development even when Malaysia was suffering an economic crisis. Mahathir once called himself a ‘cyber addict.' He was one of the first world leaders to have his blog and website and said he wanted to create a paperless government in Malaysia.

“Vision 2020. The aim [is] to turn Malaysia into a fully industrialized country and to quadruple per capita income by the year 2020. It will require the country to continue ascending the technological ‘ladder' from low- to high-tech types of industrial production, with a corresponding increase in the intensity of capital investment and higher retention of value-added (i.e., the value added to raw materials in the production process) by Malaysian producers.

“One of Dr Mahathir’s ambitions was to make Malaysia into an Asian Silicon Valley. Foreign companies were invited to invest in a ‘Multimedia Super Corridor’ between the new international airport and the twin Petronas Towers, which rise like gigantic pewter cocktail shakers in the center of Kuala Lumpur. An international committee of experts, including Bill Gates, advised Dr. Mahathir that, if he wished to attract foreign investment, censoring the Internet would be unwise.

“Mahathir sought to shake the colonial past, to remake his county and people much as he has transformed the natural landscape of Malaysia. Omar bin Sidek, a 91-year-old with a wispy white beard, remembers the long years when his town of Dengkil in Selangor state was a modest jungle outpost amid vast oil palm plantations, long a mainstay of the Malaysian economy. ‘Ooh, I'm speechless to describe the change,’ said Omar, squinting to recall life before Mahathir’s major public works came to this area 25 miles south of Kuala Lumpur, the capital.

“While the export of raw material remained a vital part of the Malaysian economy, manufacturing became more of a focus under Mahathir. Essential manufactured goods have included rubber gloves, catheters, rubber-threads, room air conditioners, semiconductors, and audio-visual equipment.

“By the 1990s Malaysia had become the world’s largest exporter of semiconductors, an industry that dates to the mid-1970s when many U.S. and Japanese companies set up factories in Malaysia. At that time, there was also a trend to produce more assembled products like cameras and VCRs from semiconductors in Malaysia.

“Malaysia’s rapid development has been attributed to the transparency of government policies, its educated and skilled workforce, well-developed infrastructure, excellent communications facilities, and efficient bureaucracy.

“High tech industries developed in Malaysia in the 1990s and 2000s included advanced electronics, scientific instruments, biotechnology, automated manufacturing systems, electro-optics and non-linear optics, advanced composite materials, optoelectronics, software engineering, alternative energy sources, and aerospace.

“Malaysia in the 1990s was reminiscent of South Korea in the 1980s and Japan in the 1960s and 1970s, when people are intoxicated with their new affluence and happy to leave their poverty behind them.

“Over these three decades, Malaysia accomplished a transition from a primary product-dependent economy to one in which manufacturing industry had emerged as the leading growth sector. Rubber and tin, which accounted for 54.3 percent of Malaysian export value in 1970, declined sharply in relative terms to a mere 4.9 percent in 1990.” [http://factsanddetails.com/southeast-asia/Malaysia/sub5_4a/entry-3627.html]

What is an ecosystem? It is akin to a virtuous circle and thus yields the common good.

Sadly, we can’t seem to get a good handle on the common good. For example: “In grade school, ‘toxic Filipino culture’ used to mean the likes of ningas cogon, mañana habit, Filipino time and bahala na. But modern times and our shift to more urban lives have swung the spotlight to other negative traits in the Filipino psyche, at least among many young people who chafe at these norms and feel the need to speak up about them. The sense of openness and frankness that the modern era has fostered allows us to see more clearly the downside of unsavory but deeply embedded traits disguised as conventional interpersonal relations and cultural habits, and to challenge their place and purpose in our evolving society. From here, future generations will be the beneficiaries of any changes we are bold enough to apply to our Filipino-style parenting, relating and coexisting practices.” [Toxic Filipino culture (?), Michael Baylosis, opinion.inquirer.net, 23rd Aug 2019]

Here’s a great example of a vicious circle or what a virtuous circle is not: “THE Local Government Code of 1991 decentralized local government units (LGUs) and, for this purpose, LGUs were given an annual allocation (allotment) of 40% of national tax collections (Internal Revenue Allotment or IRA). The IRA is in addition to the local taxes that the LGUs already impose and may impose in their respective jurisdictions. Now, after a long 28 years, this decentralization does not seem to have provided the improvements in the lives of our citizens that its proponents had argued as reason for its adoption.

“The decentralization is a failure.” [Decentralization, PH-style, Benjamin R. Punongbayan, BusinessWorld, 26th Aug 2019; Benjamin R. Punongbayan is the founder of Punongbayan & Araullo, one of the Philippines’ leading auditing firms.]

More than a failure, because of our perceptive judgment that is suspect, instead of leveraging economies of scale given our minuscule national income per capita, we chose to spread it out thinly ensuring mediocre or sub-optimized outcomes. United we stand, divided we fall. In other words, the community and the common good is indeed alien to us.

The bottom line: At every fork in the road, we took the wrong turn. Is it because our instincts have robbed us of dynamism and foresight? Let’s pause and challenge the assertion. Can we internalize what dynamism and foresight entail? How come we have not outgrown our love affair with the jeepney? 

We are parochial and insular. We value hierarchy and paternalism, rely on political patronage and oligarchy, that at the end of the day, ours is a culture of impunity.

Are we yet to internalize the imperatives of development and nation-building?

Take what economists call opportunity cost. That there is no free lunch. Infrastructure development is a case in point. Industrialization is another. We chose not to incur these costs and yet we expect quick fixes. There is no patronage or manna from heaven when it comes to nation-building.

Unsurprisingly, we find Juan de la Cruz between a rock and a hard place. Worse, we are yet to produce leadership to approximate a Mahathir, for instance. Alternatively, a Lee or Deng.

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 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]

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