When hopefulness is denial

Worse is when we take our eye away from the ball. At our core is “Que sera, sera.” Which we translate as “resilience.”

Do we still wonder why ours is a vicious circle as opposed to a virtuous one, aka an ecosystem?

Hope is denial when we don’t have a shot at creating the platform of development.

Development. Ecosystem. Virtuous circle. These words mean the same, i.e., the dots must connect else we create a perfect storm instead. And why the Philippines is the regional laggard.

Developments outside our influence – or on the world stage – seem to take our eye away from the ball. We can’t control what is outside our control. All we can control is ourselves. That is fundamental in the science of the hardy mindset.

We worry that with world peace threatened, our OFWs and their remittances can be in jeopardy. We fear that the wave of populism and nationalism undermine global trade. What are we worried about when our exports aren’t amongst the drivers of national income? Still, we recognize the global supply chain phenomenon, that it dictates global trade.

We just found an excuse to take our eye away from innovation and global competitiveness.

Foresight. Foresight. Foresight.

Think of why Vietnam has become the manufacturing hub of electronic technology in the region. They had the foresight to see beyond being an intermediate producer and geared to be the final product manufacturer. It was not political patronage and oligarchy that did it for them. It was foreign money and technology, as in Samsung.

On the other hand, we can only talk about the global supply chain.

The writer is sitting in New York as he writes. And he had just digested the financials of his Eastern European friends. The current wave of global concerns brings back memories of the global financial crisis of 2008/9. But they never took their eye away from the ball.

Post the financial crisis, and they kicked the butts of the Western global behemoths that have invaded their tiny nation. How? Their focus on innovation and global competitiveness translated into globally competitive products. They acquired the heft that today makes them confident to compete on the world stage. They are a final-product manufacturer – of their brands. And they have scores of them, i.e., a formidable portfolio of winning brands.

And in 2019, they more than doubled their profitability over the prior year as the market recognized and paid the higher prices that they now command. Likewise, they now have the wherewithal to compete even in the highly competitive New York metro area.

But let’s get back to the Philippines. We must put our nose on the grindstone. We cannot take our eyes away from the ball. Beyond infrastructure development, we must pursue relentlessly and rapidly industrialization, as in Arangkada. For example, without manufacturing, we will not have a shot at innovation and global competitiveness. And without foreign direct investment, we won’t have a chance at industrialization.

Enough is enough. We cannot just keep talking about our top 8 listed companies in the Forbes list. Their combined output can’t match the one Vietnam entity’s – Samsung – quantum leap in their pursuit of industrialization, innovation, and global competitiveness. Nor can our airport projects, laudable as they are, nor our growing tourism industry. None of them will give us a similar quantum leap.

Industrialize. Industrialize. Industrialize. 

To industrialize is key to scale, i.e., foresight and industrialization feed on each other. We are too way off base given our fixation on our shortsighted prescription to poverty; that livelihood projects are nirvana, which reveals our fixed as opposed to a growth mindset.

What about the war on drugs? That is the most significant distraction we can imagine. Think of poverty and our culture of impunity. Those are the elements that make the Philippines the playground of drug lords. And we think Duterte is doing us a favor? Via something that many nations see as inhuman, if not a crime against humanity.

Do we still wonder why ours is a vicious circle as opposed to a virtuous one, aka an ecosystem? Hope is denial when we don’t have a shot at creating the platform of development. 

Development. Ecosystem. Virtuous circle. These words mean the same, i.e., the dots must connect else we create a perfect storm instead. And why the Philippines is the regional laggard.

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

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]