Indeed, we in the elite class must challenge our thinking. Our successes don’t mean a thing if we leave behind the Philippines, the laughingstock of the region, if not the world. Recall in a recent posting, the blog referenced Aristotle: “The very highest human life consists in the contemplation of the greatest goods.”
Aristotle and Rizal always come to mind because of spending most of the last 17 years in Eastern Europe. With Greece and the Black Sea next door, the wife and writer would encounter these two icons (1) Aristotle’s monument (2) Rizal’s “Mi Ultimo Adios” – etched in tall planters spread out across a favorite resort – part of a Spanish hotel chain.
Sadly, the privileges we enjoy blind us to the reality of Juan de la Cruz. And worse, we can compartmentalize his predicament.
To those of us in the chattering classes, the challenge is to recognize our role. As thought leaders, we influence Juan de la Cruz in more ways than one. And over the almost 12 years of the blog’s existence, it is apparent our paradigms haven’t shifted much.
Recall this piece: “The Economist summarized the critical factors shared by the Best in Class emerging economies: (1) stunning investment and trade levels; (2) higher levels of education and government effectiveness; (3) score highly with exports that are both eclectic and exclusive, as in higher value-added, that few other countries export.”
Then put those critical factors next to our instincts: We are parochial and insular. We value hierarchy and paternalism that we rely on political patronage and oligarchy that ours is a culture of impunity.
How long have we known that we lag in investment and trade?
Yet, (1) we continue with the same approach that has failed us, and (2) if we can’t move up from our traditional exports to high value-added products and services, how can we even come close to what our neighbors achieved, including break the back of poverty?
Consider: Apparently, the public sector has a budget for roadshows and proudly show the world our export products. But merely doing something without getting much in return should give us pause.
Think of our higher education, where we are the regional laggard. It is no different from our economy. Marketing 101 says that our way – as in roadshows – is not the way to get results. See above; we are parochial and insular.
Marketing is outward-looking, not inward-looking. It means it is the consumer – not the marketer – that has needs to meet. And it is from meeting such a requirement that the marketer derives compensation.
That’s why when the writer introduced “Innovation” to his Eastern European friends, the premise is Maslow’s hierarchy of human needs. It is the bedrock of “Innovation.”
Unsurprisingly, “innovation” is not our cup of tea. And we think of it as high technology instead of human needs. Worse, we cast it as evil, i.e., consumerism is a no-no. Yet, humankind adapts to the dynamism of the universe, given this hierarchy of needs. Otherwise, we would still be cave-bound.
Humankind comes from the Creator’s image and likeness, and as proud Christians, we know that. And to choose between good and evil is part of the human condition, not the domain of Padre Damaso’s “absolute knowledge.”
Human development comes from experience, and without these human needs, humanity can go extinct. Try making a cave our home and surviving a blizzard, hurricane, or typhoon.
This universe’s dynamism also explains why our MSMEs can’t pull their weight in the economy.
Likewise, our largest enterprises can’t match those from our neighbors. Recall their mantra, “Beg for Western money and technology.” In contrast, ours is to put up barriers to keep them out.
Our tycoons seek not to compete but to monopolize – as in rent-seek. And that demands being in bed with political patronage. And that assures both their places in the hierarchy that we value. In return, we – including our MSMEs – demand paternalism. Unsurprisingly, the UP Institute of Small-Scale Industries studies’ concluded that outside interventions aren’t the elixir for MSMEs but the entrepreneurs themselves, i.e., their entrepreneurial spirit.
Worse, our inward-looking bias neutered whatever forward-looking tendencies we may have that our national conversations are still a century late. Please think of how rapidly our neighbors traversed the road from poverty to prosperity.
And as Rizal knew from over a hundred years ago, ours is a culture of impunity – because we love and submit to tyranny.
In sum, we created a state of equilibrium, but of the harmful kind, i.e., a vicious circle, or a perfect storm.
What to do? Perpetuate the negative equilibrium and shut out the rest of the world, including the US military?
But has reality woken us up? That we need FDIs and protection in the South China Sea and good governance. Likewise, we need funds to restart the economy because of the pandemic. And a host of others.
In other words, we need to be Best in Class as an emerging economy. And that means “(1) stunning investment and trade levels; (2) higher levels of education and government effectiveness; (3) score highly with exports that are both eclectic and exclusive, as in higher value-added, that few other countries export.”
But that is why we need a new paradigm and a better handle on the universal law of cause and effect. So that we don’t confuse peripheral issues – or the trivial many – from the vital few.
For example, poverty is the effect of our underdevelopment. What we want is to be Best in Class as an emerging economy. Sadly, given how “sabog” we are, we fall into the crab mentality.
Why? We lack development experience that comes from honing forward-thinking skills – and benchmarking and learning from others. And when we can’t forward-think, we can’t prioritize. And when we don’t prioritize, we suffer from sub-optimize efforts and outcomes.
Put another way, we dive into “analysis” and miss the “analytics” – because the latter demands forward-thinking.
For example, exports are where we lag. And the question we must ask is, where will we get the biggest bang from our export portfolio. And over 64% of our exports come from (1) electrical machinery, equipment and (2) machinery, including computers.
And how did Vietnam beat us to the draw? They attracted Samsung smartphones and Apple AirPods and will bring them over $80 billion in exports.
On the other hand, we did our “analysis” and concluded that OFW remittances and BPO revenues are “pwede na ‘yan.”
What is the moral of the story? To get it right is to create a virtuous circle. To get it wrong is to make a perfect storm – as in a vicious circle.
Unsurprisingly, a World Bank expert, is stepping up to the plate. “World Bank agriculture expert recommends PHL drop focus on individual crops,” Revin Mikhael D. Ochave, BusinessWorld, 9th Sep 2020.
“A WORLD BANK economist said the Philippines needs to move away from a policy of prioritizing specific crops while focusing on improving the agriculture sector’s resilience and sustainability.
“In a virtual briefing, Eli Weiss, the World Bank senior agriculture economist, said in a report that the Department of Agriculture (DA) should also reconfigure its policy to be demand-driven rather than supply oriented.” [See above; Marketing is outward-looking, not inward-looking.]
On the other hand, this is our perspective: “THE National Economic and Development Authority (NEDA) said it hopes to work more closely with stakeholders in achieving the Philippines’ Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs).
“It said in a statement Thursday that it organized a chamber for both government and non-government SDG stakeholders to more efficiently deploy resources.” [NEDA to work with stakeholders more closely to hit sustainable development goals, Beatrice M. Laforga, BusinessWorld, 10th Sep 2020]
In other words, we’re still “supply oriented” and not “demand-driven.”
Consider: “During these coming four decades, the Philippines will be one of the most promising emerging markets in the whole world, according to a good number of independent think tanks and financial institutions. Optimism about the long-term prospects of the Philippine economy is, therefore, founded on solid grounds and not just a case of ‘whistling in the dark.’” [To college graduates of 2020, Dr. Bernardo M. Villegas, CHANGING WORLD, Manila Bulletin, 10th Sept 2020]
“When economists talk about a V-shape recovery, it means a much shorter period. In contrast, an L-shape means a much longer time before the economy will return to its pre-pandemic condition. Consider: there are sectors of the economy that were not as hard hit by the pandemic and will bounce back more quickly than others.
“These sectors are (1) the food and agribusiness industry; (2) the digital sector (including the vast BPO-IT industry that employs more than a million generally young people); (3) the health and wellness sector that includes not only the curative portion such as pharmaceuticals, hospitals, and clinics but also the products and services that strengthen immunity against diseases, such as exercise machines, healthy food items and supplements, and even products like rubber shoes that are necessary for sports and regular exercises.”
In other words, we continue to be inward-looking. We have been a fast-growing economy – growing 6%-6.5% – for several years until Covid-19. But we know why, i.e., OFW remittances and BPO industries are the drivers of the economy. Yet millions of Filipinos remain impoverished because we’re the regional laggard – with a gaping hole in national income. And it will take a generation to see the light at the end of the tunnel.
With due respect to think-tanks and financial institutions. Whatever happened to BRIC? Or who created the investment product the world learned as “derivatives” that brought the Great Recession of 2008?
Or pick a BRIC country, say, Russia. Russia is dependent on oil, remains a military power, but a weak economic enterprise because it failed to industrialize. And similar to the Philippines, it is held hostage by the oligarchy and political patronage.
This universe is dynamic, not static.
Benchmark. Benchmark. Benchmark.
Consider the two Vietnam enterprises, i.e., Samsung Vietnam and Apple AirPods Vietnam, that account for over $80-billion in exports. That is more than our total exports, it is more than what we generate from OFW remittances and BPO revenues, and more than the combined revenues of our eight top companies.
Let’s go back to SDGs or sustainable development goals. What are they to pick them at random? No Poverty. Zero hunger. Industry, Innovation, and Infrastructure.
Consider: Our GDP per capita makes us an underdeveloped economy. In a generation or so, we will become a middle-income economy. Former Soviet satellite states are, even today, middle-income economies.
But that is not what nirvana is. Think Philippine poverty against how our neighbors traversed the road from poverty to prosperity. Prosperity is nirvana.
Why did Lee Kuan Yew run Singapore like a company? He knew Singapore needed to traverse the road from poverty to prosperity rapidly. And the private sector knows how to drive wealth; otherwise, they go extinct.
In sum, if we are to be demand-driven, we must first learn to forward-think. We need not a 6%-6.5% GDP growth rate but a quantum leap in income. That is how to break the poverty line and hunger.
Let’s hold it right there.
It is this enormous income gap staring us in the face that we take for granted. And that “pwede na ‘yan” explains how we seek to cover, sadly at our peril. Translation: It is how we do a disservice to Juan de la Cruz, notwithstanding all the compassionate rhetoric they hear.
And that is why the blog points out the Vietnam model, i.e., we are in the same export lines. But because we failed to forward-think, we’re stuck assembling computer chips while they are into regional manufacturing of electronic devices.
Does it remind us of the coconut industry, and ours was the biggest? But even then, we’re stuck in farming and farm produce and did not forward-think to get into agribusiness, as in coco-derived consumer products, for example.
And since we need an even bigger economic development platform, China must come to mind. And that is why the blog teed up the Pearl River Delta economic development zone. China understands the impact of the vital few from the trivial many, as in Pareto.
But it was a simple yet aggressive growth plan. The Chinese focused on rapidly developing the regions of Guangdong, Shanghai, and Beijing, where a third of them come.
In other words, to disperse and spread out our minuscule tax revenues to grow the economy rapidly is classic sub-optimization, if not a race to the bottom. But we’re stuck with the crab mentality? Call it whatever name we want, LGUs or federalism. It still misses the vital few, as in the tail wagging the dog.
But then again, it is a function of our inexperience in development. Think of human development and metacognition.
If we want vast investment and trade levels, we don’t have to reinvent the wheel if we care to learn from our neighbors. And that’s where our higher education comes in. Do we sincerely believe that we don't have a higher-education challenge despite our mediocre global rankings?
Consider: Because our neighbors are far advanced in economic development, there is a knock-on effect on their higher education.
And the circle – that characterizes the Best in Class emerging economies – moves on to effective governance. Recall human development comes from experience, not classroom work.
And when you pull the previous altogether, a nation attains nirvana.
And the 21st century defines it as “innovation and global competitiveness,” manifested by a high score in exports.
There is no harm reprising this spiel: “The Economist summarized the critical factors shared by the Best in Class emerging economies: (1) stunning investment and trade levels; (2) higher levels of education and government effectiveness; (3) score highly with exports that are both eclectic and exclusive, as in higher value-added, that few other countries export.”
Indeed, we in the elite class must show the way and challenge our thinking.
Gising bayan!
“Here is a land in which a few are spectacularly rich while the masses remain abjectly poor. And where freedom and its blessings are a reality for a minority and an illusion for the many. Here is a land consecrated to democracy but run by an entrenched plutocracy, dedicated to equality but mired in an archaic system of caste.
“But the fault was chiefly their own. Filipinos profess the love of country, but love themselves – individually – more.” [Ninoy Aquino, Foreign Affairs magazine, July 1968; Stanley Karnow, New York Times Magazine, “Cory Aquino’s Downhill Slide,” 19th Aug 1990.]
“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]
“True social reform has little to do with politics. To unmoor ourselves from the burdens of the past, we must be engaged in the act of continual and conscious self-renewal. All men are partially buried in the grave of custom. Even virtue is no longer such if it is stagnant.
“Change begins when we finally choose to examine critically and then recalibrate the ill-serving codes and conventions handed down to us, often unquestioned, by the past and its power structures. It is essentially an act of imagination first.” [David Henry Thoreau; American essayist, poet, and philosopher; 1817-1862]
“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]
“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]
No comments:
Post a Comment