Problem-solving: don’t put the cart before the horse

“A government for the people (?),” Rolando T. Dy, Philippine Daily Inquirer, 22nd Feb 2016. “With respect to infrastructure development, the horror stories are many. The barangay captain along a major northern road will not issue a permit unless the company comes across a ‘once in a lifetime’ bounty. Or a provincial governor who insists that the gravel and sand be drawn from within his province, when cheaper supply can be obtained from an adjacent province.

“And what about temporary restraining orders (TROs) that delay infrastructure construction? As is, the Philippines is way behind Asean peers in infrastructure and logistics efficiency.

“Are Filipino politicians, their appointees and allies concerned about the welfare of the country’s citizens, many of whom contribute tax revenues into the government treasury? Do they serve the people? There are rumblings among the populace about national and local governance. This is out of frustration over continuing and new malpractices. They frequently ask the question: Why is this happening?

“IT WAS Abraham Lincoln (1861-1865), 16th US president, who declared a: ‘Government of the people, by the people, for the people, shall not perish from the Earth.’ Another revolutionary, Mao Zeedong (1873-1976), once said: ‘If we have shortcomings, we are not afraid to have them pointed out and criticized, because we serve the people.’

“The people have to wait for months for the issuance of their driver’s licenses. Vehicle owners wait for too long for their new vehicle plates. The supply chain process is very simple. Why the delay?

“We the people elect officials to govern well and to make society better. Who will sanction public officials for these wrongdoings?

“A director of the General Santos Chamber of Commerce laments: ‘Change can only happen if the populace makes an intelligent choice and companies have the political will to say no to corruption. Otherwise history repeats itself.’”

Ours are man-made problems. But jumping to conclusion in search of drastic solutions is not what problem-solving is about. It is not putting the cart before the horse. Problem-solving is disciplined. It is about human empathy – in order to understand the human need that it must satisfy in the first place. It is only when we have truly empathized that we are able to define the problem. Especially in a hierarchical culture like ours, what do we know about Juan de la Cruz? This also explains our shortcomings in creativity and innovation. As the blog has discussed, human empathy is at the heart of product development best demonstrated by Steve Jobs.

Are our economic managers telling OFWs to invest their money speaking from their own perspective? OFWs on cruise ships, for instance, have shared with this writer and wife that they spend a lot calling their loved ones – left at home and yearning for those calls. Who cares about roaming charges? 

Have we learned our lessons after a century of paternalism, if not tyranny, where rank has had its privileges and dictated solutions? Still, the operative word is disciplined. It is not anarchy nor reflective of crab mentality.

Let’s test if prescribing a federal form of government, for example, because we want to upend “Imperial Manila” once and for all is a disciplined problem-solving exercise.

What future do refugees from Syria, Libya, Iraq, Afghanistan and Africa see in wanting to get to Germany or the Scandinavian countries? These are developed wealthy countries. If the problem-solving journey of these refugees has an endpoint, it goes beyond being objects of charity – it is to share in the spoils of developed wealthy nations. And it is best described as joining the ranks of the middle class. As a group of new Canadians from Syria explained to the writer.

If we have a federal form of government, would we have more or less of the following problems? “From Arangkada Philippines:” [Dy, op. cit.]

(a) “In mid-2008, a mayor of a northern Mindanao town where a large Asian shipbuilder was planning to invest $2 billion and hire over 20,000 workers insisted that the foreign investor use a certain gravel supplier. A second mayor insisted all persons he recommended be hired. They told the investor he could not go ahead without complying with their demands. These problems and the global recession have delayed project start-up.

(b) A foreign computer animation firm located in the PEZA zone in Cebu considered moving its operations because the mayor was attempting to extort money.

(c) A relative of a politician set up an illegal association for truckers to join. Truckers who did not pay their dues had their tires shot as they approached a Batangas port.

(d) LRT-7 light rail project: In 2010, while in the stage of obtaining project financing, several newly elected mayors of municipalities through which the rail will pass requested that they approve the design and location of the stations.”

Prof. Dy discussed a few more. Oil palm producers have to pay “tolls” to every LGU they pass through before reaching the palm oil mill; Mayor acts as labor contractor to a piggery, when a new mayor gets elected, he replaces the workers in a piggery with his own recruits; Insurgents burned the Standeco rubber processing plant as the owner refused to pay their excessive ‘taxes,’ 250 workers lost their jobs; Revolutionaries burning the heavy equipment of a mining firm, of pineapple farms; torching construction equipment for a private airstrip of banana farm, and a road project.

Prof. Dy sums it up: How many jobs are compromised? How many potential investors are turned away? How can the high Mindanao poverty be solved without investment?

“With Spain or without Spain they would always be the same, and perhaps worse! Why independence, if the slaves of today will be the tyrants of tomorrow? And 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]

This blog recently discussed the ABC or barriers to problem-solving: (a) our assumptions; (b) our biases; and (c) our comfort zone. Are we assuming that a federal form of government is the end – or our vision – or is it only a means? Granted it has many positive elements. Yet in a paternalistic and tyrannical environment and where politics is local – as in political dynasties – will we eliminate the problems we attribute to “Imperial Manila” or multiply them? Will crab mentality get better or worse? Will insurgents seek peace?

In erecting an enterprise, an economy or nation, structure is only one element. Think of Lee, Mahathir and Deng – and what Singapore, Malaysia and China have accomplished. It is not about structure per se but leadership. Or think of the new world and the founding fathers. Even MNCs are not strictly organized around subsidiaries – that is, they are a matrix structure with specialists from the center bearing their influence as an extension of the global leadership.

The greatness of man has been demonstrated since time immemorial by his sense of purpose and values. In other words: Where are we? Where do we want to be? How will we get there?

Sadly, because of pervasive poverty, we like to believe that fighting poverty is our nirvana. Until we realized that poverty comes from the absence of jobs! But where do jobs come from? They come from a sustainable and competitive economy – which would characterize a developed and wealthy economy. (And the international institutions have acknowledged or confirmed more recently that growth alone will not address Philippine poverty.)

Aside from structure, what other elements are imperative if we are to erect a wealthy economy – recognizing that we need a leadership that can articulate a sense of purpose and embrace its requisite values – and edify Juan de la Cruz? We all know the importance of investment or FDI. And beyond investment – in order to attain competitive advantage – we need technology and innovation as well as people, product, supply chain and market development. Marketable products are what make an economic undertaking sustainable.

And these elements don’t pour like manna from heaven. They demand a platform that’s derived from good governance – committed to community and the common good. And the platform is one that provides the basics of an economy – e.g., vital infrastructure and strategic industries. If it sounds like connecting the dots, it is! In one word, an ecosystem. When we say “inclusive” do we in fact connect the dots – and begin with the end in mind? Crab mentality, on the other hand, is dysfunctional – a disaster waiting to happen – i.e., it creates a system rotten to the core: inefficient, ineffective and unproductive. Which is the mirror image of our failings in this day and age: creativity, innovation and competitiveness. 

Indeed structure is a critical element in nation-building. Yet problem-solving is a disciplined exercise. Does Juan de la Cruz want to be an object of charity or would he rather join the ranks of the middle class? We won’t get there overnight, but if all we wish to erect is a shanty instead of a proper livable house, then we can continue doing the same thing over and over again.

And that is why we need visionary and strategic leadership otherwise we will continue to undersell ourselves. We can compete against the best in the world but we must first undo our assumptions, biases and comfort zone. Consider: Juan de la Cruz is made in the image and likeness of his creator.

“Why independence, if the slaves of today will be the tyrants of tomorrow? And 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]

“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]

“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]

Of tyrants and thieves . . .

“‘I remember my father saying, ‘the EDSA revolution may have removed Ali Baba but not the forty thieves. They are all still very much around. In fact they have grown in numbers.’ [Bongbong, Martial Law and People Power, Sara Soliven De Guzman, AS A MATTER OF FACT, The Philippine Star, 29th Feb 2016]

This writer remembers Max Soliven too. He must have already shared how he met Max, whom he had sought. His old MNC-company had just brought in a new country manager and given the undercurrents re Marcos rule, he wanted the new expat to get a quick lesson on the Philippines. And he thought of Max Soliven.

It was a pleasant surprise that Max was easy to reach. “Here’s Mr. Soliven on the line,” said the writer’s assistant. He simply asked her to call the office of Philippine Star and to request for Mr. Max Soliven. Max was true to form: constantly puffed on his signature pipe, a walking encyclopedia, feisty, empathic and profuse with his curating of Philippine history and the Marcos rule. Those near their table in the Manila Hotel coffee shop wouldn’t be disrespectful if they kept up with the conversation.

And the expat’s jaw dropped – that turned into a nervous laughter – when Max explained, “I'm an ex-convict.” “My dad, the late Maximo V. Soliven was incarcerated. He was among the journalists who were imprisoned at that time and put under house arrest until martial law was lifted in 1981.” [De Guzman, op. cit.]

“Yes, today our country is still lurking in the shadows of the past generation. But our young leaders will surely change the political and social landscape of the Philippines. What is necessary is to remove the remnants of the Marcos years. The Cory Aquino years and years after are all transitional years. This is the time for a new change, the real change. Our leaders must think country. We are in a new epoch of life. It’s about time we discern about our future.

“There is no daang matuwid in this country. Even if our P-Noy claims that it exists. In reality the practices Marcos did are parroted by the leaders today. The candidates continue to buy votes and spend millions of pesos in order to get that golden seat in government – again with the ultimate goal of corrupting our society. If the past and present Administrations have been serious in building a strong nation, they should have achieved that by now. It is very easy to change things – just put your heart and soul into it and most important work with the true dedication for public service. But then again, our leaders continue to carry on the ‘Marconian’ (my own coined word) tradition of glut, avarice, selfishness, indulgence, torment, tyranny, despot and kleptocracy.”

What drew the writer’s attention in the above piece is the line: “It is very easy to change things – just put your heart and soul into it and most important work with the true dedication for public service.” If spirituality is an element of development, this line has a spiritual dimension (to paraphrase Richard Rohr's daily meditation) which goes: God is a God of love not of fear; he loves man so he can change. In Genesis 1:26, he is not looking for servants or slaves to make “pa-pogi.” Translation: we don't have to walk on our knees to get brownie points or be holier-than-thou.

“Buffett Says Politicians ‘Dead Wrong’ With Negative U.S. Outlook,” Noah Buhayar & Michael Riley, Bloomberg.com, 27th Feb 2016. “‘As a result of this negative drumbeat, many Americans now believe that their children will not live as well as they themselves do,’ Buffett wrote in a letter to shareholders of his Berkshire Hathaway Inc. posted online on Saturday. ‘That view is dead wrong: The babies being born in America today are the luckiest crop in history.’

“Buffett’s annual message, released as part of the company’s earnings report, rebuffed a central theme in campaign to succeed President Barack Obama in the White House: that the U.S. is in decline, and that middle- and working-class Americans are feeling it the most.

“While he touched on risks including terrorism, cyber warfare, climate change and economic dislocation for workers, Buffett also suggested that the picture of woe was generated out of politicians’ self-interest, not because it accurately reflects the nation’s challenges.

“‘It’s an election year, and candidates can’t stop speaking about our country’s problems (which, of course, only they can solve),’ Buffett wrote. The real story of America has been a dramatic growth in prosperity, he said. Citing the six-fold increase in U.S. economic output per capita since he was born in 1930, Buffett said the ‘all-powerful trend’ toward more efficiency and productivity would continue.”

The writer recalls the genesis of the Great Recession and telling his Eastern European friends that it was a blessing in disguise. “Western MNCs would pull back, but we will step on the gas.” Wrote Sara Soliven De Guzman, “It is very easy to change things – just put your heart and soul into it and most important work with the true dedication for public service.”

The writer has referenced Greek philosophers: man’s greatness has been demonstrated since time immemorial by his sense of purpose and values. He’s been around the block (across different cultures and countries and markets) and indeed things can change and do change. But do we Pinoys make reference to the law of nature to invoke absoluteness? The writer talks “biology” to reference Darwin’s survival of the fittest – and the Francis’ declaration that creation and evolution are not incompatible.

To invoke absoluteness is to be like the “Tea Party” – when Christ is the only absolute? And why “Padre Damaso” was a fraud? And so the writer has said that we can compete against the best in the world – but not if we keep doing the same thing over and over again and expect a different outcome. Because that goes against biology. In other words, Juan de la Cruz must learn to adapt if he is to be the fittest and survive and thrive in the 21st century world!

Consider: Arangkada gave us an industrialization blueprint. It was not just imposed on us. To get us on board, the exercise behind Arangkada called on the participation of a cross-section of society conducted over a period of time. Yet to this day the administration has not truly acknowledged the effort? To make “pa-pogi” bureaucracy keeps tooting its horn? And so an exasperated JFC had to put the failure of Arangkada on the lap of the administration! You can lead a horse to water, but you can’t make it to drink.

We can change and things will change – but we need to dismantle tyranny and thievery. And this writer was pleasantly surprised that a financial institution, instead of simply toeing the line of the economic managers, chose to get to the heart of the matter.

Isn’t it the financial community that has heaped honors on our economic managers despite our being the economic laggard and borrowing tons of money to supposedly address poverty – to no avail? Because their mental model is influenced by the charter of the Fed, the US Federal Reserve? [And why the left-leaning jumps the gun and calls it American imperialism?] In a developed economy, that generally works but not in an underdeveloped economy? The evidence? PHL – i.e., we don’t have the ecosystem of a sustainable competitive economy. More recently though the international institutions have acknowledged that growth alone won't solve Philippine poverty and likewise called for structural reforms.

Here’s what the above-referenced financial institution has to say: “Further economic liberalization in PH pushed: Presidential bets mum on foreign ownership limits issue,” Doris Dumlao-Abadilla, Philippine Daily Inquirer, 29th Feb 2016. “THE NEXT Philippine president must be able to champion economic liberalization as a way to boost the country’s productivity and global competitiveness, and to attract more foreign direct investments (FDIs), an economist from American banking giant Citigroup said.

“In a Feb. 19 research note ‘Philippines Economics View: Candidates’ Evolving Policy Agenda and Continuity Risk Implications,’ Citi Philippines economist Jun Trinidad said the presidential candidates’ recognition of the infrastructure gap and potential links to improving agriculture, and industrial competitiveness was easing continuity risk.

“But just like in previous elections, the economist said most presidential candidates held a strong ‘insular’ bias ‘perhaps due to domestic poverty and other economic issues closest to the heart of the average voter.’

“Outside the infrastructure issue, the research noted that most candidates have failed to articulate their stance on amending the foreign ownership limits of the 1987 Constitution.

“We believe liberalizing the foreign investment negative list (FINL) by allowing higher foreign ownership limits, which set a maximum of 40 percent for infrastructure, utilities and most service sectors (except BPO and banks), would offer strong investment opportunities, and fewer constraints on foreign investor participation in the big-ticket PPP (public-private partnership) projects . . .

“Trinidad said easing the FINL and amending the economic restrictions in the constitution could entice more local and foreign investments and expose these sectors to global business practices, new technologies and management systems.

“Liberalizing FINL offers a strong positive signal to the investor community while completing the basic legal work the country needs to be fully committed to TPP (Trans-Pacific partnership agreement) and other free trading agreements, which include granting foreign investors/trading partners liberal access to the services industry/markets . . .”

Why can’t we move forward as a nation? “Why independence, if the slaves of today will be the tyrants of tomorrow? And 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]

“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]

“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]

What Malaysia sees – but do we?

Will Malaysia run rings around us, if they haven’t yet? Consider: They manufacture coffee but don’t have coffee plantations; they manufacture cacao but don’t have big cacao plantations. But we can supply them raw materials? Who stands higher in the value chain? “I want to see a Phonograph in every American home,” Edison, 1877.

Malaysia like Edison is talking products. We must too if we're not to be the little leaguers in the AEC – and the mascot in the TPP? 

Does our “kuro-kuro” culture, our version of freedom and democracy, produce a surplus of analysis – worse, analysis-paralysis – while we starve for leadership? And why “crab-mentality” has consigned us to the doldrums?

From the standpoint of the private sector, Asean integration can be won by leadership and competitive products, not analysis-paralysis! And that would not be a bad guide for the public sector. 

“Keep it simple, stupid!” That was one of the first lessons this writer’s Eastern European friends had to learn as they went through EU accession. KISS is a fundamental given which they realized as they got deeper competing in the EU and beyond. And it applies to global companies too.

Even a Google can fall into the trap of analysis-paralysis. “What Google Learned From Its Quest to Build the Perfect Team, Charles Duhigg, The New York Times, 25th Feb 2016. “Project Aristotle is a reminder that when companies try to optimize everything, it’s sometimes easy to forget that success is often built on experiences — like emotional interactions and complicated conversations and discussions of who we want to be and how our teammates make us feel — that can’t really be optimized.”

Experience is not a bad word. Ignatian spirituality and discernment values the human experience. If man is made in the image and likeness of the Creator, he can be a source of wisdom. Unfortunately, in the case of PH, we have no track record in development – in moving up from Third-World to First-World. And have fallen into the trap of analysis-paralysis?

And we forget biology? Do we still confuse creation and evolution even after Francis averred that they aren’t incompatible? The world is flat? What we see isn’t necessarily what we get. And why we Pinoys need to figure out what survival of the fittest means?

Sadly, in a hierarchical system and structure, where the elite class rules, we like to be frozen in time? To preserve and protect – and perpetuate – our rank and its privileges? And tyranny? The evidence? Imelda, Imee and, of course, Bongbong! Recall that Bill Gates embraced the distinction between a fixed mindset and a growth mindset.

Products. Products. Products. “Malaysia eyes PHL as raw material market,” Carmelito Q. Francisco, Business World, 25th Feb 2016. “A Malaysian trade official has called on local producers to explore opportunities for supplying raw materials to various Malaysian manufacturing companies.

“Commissioner Nyaee Ayup of the Malaysia Trade Office in Manila said in an interview that there are raw material requirements in her country that cannot be sourced locally. ‘For example, although we manufacture coffee, we don’t have coffee plantations. We manufacture cacao but we don’t have big cacao plantations,’ said Ms. Ayup, who was in the city for a series of meetings.

“Aside from cacao and coffee, Ms. Ayup said collaboration can also be undertaken in oil palm production as Malaysian companies are already looking at possible plantation sites in Mindanao. She noted that the Philippines is among the biggest importers of palm oil from Malaysia, the world’s second biggest producer after Indonesia.”

And where are we in agribusiness? “Presidential bets asked to present agri plans: Inclusion of farm sector issues in debates proposed,”Ronnel W. Domingo, Philippine Daily Inquirer, 27th Feb 2016.

“Emil Q. Javier, Camp spokesperson and a former president of the University of the Philippines, said . . . that the debate held in Cagayan de Oro City was a big disappointment. ‘We waited for them to discuss their plans to uplift our agriculture sector, but what we heard were lofty words bereft of meaning . . .’

“AF2025 spokesperson Roberto Amores agreed . . . future debates should have agriculture as a topic for discussion. ‘We want to hear about their programs for agriculture which . . . will be part of their commitments if elected . . . Coalition convenor Ernesto M. Ordoñez agreed . . . ‘farmers need more than just a few seconds of sound bites.’

“The five groups submitted their proposed priority initiatives . . . including making the Department of Agriculture an effective bureaucracy . . . [L]ike the Department of Trade and Industry, the DA should submit to the Philippine Institute of Development Studies a road map for the agriculture subsectors.

“The DA should also require its units to achieve a globally accepted management system such as ISO 9000 . . . Second . . . the DA should form agriculture and fisheries councils that would ensure the participation of stakeholders, especially in monitoring how the department spends its budget. Third . . . the DA should provide support to some 17,000 agriculture extension workers who were working within local government units.

“Fourth . . . greater funding that would provide farmers and fishers better access to credit and insurance. Fifth, provide farmers and fishers subsidies and technical support in order to make Philippine agriculture globally competitive.

“Sixth . . . the new President to ensure that farmers and fishers actually benefit from initiatives such as agrarian reform, fisher resettlement program, competitiveness-enhancing measures for food self-sufficiency, and the fund and assets from the coconut levy.”

Those are legitimate arguments from the sector. And what about the industry group? Where are they? “Five critical issues affecting business environment: PCCI lists priorities for next President,” Amy R. Remo, Philippine Daily Inquirer, 26th Feb 2016.

“PCCI: Bring electricity prices down first before burdening consumers again with FIT rates for renewable energy projects . . . The country’s biggest business organization has sought to gather the economic advisers of presidential candidates . . . to sound off five key issues that it wanted the next administration to prioritize.

“George T. Barcelon, president of the Philippine Chamber of Commerce and Industry (PCCI), said . . . the PCCI will be submitting a wish list containing the issues they seek to be prioritized as well as the recommendations needed to resolve these concerns.

“[T]he group’s position paper would focus largely on five main areas, namely infrastructure, agriculture, micro, small and medium sized enterprises (MSMEs), tourism and education.

‘Moving forward, we think the new administration should look at and prioritize all these concerns so that all of these can be resolved . . . A lot of PPP projects remained pending and these are infrastructure projects that affect (the business environment).’

“What we want in the next president is for him or her to hit the road running. He or she must already know the issues, what should be done and how to muster the resources. That’s why I would heavily consider experience, or who has been here before,” Barcelon said . . .”

Clearly, erecting the building blocks of an economy and moving forward as a people and nation is not a cakewalk. And we Pinoys must always be conscious of “crab mentality?” It’s human nature, as the Americans are finding out in their own election process.

Is the GOP missing Reagan? “What Today’s Republicans Don’t Get About Reagan,” Jacob Weisberg, The New York Times, 24th Feb 2016. “The core beliefs that got Reagan elected and re-elected were conservative: lower taxes, smaller government and a stronger, more assertive military. But Reagan was also a pragmatist, willing to compromise, able to improvise in pursuit of his goals and, most of all, eager to expand his party’s appeal.

“The current field of Republican presidential candidates invokes Reagan as a patron saint, but the characteristics that made him a successful politician seem lost on them. Instead, they’ve turned his party into a swamp of nativism, ideological extremism and pessimism about the country’s future, in direct opposition to Reagan’s example. And they’ve transformed primary season into a reality show of insults, betrayals and open feuds, defying the so-called 11th Commandment that Reagan espoused: Thou shall not speak ill of any fellow Republican.

“Once in office, Reagan said that anytime he could get 70 percent of what he wanted from a legislature, he’d take it. Today’s congressional Republicans won’t settle even for 99 percent: Their mentality has shifted away from having policies and governing and toward a kind of bitter-end obstructionism.”

It sounds like Reagan knew about Pareto while the Tea Party (alluded to in the above article?) demonstrates absolutism (forgetting biology?) and is the epitome of crab mentality, having shut down the government for not getting their way in the budget impasse? Do we Pinoys see the Americans as the un-Pinoy? Do we like to mirror the Tea Party?

And if we don’t want the Malaysians to run rings around us, we better figure out what they see that we don’t?

“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]

“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]

“He who submits to tyranny loves it”

“With Spain or without Spain they would always be the same, and perhaps worse! Why independence, if the slaves of today will be the tyrants of tomorrow? And 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]

Does Juan de la Cruz love tyranny?

“This has been panned for many years so I don’t know whether the announcement that Imelda’s jewellery collection will be finally auctioned. According to jewelry experts it is worth at least £14.5 million. It will be sold at auction. It was once compared to the jewelry collection of Elizabeth Taylor.

“According to the auctioneers, it includes a barrel-shaped diamond worth at least £3.5 million and a Cartier diamond tiara many times more valuable than the previous estimate of £20,700- £34,500.

“Andrew de Castro of the Presidential Commission for Good Government, an agency tasked to recover the Marcos’ ill-gotten wealth, said it hoped to hold the exhibit and auction before the end of President Benigno Aquino’s term in June.

“A portion of the collection seized at the presidential palace when the Marcoses fled is still being contested in court. Other items were seized in Hawaii and at Manila’s airport.

“The jewellery confiscated from the Marcoses remain a singular manifestation of the misguided priorities of the Marcos presidency during his reign,” commission chairman Richard Amurao said.” [Grace Poe’s son and his new shoes, Carmen N. Pedrosa, FROM A DISTANCE, The Philippine Star, 20th Feb 2016]

It appears kleptocracy is a hard nut to crack even for the US.

“Wanted by U.S.: The Stolen Millions of Despots and Crooked Elites,” Leslie Wayne, The New York Times, 16th Feb 2016. “‘We don’t want the United States to be a haven for this money,’ said Leslie Caldwell, assistant attorney general and head of the criminal division. ‘If it comes into this country, we have the ability to reach out and grab it. Kleptocracy undermines the rule of law and breeds crime and terrorism.’

“Yet for all this firepower, the Justice Department has found that bringing cases against kleptocrats has been daunting, and seizing their assets even harder still. A total of 25 cases have been brought against 20 foreign officials under the Kleptocracy initiative, and the government is seeking to seize $1.5 billion, mainly in American real estate and bank accounts. But most of that money remains in legal limbo.

“The government is stepping up efforts to halt the flow of illicit money into the United States through stronger anti-money-laundering rules, investigations into secret buyers of high-end real estate and measures to identify owners of anonymous shell corporations used to hide financial transactions.”

“Political will guides Marcos case in Philippines,” swissinfo.ch, 13th Apr 2015. “Marcos, who imposed martial law in his homeland from 1972 to 1981, died in exile in Hawaii in 1989 without admitting wrongdoing.

“The Philippine government has recovered about $4 billion of Marcos’ assets, much of it plundered from the coconut industry, but believes up to $6 billion more may still be hidden somewhere.

“Lost treasures keep turning up. Last year, for example, a former aide to the ex-Philippines first lady was imprisoned for plotting to sell a $32 million Claude Monet painting to a Swiss buyer.”

“In her blackest moments, Loretta Ann Rosales can recall what it felt like as electrodes were tied to her fingers and toes, her body doubled over in a muscle-numbing convulsion from the jolt of electric current.” [Marcos's Loot May Be Shared by Filipino Victims, Philip Shenon, The New York Times, 28th Oct 1995]

“It was only the start of an interrogation by Philippine soldiers in August 1976. A rug was draped over her head and water dripped on it, so that she began to gasp for breath as the damp rug molded itself to her face.

“The Swiss announcement is being described as a landmark in the Government’s long, often ridiculed hunt for the assets of President Marcos, who was forced out of power in a popular uprising in 1986.”

“Switzerland and its bankers steeped in a tradition of secrecy have worked over the past couple decades to shed a reputation as launderer of the world’s dirty money. Pressure from the United States and other countries to combat tax evasion and white-collar crime also encouraged more transparency.” [swissinfo.ch, op. cit.]

“The freezing of Marcos’ Swiss bank deposits in 1986 was the first time the Swiss government set out to return such funds to their rightful owners.

“From then on, that’s when the Swiss started developing their asset recovery policy, really with the Marcos case . . .

"‘If we see this money I will feel, not a sense of revenge, but a sense of justice,’ said Mrs. Rosales, a political scientist whose Manila home is a gathering place for human rights victims seeking compensation from the Marcos family.” [Shenon, op. cit.]

“The Swiss deposits represent a fraction of the billions of dollars that Mr. Marcos and his 66-year-old widow, Imelda, are accused of looting from the Philippines in their 20 years in power.”

If the Swiss demonstrated political will, what about Juan de la Cruz? “Lack of will to recover the Marcos loot,” Amando Doronila, Philippine Daily Inquirer, 9th Jan 2013. “On January 1, PCGG chairman Andres Bautista said in an interview that he had recommended to President Benigno Aquino III that the agency wind down its 26-year task of flushing out Marcos' hidden wealth because of the frustrating results of the search.

“For three decades after the overthrow of the dictatorship in the 1986 Edsa People Power Revolution, the recovery effort by the Cory Aquino successor administration had yielded less than half of the estimated US$10 billion fortune. It galled Bautista to report that with Marcos’ widow, Imelda, and children back in positions of power, the costs of recovery had become prohibitive.

“‘It has become a law of diminishing returns at this point,’ Bautista said. ‘It's been 26 years and the people you are after are back in power. At some point, you have to say, 'We've done our best,' and that's that. It is really difficult. In order to be able to get these monies back, you need to spend a lot.’ Bautista was speaking from the point of view of an accountant's cost analysis.”

Does crime in fact pay in the end? Especially in a nation where we submit to tyranny?

“[W]ith Marcos’ widow, Imelda, and children back in positions of power, the costs of recovery had become prohibitive.” Translation: With Bongbong as President we can kiss the Marcos loot goodbye? Juan de la Cruz doesn’t need a PhD to figure that out?

And who will vote for him? It sounds cute to say the son is not the father? It’s the dynasty, stupid! Go ask Jeb Bush! Or go ask the Romanians!

What about the coconut farmers – the largest group and the poorest – will they vote for Bongbong too? Consider: “The Philippine government has recovered about $4 billion of Marcos’ assets, much of it plundered from the coconut industry, but believes up to $6 billion more may still be hidden somewhere.”

That’s a colossal loot from one industry – even for a Marcos to siphon by himself? And if true, there’s much more to account for? Indeed Marcos and his cabal elevated cronyism to an art form?

“The key was delegation. Peter and Catherine, for all their whims and tyrannical ways, were superb at this: Catherine’s favorite, Grigory Potemkin, was an outstanding gifted administrator; Alexander Suvorov an equally impressive military commander.”

It's the story of the Romanov dynasty [The Economist, 20th Feb 2016] but does it mirror a sliver of the Marcos rule – a “cruel story of hereditary power . . . where the currencies of dynastic politics included murder, torture and betrayal . . . as well as habitual cruelty”?

And who and where are the outstanding gifted administrators and impressive military commanders at the beck and call of the Marcos dynasty? Media wound not know them? They can trace the network behind the sexual abuse culture of the church – but that is only in America?

And the son is dumb [and we’re dumber?] he hasn’t learned the tricks of the trade? So let’s make him president? What planet are we from? And Rizal answered that over a century ago?

“Why independence, if the slaves of today will be the tyrants of tomorrow? And that they will be such is not to be doubted, for he who submits to tyranny loves it.”

“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]

“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]