Instincts. Denial. Cluelessness. Destiny.

Translation: Our instincts feed on our denial, and the outcome is cluelessness and the embrace of destiny.

Consider: “OFWs save the day,” EDITORIAL, Philippine Daily Inquirer, 21st Jun 2021.

Question: Have we forgotten that remittances are the driver of the Philippine economy?

Let’s dissect the assertions: We are parochial and insular. So, we value hierarchy and paternalism and rely on political patronage and oligarchy that ours is a culture of impunity.

In other words, our paradigm can only shrink our playing field – beholden to our value of hierarchy and paternalism and manifested in our caste system – and cannot expand it.

Let’s pause and ponder.

We have been trumpeting OFW remittances and proudly proclaiming our monetary and fiscal policies. But, in fairness, financial institutions enable us when they value logical and incremental thinking – as in our GDP growth rates in the 6%-7% range.

Yet, we also know that financial institutions move “hot money” in and out of countries as often as they need to window-dress their investment performance to satisfy investors – and half of the American population invests in the market via their pension funds.

In other words, financial institutions don’t care about the Philippines navigating poverty to prosperity.

It is for Juan de la Cruz to manifest personal responsibility for the common good.

Consider: “The visiting team from the International Monetary Fund highlighted the need to continue helping poor sectors with the crisis. The government may need to invest more to beat the coronavirus pandemic to ensure the country’s return to sustainable economic growth this year and in 2022.” [“OFWs save the day, EDITORIAL, Philippine Daily Inquirer, 21st Jun 2021.]

But we don't want to bloat our budget deficit further.

Translation: Our instincts feed on our denial, and the outcome is cluelessness and the embrace of destiny.

In other words, we want to keep a squeaky-clean balance sheet, said like a proper fiscal person.

[Prof. Jesus P. Estanislao was my Economics 101 professor. And he required a paper re why governments pursue deficit financing – aka Keynesian economics. And it also works in real life. For example, when I took a mortgage loan to finance our dream house in a much-preferred gated community, my mother was so concerned: “Can you afford such a humongous loan?” And my old MNC-company maximizes borrowings – beyond the textbook “acid-test ratio,” yet is acknowledged a “dividend king” by Wall Street – to sustain investment and growth. And when my Eastern European friends had to invest in a state-of-the-art facility to be the leading edge, a Western bank stepped up to the plate.]

Recall that the blog never fails to raise our structural problem, with the economy driven by OFW remittances.

Question: When do we break the vicious cycle?

Or can we? That’s why the blog often says that to be dynamic is not in our bag of tricks. And we can’t sweep that under the carpet.

In other words, the Philippine economy’s structural problem comes from a weak income stream. Playing the musical chair — as in devolution or the Mandanas ruling — is merely window dressing. 

Whether it is an individual, a company, or a nation, the enterprise must break its paradigm and create a substantial income stream. Think of Vietnam and how it overtook us just recently. It lured Samsung to make them the regional manufacturing hub for their smartphones.

And that lack of dynamism explains why our economic managers – going decades – have not led the way in moving up the Philippines from a consumption-service economy to an investment-industrial economy. As the blog asserts, the Constitution is merely an expression of our instincts. We can point the blame only on Juan de la Cruz.

Here’s a quote from an earlier posting: “The country still lags in the region, as it ranked 13th out of 14 Asia-Pacific economies. At the 60th spot, Mongolia was the only Asia-Pacific economy behind the Philippines.

“After being overtaken by Vietnam, Mongolia is the only country left to leave us in the dust.

“Has our day of reckoning come and gone? Where to the Philippines?”

That lack of dynamism will leave us farther and farther behind. Why? Our caste system is anathema to innovation.

Here’s more from an earlier posting: “The habits of Steve Jobs, Jeff Bezos, and other innovative CEOs reveal much about the underpinnings of their creative thinking. For example, research shows that five discovery skills distinguish the most innovative entrepreneurs from other executives.

“Dyer, of Brigham Young University; Gregersen, of Insead; and Christensen, of Harvard Business School, reveal how innovative entrepreneurs differ from typical executives. Their study demonstrates that five ‘discovery skills’: (1) Associating – it helps them discover new directions by making connections among seemingly unrelated questions, problems, or ideas; (2) Questioning – it allows innovators to break the status quo and consider new ideas. Through (3) observing, innovators carefully and consistently seek small behavioral details—in the activities of customers, suppliers, and other companies—to gain insights about new ways of doing things. In (4) experimenting, they relentlessly try on new experiences and explore the world. And through (5) networking with diverse individuals from an array of backgrounds, they gain radically different perspectives.” [“The Innovators’ DNA” by Jeffrey H. Dyer, Hal Gregersen, and Clayton M. Christensen; Harvard Business Review, December 2009]

“Those familiar with the blog know that this is not the first time it spoke to the innovators’ DNA. For example, ‘the ability to successfully connect seemingly unrelated questions, problems, or ideas from different fields is central to the innovator's DNA.’”

For example, we rely on our economic managers to manage the Philippine economy. And our "kuro-kuro" reflects our respective fields of expertise. But who will pull them together?

Our caste system reinforces our dilemma.

The bottom line: Very soon, we will be aghast when Mongolia overtakes us. But why haven’t we responded to our reality all this time?

Habits are too hard to break. And when it means preserving our rank and privileges, all the more.

Translation: Our instincts feed on our denial, and the outcome is cluelessness and the embrace of destiny.

Gising bayan!