Round and round we go

After eleven years, the blog can only sound like a broken record. Why? Our thought leaders and opinion-makers continue to recycle the same proposition time and again – aka insanity in Einstein lingo – despite our inability to overcome the embarrassment of being the regional laggard.

Consider our instincts: We are parochial and insular. We value hierarchy and paternalism and rely on political patronage and oligarchy that ours is a culture of impunity. Do they explain why dynamism is missing in Juan de la Cruz? How will he then forward-think?

There was an apparent desire to address the restrictive economic provisions of the Constitution, yet the opposing view has not gone away. Whatever one finds in our heart of hearts, our instincts inform them.

For example, we can’t seem to get over the assumption and fear that to open the economy means becoming second class citizens in our own country. Yet, that is what we did when we embraced POGO. Or when we selectively opened telecommunications and then some to foreign interests. In other words, even with our instincts, we can violate what we assume is sacred. Why? See above our reliance on political patronage and culture of impunity.

And unsurprisingly, the state of higher education is dismal. How can there be intellectual curiosity in academia with our instincts of parochialism and insularity?

When we throw in hierarchy and paternalism, it gets worse. But let’s establish a simple premise: hierarchy, when it equates to tyranny as in aristocracy, undermines the best thinking of man – which comes from diversity and pluralism.

And the consequence? An economic model that keeps hierarchy and paternalism intact as in a service-consumption economy. In other words, we have our eight top listed companies in the Forbes list, and we like to trumpet their glory. Yet, one company in poor Vietnam runs rings around them, Samsung Vietnam. Unsurprisingly, Vietnam is poised to overtake us and even Singapore. 

Why? Because in our case, the real drivers of the economy are the OFW remittances and BPO industry. They characterize a service-consumption economy that gives us the ability to pursue poverty via the 4Ps or conditional cash transfer aggressively. Early on, we even did the comprehensive agrarian or land reform program.

Still, they make us the regional laggard – with a poverty rate worst amongst the neighbors. So, what do we do? We want to drive tax revenues, but within the same economic model and without a concerted effort to move up to an industrial-investment economy.

In other words, from the same meager pie, we want to generate more, as in squeezing blood from a stone. Round and round we go.

Precisely because of our parochialism and insularity, we can’t look outward to our neighbors. Why? It is because of our faith in assumed knowledge. Classical economics teaches that fiscal and monetary policies are vital to economic development. That was until the Asian Tigers leveraged a mixed system.

And Lee Kuan Yew became the model, first by begging for Western money and technology. He ran Singapore like a company or a business enterprise, aggressively driving national income, and Mahathir and Deng, and, more recently, Vietnam followed suit. And they elevated the Singapore model (given more significant population base) by rapidly moving to an industrial-investment economy. See above becoming second class citizens in our own country. Did that happen to these neighbors that have cornered FDIs at our expense?

Because of our view of the world, how can we frame our challenges to ensure that we address them? For example, innovation and global competitiveness define the 21st century. Of course, we don’t have the heritage, as they are beyond us. But think of Vietnam becoming the regional hub for Samsung’s technology manufacturing in the region.

Why did Vietnam beat us to the draw? Because we can’t look outward and forward being parochial and insular. That is why the blog gave the example of a Guangzhou local enterprise with a minuscule business but had the gall to approach the writer’s old-MNC company to propose a partnership.

And they were not to be pushed around. The writer had to travel to China every month for eight months; only then he saw the light at the end of the tunnel. Today they are the regional hub for this MNC’s manufacturing efforts.

Let’s pause and ask ourselves: Can we get over our instincts?

It appears we can’t. So, what we are left is to look for scapegoats. We instead want to solve the problems of the world when we have our hands full being the only one in the region that has failed to cut poverty drastically – and are the regional laggard.

To look outward and forward is to benchmark. Try our neighbors; they have awed the world. We can’t keep talking about poverty without recognizing that these neighbors have done wonders in this department.

It is not about debating isms. It is about who is Juan de la Cruz? As some would know, the writer has been a volunteer development worker in Eastern Europe for 17 years and counting.

These people were guaranteed ownerships (e.g., their respective homes or apartments) and jobs. Yet, when they opened their borders, it was one horrific scene to outsiders. Time cruelly left these people. And they were the most impoverished nation in Europe.

And because they then embraced a different worldview, the writer is impelled to continue to guide them and not leave them in the dark. Today, they are his pride and joy. Their number two brand sells in 70 countries and has become the most profitable. And beyond their portfolio of winning brands, they are continually working on up-and-coming ones consistent with their ethos to raise the consumer’s well-being.

Still, we cannot set aside their ability to prioritize and focus on their first competitive, winning brand. It gave them the critical mass they needed early on and the profitability to develop and the experience – and perceptive judgment – to expand their portfolio at a faster clip. [Recall the Silicon Valley model of rapid prototyping – aka “fast fail” – to accelerate the product development learning curve, i.e., learn and re-learn as early as possible in the innovation process.]

To us, Pinoys, to prioritize, is alien because of the crab mentality. For example, we have been developing 42 industry road maps since the Aquino administration and have yet to proclaim our first competitive industry or winning brand. Because we want to please many industries and adhere to the protocol of the academe. [Consider too that Germany’s top 10 exports account for 69.3% of the overall value of its global shipments. In other words, we must learn to recognize the “vital few from the trivial many,” aka Pareto principle.]

Conversely, instead of these Eastern Europeans being eaten alive by Western global behemoths, they became their bane – and pain. And in 2011, the EU Competitiveness Commission recognized them as a model.

The big picture is these people can give many of us, born and raised in the free market system, a lesson or two, how they dissect their new world versus the old. They’ve lived under both and, indeed, the experience is the best teacher.

For example, from entitlement mode, they shifted to personal responsibility, i.e., that there is no free lunch. But that means recognizing that there is a more significant playing field beyond their once-closed borders. That capital, technology, and market are available to those who seek them. See above Samsung Vietnam.

Indeed, after eleven years, the blog can only sound like a broken record. Why? Our thought leaders and opinion-makers continue to recycle the same proposition time and again – aka insanity in Einstein lingo – despite our inability to overcome the embarrassment of being the regional laggard.

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]