Do they explain our shortsightedness? It recalls the homily of the priest in one of our gated communities admonishing the matrons of the village to stop giving dole-outs to the poor living across the fence. That will not undo the plight of these people. What you must do is think about living a Christian life.
The simplest way to say it is, “don't give them fish, teach them how to fish.” The context is broader than that. We must undo our value of hierarchy and paternalism. In other words, aristocracy is not a virtue; diversity and pluralism are because they yield the best thinking of man. Recall the bestseller, “I’m OK – you’re OK.” The other person is an equal, not a subordinate.
With due respect to our top eight listed companies that are in the Forbes list, that homily was directed at you and to our Forbes billionaires. And to us in the elite class because we are part of this exclusive circle. Scratch my back, and I’ll scratch yours. But let’s test that.
For example, hierarchy and paternalism are two sides of the same coin. And that coin is no other than “entitlement.” It is what a caste system is. Sadly, it explains why we won’t open the Philippine economy. Wherever we stand in the hierarchy, entitlements will come our way. That is why Juan de la Cruz loves tyranny, and it comes hand in glove with impunity.
And let’s test that as well. How can Samsung Vietnam deliver much more to the Vietnam economy than our top eight listed companies that are in the Forbes list combined?
Then consider: Are the two water companies among these listed companies? “The two water companies were mandated under the Clean Water Act of 2004 to put up a sewerage system within five years from the effectivity of the Act. That was apart from the obligation of the two companies to put up a sewerage system as required in their concession contracts. In August 2019, the Supreme Court found that the two water companies completed only 20 percent of the sewerage system that the Clean Water Act mandated.
“Today, 80 percent of the sewage of 15 million people in Metro Manila are simply dumped into rivers and esteros that flow into Manila Bay. The Supreme Court called Manila Bay ‘the widest septic tank ever made by Filipinos.’ The Supreme Court fined the two water companies about Ps921.46 million each, plus an additional daily fine of some Ps322,102 each until they comply with their obligation under the Clean Water Act.” [Waiting for the next epidemic, Antonio T. Carpio, CROSSCURRENTS, Philippine Daily Inquirer, 19th Mar 2020]
Why can’t we produce visionary leadership? Think Lee, Mahathir, and Deng.
Conversely, the war on drugs isn’t leadership. Nor can it be justified by the assertion that our economic managers are smart enough to keep the economy going. If we are to traverse the road from poverty to prosperity, we need honest-to-goodness leadership.
We can extend the analogy to the imperatives of the 21st century: innovation and global competitiveness. In other words, a hierarchy has no monopoly of “innovation.” That is why, in Silicon Valley, they elevated the norms of “brainstorming” to “design thinking.”
The outcome is for a diverse team not merely to generate an idea but a prototype of the concept – so that it can be tested and re-tested sooner than later and for the team to rapidly learn and relearn within a much-compressed period.
Question: Why are we stuck in a service-consumption economy when our neighbors, including Vietnam, are now deep into an industrial-investment economy? They drastically reduced poverty while our headline continues to be poverty and the imperative to be compassionate. Or is it the preservation of the status quo because of our hierarchical and paternalistic instincts? See above the coin of entitlement.
If we pause for a moment, will we recognize that most everything that we call our way of life is a function of these instincts?
Start with Metro Manila traffic. Why can’t we relate it to our shortsightedness instead of racking our brains for quick fixes? We must give employment to the jeepney and tricycle drivers. But we can have hybrid ones to minimize pollution. It is classic “pwede na ‘yan.” If our instincts call for forward-thinking, we will create and deliver a plan for an efficient public transportation system instead.
Moreover, this is not an isolated failing; its impact on the economy and our ability to address poverty is staggering. The economic cost of Metro Manila traffic is nine times more than the 4Ps, and in 2020 we will spend Ps108.8 billion.
How did we come to celebrate the OFW phenomenon? It comes from the same fixed mindset. We must give employment to Juan de la Cruz. Forget its social cost and think of how we’ve remained an underdeveloped economy. If our instincts call for forward-thinking, we will create an industrial-investment economy instead and be in the same league as our neighbors and not the regional laggard.
Memories are short as though we don’t know how the comprehensive agrarian or land reform program failed to address rural poverty and instead undermined the agriculture sector. It has remained fragmented, unproductive, and uncompetitive.
But we do have the 4Ps and the now “unconditional” cash transfer – and it is working, working to keep the poor subservient? Benchmark. Benchmark. Benchmark. Is this how our neighbors overcome abject poverty? [It is now unconditional cash transfer because it is legitimate vote-buying power, as in the power of the incumbent? Has this nation gone to the dogs yet? Not to worry, we’re well on our way to a “failed nation.”]
Yes, the insanity gets even worse. We can’t walk away from POGO when more impoverished Cambodia did.
The bottom line: When we pull together all the above pieces that define our way of life, we created a perfect storm that we can’t overcome.
The current pandemic will hurt us like the rest of the world. If we think retreating into our shell as in parochial and insular will isolate us, God bless us! That will confirm our insanity to the nth degree.
In other words, we cannot stop looking at the world as the market. Precisely in a global recession, we want a broader market, not a narrow one. That is truer for lower-cost locations like the Philippines or Vietnam. Western behemoths, because of their size and global reach, have slower growth rates and will suffer in a worldwide recession. There will be those that will retreat, retrench and restructure – as what happened in 2009, which fed on the downturn.
The writer is in New York as he writes and where his Eastern European friends have introduced a portfolio of 8 brands. They are a lower-cost location too and are witnessing a replay of 2009, which they experienced in Europe and grew at an accelerated pace, but this time in the New York metro area.
The pandemic is not permanent, and the panic buying will abate, but they are getting free promotion for their brands – despite being new in the market – because of the panic buying. They can’t just stop selling because people are suffering. Meanwhile, they are leading the effort in their hometown for the local community to deal with the pandemic. [Disclosure: The writer is not isolated from the downturn being an investor in the market for decades.]
If we in the Philippines don’t step up industrialization efforts, we will always miss on these global phenomena. Recall what made the Asian Tigers.
And we won’t be in the league of our neighbors until we accept the folly of our shortsightedness and insanity. Recall our value of hierarchy and paternalism, the two sides of the coin of “entitlement.” It is our ticket to our journey to a failed nation.
Gising bayan!
“Why independence, if the slaves of today will be the tyrants of tomorrow? Moreover, 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]
No comments:
Post a Comment