Here come Lao PDR, Cambodia, and Myanmar.

That is shameful – they confirm how deep we are in the abyss. Whatever happened to Filipino pride?

Not a surprise since Vietnam is the latest of the neighbors that – like clockwork – leave us in the dust, and the next one will, sooner or later.

“Unctad rates poorly PHL capacity to tap resources,” Elijah Felice Rosales, BusinessMirror, 10th Feb 2021.

“When pitted against Southeast Asian neighbors, the Philippines ranked seventh in the region to lead only Lao PDR at 138th, Cambodia at 142nd, and Myanmar at 158th.”

Sadly, we can’t recognize how badly we relate to the rest of the world. Think of the Asian Tigers, for example.

We are parochial and insular and value hierarchy and paternalism that we can’t capitalize on what this world has to offer. “Beg for Western money and technology,” said Lee and Mahathir to Deng.

On the other hand, we are reliant on political patronage and oligarchy – and believe they are the ticket to prosperity for Juan de la Cruz.

Consider: When our neighbors “beg” for Western money and technology, they aren’t asking for freebies. They negotiate from a position of strength – as an equal – because they understand what a “win-win” scenario is.

In our case, wittingly or not, we carry our instincts. We don’t demonstrate that we have a perspective of what the other party values. A partnership has two sides, and both must “win” in the process.

Recall human or cognitive development. As in civilization, progress and development equip people to move beyond binary thinking – i.e., relativism. 

It is not evil if we recall our Christian faith. Christ, beyond a relativist, was a radical, a rebel. That is why the authorities – and their ilk, the scribes, and Pharisees – took grave offense. But that did not stop the rest of the world – the Christian community – from accepting him as their Savior.

In other words, we must learn to forward-think beyond responding with a knee-jerk – i.e., proudly logical yet linear and incremental, devoid of the magic of our faculties. The story of creation says humankind is good, not evil.

Consider how we demonstrate the knee-jerk: “Philippines wants more than ‘loose change’ for US troops deal,” Reuters, 15th Feb 2021.

“The United States is providing the Philippines with military aid that amounts to ‘loose change’ compared to other Asian countries, a top official said on Monday, justifying demands by President Rodrigo Duterte for Washington to pay more.

‘If we have solid ties with a powerful ally, then I think it also comes with a higher amount of financial assistance to be given,’ presidential spokesman Harry Roque told a regular briefing.

“Roque cited a study by the Washington-based Stimson Center, which showed the Philippines received $3.9 billion in US counter-terrorism support from the fiscal year 2002-2017 compared to the $16.4 billion for Pakistan over the same period.”

Let's leave it there for now; consider how a small Guangzhou enterprise knocked on the door of my old MNC-company.

“We come to you because you are the world leader in our industry. We want to partner with you. We cannot bring much, but we need your investment and technology so that together, the partnership will replicate what you have achieved worldwide.”

Does that demonstrate how a “win-win” scenario would look? 

This small Chinese enterprise quickly disarmed the behemoth [from the West] by positioning themselves as an equal – not inferior – to the foreigner.

Can we negotiate from a position of strength vis-à-vis the US when it comes to the VFA? We can if we demonstrate our perspective – that we understand and embrace their values.

Consider: We are a freedom-loving people and stand with the rest of the free world in upholding the values of freedom and democracy. And given today’s reality and our geographic location in the South China Sea, we have a part to play in this noble cause.

“Subic Bay has an advantage [that no other locations in the region can match], and that includes huge deep-water facilities and access to the strategic waters of the South China Sea.” [Philippines Orders US to Leave Strategic Navy Base at Subic Bay, David E. Sanger, The New York Times, 28th Dec 1991]

What are we saying when we take the preceding perspective: We offer you a partnership; we have skin in the game; beyond real estate, we can offer our armed forces to safeguard freedom and democracy in our part of the world; that may not be much, and so we need your military and economic might to make the partnership succeed in this noble cause?

Compare that to our posture: “If we have solid ties with a powerful ally, then I think it also comes with a higher amount of financial assistance to be given.”

It reflects our level of cognitive development. Not a surprise, given our value of hierarchy and paternalism.

We haven’t internalized the imperative of the “community and the common good.” Beyond our borders is the rest of humankind. Sadly, we can’t figure that out because we cannot demonstrate our embrace of the common good even within our shores.

Recall 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. 

The bottom line: It is not a surprise that impoverished nations are breathing down our neck. And we – especially the Philippine elite class – must recognize we let this nation down.

See above; the small Guangzhou enterprise.

How can we leapfrog from poverty to prosperity?

Recall Lee Kuan Yew started with something relatively small, given where Singapore is today. He recognized they had no natural resources and too tiny, land-wise. And so, he wanted to be a regional hub.

For example, oil can be shipped to Singapore faster from Saudi Arabia, less than 7,000 km away, while Frankfurt, Paris, or London are all well beyond 10,000. Why not make Singapore a regional refinery? But that also meant building an airport that is a regional hub.

And Lee did not stop there. He envisioned a light industry regional capability and then moved up to R&D, a financial center, and world-class universities, including partnerships with Duke, MIT, and Stanford, among others.

Sadly, we did not learn from Singapore. Or from the Asian Tigers or China, and more recently, Vietnam.

Thankfully, it’s not the end of the world.

We still can learn from our neighbors. If Vietnam can partner with Samsung and Apple, why can’t we?

We cannot if we approach the rest of the world like we do the VFA.

On the other hand, see above, how a small Guangzhou knocked on the door of my old MNC-company. “We come to you because you are the world leader in our industry. We want to partner with you. We cannot bring much, but we need your investment and technology so that together, the partnership will replicate what you have achieved worldwide.”

How do we translate the preceding model to something that will suit our needs?

In other words, if Singapore can visualize getting the oil companies and make it a regional refinery and if Vietnam can do it with Samsung smartphones and Apple AirPods, why can’t the Philippines do it with our top exports? 

That is why we must learn to look outward, benchmark, and learn from our neighbors. And China did one even better, created the most successful economic development project in the Pearl River Delta.

We must move beyond textbook monetary and fiscal interventions.

As the blog has raised, to generate optimal outcomes in our economic development efforts, we must prioritize our top exports.

We want to boost GDP by $200 billion and attain Juan de la Cruz’s prosperity and be, GDP-wise, as rich as Malaysia. Then we can move further and raise GDP per person.

Our inability to focus on where we get the biggest bang for the buck reflects our crab mentality.

It explains why despite the 75 years since our independence from the Americans, we are not only the regional laggard, but even impoverished neighbors can also sink us more profound in the abyss.

But we must first get off our high horse.

Here come Lao PDR, Cambodia, and Myanmar.

Gising bayan!