Culture of impunity will sink us deeper

The writer’s flight from Warsaw was on its approach to Sofia when this article caught his attention. “Why has Serbia returned to its old belligerent habits? In addition to its collaboration with Russia, it has never dealt properly with its genocidal past. Serbia remains unwilling to deal with the war crimes of the Milosevic regime, with which many of Serbia’s current nationalist leaders were associated. Their denials of responsibility for war crimes in Kosovo only entrench a culture of impunity, which in turn encourages Serbia to increase its military power, defy any European integration path and fulfill its role as Russia’s advance guard.” [Kosovo Feels Russia’s Heavy Hand, via Serbia, Enver Hoxhaj, The New York Times, 13th Apr 2017]

As some would know, the writer has lived and worked both in America and the region that was once known as the Eastern Bloc – comprised of Soviet-satellite states – and can relate to both systems and cultures that represented the opposing sides of the cold war. And currently doing business in both, assisting his Eastern European friends.

And while from a Pinoy perspective the above story sounds foreign, CJ Panganiban would remind us of one of our own. “Supreme Court on Marcos,” Artemio V. Panganiban, Philippine Daily Inquirer, 16th Apr 2017. “On Feb. 26, I discussed the case of Estate of Marcos vs Republic (Jan. 18, 2017), which labelled as ill-gotten and forfeited in favor of the State the ‘pieces of jewelry known as the Malacañang Collection.’

“Plundering regime. I also pointed to two other cases: 1) Republic vs Sandiganbayan, (July 15, 2003) which forfeited $658,175,373.60 in Swiss banks, and 2) Marcos Jr. vs Republic (April 25, 2012) which forfeited $3,369,975 ‘as of 1983.’

“Readers (notably, some history teachers) asked: Apart from these, were there other decisions showing how Ferdinand Marcos accumulated ill-gotten wealth?

“In PCGG v. Pena, this Court, describing the rule of Marcos as a well-entrenched plundering regime of twenty years, noted the magnitude of the past regime’s organized pillage and the ingenuity of the plunderers and pillagers with the assistance of the experts and best legal minds…”

“In other cases, the Court described the Marcos years as ‘a dark chapter in our history’ (Licaros vs Sandiganbayan, Oct. 18, 2004) and a regime of ‘national trauma’ (Republic vs Tuvera, Feb. 16, 2007). Worse, in Galman vs Sandiganbayan (Sept 12, 1986), the Court charged Marcos with stage-managing court proceedings: Mockery of judicial process.”

And to demonstrate our mockery of the rule of law, we will sooner than later elect a Marcos referenced above? And add Estrada and Macapagal-Arroyo, and now Duterte, don’t we recognize a culture of impunity when we see one?

And how many senators were thrown in jail? But we let one out? Because we can’t distinguish compassion from paternalism or overprotection. And it’s no different that we see ourselves as static and not dynamic – and PH underdeveloped. And it all comes with the territory, that the blog constantly replays, and is best described as our “culture” and defined as: parochial and insular; hierarchical and paternalistic; political patronage and dynasties; and oligarchic; that what comes out of the hopper is a culture of impunity.

And consequently, we got our religion and economics upside down! Yet we had a Rizal who saw through it over a century ago. How could we not figure it out? “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]

Let’s test that against our economy, our billionaires, and assume that they will outdo Buffett and Gates and give away all their wealth, say, to PH. How much windfall will we get? “The aggregate wealth of the 14 Filipino dollar-billionaires is $45.8 billion. Their average net worth is $3.27 billion.” [Record number of Filipinos among 'richest people on the planet,' [Rappler.com, 21st Mar 2017]

Recall we shut our borders and left the playing field for oligarchy to own. And how much do we have to show in FDI (in billion dollars, but trillion for Singapore) compared to our neighbors? PH=62.8; Singapore=1.041; Thailand=190.6; Malaysia=154.7; Indonesia=292.8; Vietnam=114.7.

And set them against the levels of exports (2016; in billion dollars) which explain why we’re the regional laggard: PH=38.2; Singapore=353.3; Thailand=190; Malaysia=167.3; Indonesia=136.7; Vietnam=169.2.

And what is the latest story from the Department of Finance? Aside from the reality that local lords a.k.a. elected public servants are undermining PPP and want a piece of the action – that we cannot fund the ambitious infrastructure program of the administration because we cannot get the tax reform bill passed.

Still, neither our billionaires collectively nor a tax reform will approximate, ever, the impact of the massive FDIs our neighbors have generated especially those that came with technology . . . that we can use!

And what are we left with? We are consumed by the war on poverty and the war on drugs; forgetting that we got both our (a) economics and (b) religion twisted. And yet we wonder why we can’t right the PH ship?

[Disclosure: If it isn’t obvious yet, the writer is a practitioner of “analytics” long before “Big Data and analytics” became buzzwords; and it started with his discovery of the power behind the Pareto Principle. And his claim to fame in his old MNC company is transforming the budget process into a goal-alignment exercise, beyond problem-solving and restructuring initiatives. And more recently, he developed his former Bulgarian assistant cum translator and driver to be the company’s Information Management and Analytics Manager; he has an engineering and two master’s degrees that he all earned as a working student. Hierarchy must never be a barrier! And to those keen on the subject, here is a short article that is not tech-laden: “We all thought having more data was better. We were wrong,” Bob O’Donnell, Recode, 12th Apr 2017; https://www.recode.net/2017/4/12/15275160/big-data-analytics-enterprise-technology-internet-of-things-iot.]

We must go back to Rizal and ask why he created Padre Damaso. Because we must not be in a race to the bottom!

And our economic managers recognize that the metric of 7% GDP growth will take at least one generation before we see the light at the end of the tunnel. And why the generation of the writer is indeed toast. But worse is it is inside-the-box thinking.

Think General Motors versus Tesla. GM once defined America. “What is good for GM is good for America.” If we read the recent valuation of Tesla, it is now more valuable than GM. And why is Apple and Google and Facebook now more coveted than General Electric? The old paradigm no longer holds. It is about evolution and in the 21st century, technology is defining what it means and demands development-wise.

How does that translate to driving the PH economy?

(A) If we cannot think synergy amongst energy, infrastructure development and industrialization, we are but mired in the 20th-century paradigm. We know the top ten exports of PH. What we must focus on is how to make the products and/or services that make them up truly globally competitive while expanding the portfolio.

(B) And that includes figuring out where or in which regions these industries must be housed and where we must create “the clusters” – consisting of the primary industry and the requisite auxiliary and support industries – as well as the fundamental imperatives of energy and infrastructure to attain synergy or gestalt, if you will. That is how we will generate employment, not by populist rhetoric a la Trump.

At the end of the day, they are the real driver of the economy . . . that will flesh out GDP as the growth metric.

[Disclosure: If we notice the effort to connect the dots, that is by design, consistent with the Steve Jobs’ simple definition of creativity; and which the blog illustrates every now and again. It takes practice and experience to make it second nature as the writer’s Eastern European friends would confess despite 14 years of making a go of it.]

The bottom line: We must undo tyranny . . . in all its forms. Juan de la Cruz is not a moron.

If we must – and indeed we must – get the best thinking in the world to address our energy dilemma, we must likewise get the best thinking to help us figure out the product architecture – that lays out the value chain/human need – for these top exports and the technology and research and development that will give us competitive advantage.

As we can learn from the GM or GE experience, “Pinoy abilidad” is not of this century – the age of technology, innovation and global competition.

“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]

“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]

“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]

PH poverty: A self-fulfilling prophecy

“The road to hell is paved with good intentions. The intention to engage in good acts often fails. It points up the principle that there is no merit in good intentions unless they are acted on. The expression is often attributed to the Cistercian abbot Saint Bernard of Clairvaux (1090 – 1153).” [http://www.phrases.org.uk/meanings/the-road-to-hell-is-paved-with-good-intentions.html]

With that as premise, let’s fast-forward and get to the gist of a USA Today article (2nd Apr 2017) re an Indonesian mother’s pronouncement to her high school daughter: “We are an underdeveloped country. It is our job to develop it.”

Think about it against our war on poverty. And discriminate compassion and sympathy from paternalism and overprotection, for example, a.k.a. moral hazard. Because we don’t want development to loom as an imposing peak to climb – that we won't have the courage and wherewithal to scale it.

Development is to grow, develop, mature, progress, advance, change, ripen, improve or cultivate. [Thanks to Google.]

What about our value system, how do we reconcile it with the mantra of development? We have earned the reputation, and rightly so, of a nice people. But does it point to our inhibited and subdued instincts? Not confident nor at home with growth – i.e., reserved, self-conscious, repressed, withdrawn, shy, introverted and reticent? [Google, op. cit.]

And we conveyed them by shutting our borders, keeping FDI away and leaving the playing field for oligarchy to own – and their friends in high places as in political patronage. Because we see ourselves as static not dynamic, has Juan de la Cruz stunted his own growth and development?

Think – not once or twice – of Singapore attracting over a trillion US dollars in FDI. Have the Singaporeans [or any of our neighbors] lost out to foreign competition or to MNCs? They created MNCs and invested in PH! Creating a truly competitive environment elevated the character – and rectitude, integrity, reputation – and caliber of the Singaporeans. Can we figure that out and internalize it? But we are a people of faith!

Let’s try this one for size: “Ilia Delio, a Franciscan sister and scientist, describes the positive foundation we have in the cosmic Christ: Franciscan theology on the whole . . . emphasized the incarnation as the love of God made visible in the world. [St. Bonaventure, a medieval Franciscan, scholastic theologian and philosopher] did not consider the incarnation foremost as a remedy for sin but the primacy of love and the completion of creation. He recapitulated an idea present in the Greek fathers of the church, namely, Christ is the redeeming and fulfilling center of the universe. Christ does not save us from creation; rather, Christ is the reason for creation. . .. Christ is first in God’s intention to love; love is the reason for creation.

“Lacking an understanding of the Good News of the universal Christ, few have the vision to perceive any coherence between the Source and the Goal. The Christian message has had less and less significance for thinking people, for scientists, philosophers, social workers, and those trying to find a purpose for the universe. Christianity became merely another moralistic religion (which loved to ‘win’ over other religions and countries), overwhelmingly aligned with a limited period of history (empire building) and a small piece of the planet (Europe and eventually the Americas through colonization), rather than representing the whole of creation and a glorious destiny (Romans 8:18-21).

“Without the cosmic notion of Christ, Christians can’t understand that God is inherent in life itself, that God is the life force of everything who grows things from the inside. The Indwelling Spirit was our way of saying that God creates things that create themselves from within! In humans and animals this is experienced as sexuality, in plants as photosynthesis. Elements participate in the creative process through electromagnetic fields, fusion, and bonding. Even celestial bodies experience death and birth. There is only and always growth. Death is simply a transformative stage.

“Not surprisingly, many Christians ended up tragically fighting evolution along with most human-rights struggles [from slavery to climate change.] We had no evolutionary notion of Christ who is forever ‘groaning in one great act of giving birth’ (Romans 8:22). Yet we should have been on the front line of these issues, so our bold proclamation of love and justice could have pulled humanity forward.

“The Christian religion was made-to-order to grease the wheels of human consciousness toward love, nonviolence, earth care, and justice. Mature spirituality serves as a conveyor belt for the evolution of human consciousness. Immature religion stalls us at low levels of well-disguised egocentricity by fooling us into thinking we are more moral or holy than we are.

“Indeed God is not far from any one of us. For ‘In God we live and move and have our very being’ (Acts 17:27-28). If this is true, then it must be true everywhere and all the time. Small truth is not big enough to save a very large universe.” [Richard Rohr’s Daily Meditation,Christ in Evolution, 4th Apr 2017]

And here’s the writer’s interpretation: It is screaming to be heard . . . There is only and always growth; death is simply a formative stage . . . And so, growth is central in our faith. Yet we have no evolutionary notion of Christ. Nor do we recognize the evolution of human consciousness. “Materiales fuertes,” which is an expression of our culture, nailed us down for good, to the past. 

The road to hell is paved with good intentions. To reprise an earlier post:  It comes with the territory, best described as our “culture” and defined as: parochial and insular; hierarchical and paternalistic; political patronage and dynasties; and oligarchic; that what comes out of the hopper is a culture of impunity.

And the consequences are dire. Paternalism makes us embrace “crab mentality” and shun the laws of physics. It is the converse of a functioning bureaucracy – the inability to distinguish the “vital few” from the “trivial many.” It reminds the writer of his late mother talking to her children, “share and share alike.”

How do we figure out and exploit PH’s potentials in tourism, for example, if we eschew instead of imagine and visualize the 80-20 rule? Two globally respected enterprises, Unilever and P&G, did it and were hammered by Wall Street. How do we move from input orientation, e.g., land and implements and then some and geared for subsistence farming, to an agribusiness industry that is outcome oriented, i.e., globally competitive in scale and specialization – like the Vietnamese demonstrated?

We’re stuck in a populist mantra – like the war on poverty plus the war on drugs to boot – instead of development.

PH poverty is a self-fulfilling prophecy. We must turn from shortsightedness and look beyond the horizon – from the small mind to the big mind and from an oligarchic economy to a globally competitive economy. If we want to be wealthier than the average American.

The Singaporeans did it. It is doable! Let’s stop looking at America as the Big Brother – we don’t have to be cowed and feel inferior.

Disclosure: As a “development worker” in Eastern Europe, it is the exact same thing the writer says to his friends. Not surprisingly, when they introduced him to the then Bulgarian president who visited their New York office, they described him as an economist. An economist to them is one that figures out how to bring wealth to a nation. But the writer corrected it and stressed “development worker” – their partner in their pursuit of self-improvement, growth and advancement . . . as they go toe-to-toe against the West, including America.

It explains the import of the letter from the White House conspicuous in the writer’s study, signed by George W. Bush, which reads in part, “Congratulations on receiving the President’s Volunteer Service Award from the President’s Council on Service and Civic Participation. Through service to others, you demonstrate the outstanding character of America and help strengthen our country.”

And it builds on an earlier post where the blog spoke to what America is that Trump is yet to manifest; that it is an idea, an expansive idea. America is not cast in stone. It is not relativism but evolution, in a world that is dynamic and not static. And despite his honed scientific mind, Einstein recognized the existence of a Higher Being; while Francis articulated that creation is not incompatible with evolution. There is only and always growth.

Adam and Eve learned what it meant after being banished from Eden. There’s no free rent nor free lunch, for starters. But no one said they had to live in caves. And then man had to overcome the industrial revolution, not to forget two World Wars and a sprinkling of despots. Today his challenge is to overcome the technology revolution, including artificial intelligence (AI.) Man isn’t about small-mindedness. He is made in the image and likeness of his Creator.

On the other hand, we Pinoys like the “feel good” and the “happy talk” as though ignorance is bliss – that for decades we took Singapore for granted. It is much smaller than Metro Manila. Who couldn’t turn it into a wealthy city-state – wealthier than America per capita? It has nothing to do with literal size. It has to do with a big or a small mind. 

What if we start learning from others and learning from our mistakes? And connecting the dots until we encounter the simplicity and beauty of creativity? The intellect is overrated; we want more imagination.

The family joins the writer in wishing one and all Happy Easter!

“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]

“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]

“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]

The “worldview” before the “how-to”

Let’s hold that thought and ask ourselves: are we jumping the gun and prescribing the “how-to” in our efforts to right the PH ship – take Federalism and PH Competitiveness, for example – without clarity in our sense of identity and purpose or philosophy or conception of the world?

It brings Trump to mind. And why majority of Americans disapprove of his conduct of the presidency and want to remind him that America is an idea – i.e., a hypothesis and an experiment – not a transaction, like a real estate transaction.

In other words, America is not a done deal – it is an expansive idea, i.e., people have unalienable rights of life, liberty and the pursuit of happiness. And why the two other branches have disagreed with: (a) Trump’s executive order re immigration and (b) his first foray in legislation re health care.

On the other hand, when we Pinoys focus on the how-to, we can be mirroring Wall Street analysts that dish out advice that can move “hot-money” in and out of a host country like PH – and where the impact could be negative and unsettling. To these analysts, they are merely effecting transactions for their clients.

Not to be misunderstood, the writer takes advice from these analysts with a grain of salt – knowing full well that they need to justify to their financial institutions where and when they are to move “hot money.”

It is not personal. The writer’s family is a Wall Street friend, more than friends. The daughter and the son-in-law are Wall Street. One can imagine what goes around the dinner table. The wife does her own investing while the writer works with a couple of analysts.

Remember BRICS? And the other acronyms that followed to predict the next set of economic tigers? Yet, these analysts are just doing their job: to analyze. It is a craft – yet still of a different skill sets compared to the movers and shakers of the economy. For instance, listen to the periodic earnings calls or the grilling of Fortune 500 CEOs by these analysts. They know the spec questions but not necessarily what makes the efforts tick.

And think of Tatang Sy. The story goes he went up on a helicopter and saw the future SM North Edsa. It was teeming with commuters. How would an analyst gain such insights from his swivel chair? Tatang Sy had his “worldview” figured out, i.e., his sense of identity and purpose.

Analysts need to move “hot money” because they must demonstrate to their clients that they deliver great returns. And every month-end and quarter-end they move massive amounts around. That is their “how-to.” But it appears they failed to convince Buffett because not unlike Tatang Sy, he has his worldview down pat.

But let’s get back to the worldview before the how-to and test it against tax reforms, for example. The international institutions are pushing us to raise the government’s tax take as a percentage of GDP because we lag – again, and are we still surprised? – our neighbors. And the underlying reason is not a mystery to us. They have studies that say corrupt nations don’t collect the right levels of taxes – because taxpayers resent that their elected officials are stealing them.

And this is the kind of people that will populate a federalized PH? Are we in denial – or is it again Einstein and his definition of insanity? 

If PH is to be an idea, we don’t have to be an ape of America and instead be the next Asian Tiger. And in the case of these neighbors, the system of government wasn’t a dimension and driver of their rapid ascent to wealth – i.e., they were fueled by exports and rapid industrialization; and focused on exports, an educated populace and high savings rates.

What about PH competitiveness? From a taskforce-like initiative we’ve graduated to a commission. That is well and good. But then again, the worldview versus the how-to are incongruous, the dots don’t connect. In an oligarchic economy monopolies/duopolies [and such consequences of political patronage] are venerated and idolized. How in heaven’s name can we create a competitive environment?

And yet we wonder why we can’t attract the same levels of FDI as our neighbors! And we have yet to demonstrate the wherewithal to attain rapid industrialization.

And with due respect to the Agriculture Secretary, it is not food security but PH agribusiness competitiveness that must be the vision. In other words, it is not populism but economics. And if we could only look outward, there is Vietnam that can teach us a lesson or two.

And where are we on energy? We’re debating the how-to, not the worldview. A worldview is not a linear construct. It is connecting the dots – from the big picture it comes down to the real world. It is synergy. Synergy is what we must generate amongst energy, infrastructure development and industrialization – to attain competitive advantage.

For example, power rates in Singapore are not cheap but we are still more expensive. But let’s get to the bottom line: Our residential rate is 26% higher and to add insult to injury Singapore’s GDP per capita is over a thousand percent more. Ergo: power rates may not matter to a Singaporean but to Juan de la Cruz it is a burden.

While PH is the “goat of the [Asean] class” export-wise, Singapore’s exports are almost a thousand percent greater. And not surprisingly, their aggregate FDI is over a trillion US dollars, against our $62.8-B. It is beyond power rates. Singapore’s ecosystem augurs well [read that as “a truly competitive environment equates to a competitive advantage” as opposed to our oligarchic economy that reveres and rewards impunity] for commerce and industry and so everyone and his uncle irrespective of nationality is invested in Singapore.

Yet they consume less electricity than PH despite such levels of economic activity and output. Beyond their population being less than 10% of PH, their products and services are higher up in the value chain. It takes less electricity to produce Porsches at critical-mass levels than Hyundais, for example.

And finally compared to the regional average, PH electricity rate is over 1.8 times.

Why are we still debating if PH energy – and economic and development ecosystem – sucks?

Another example? PPP and infrastructure development. Have our legislators been acting like vultures wanting a piece of the action and why we can’t get anything of consequence going?

Who is kidding who? When are we going to get our act together? As they say in the private sector, “activity” and “outcome” are two different animals.

Should Juan de la Cruz learn from an Indonesian parent? Who told her high school daughter, “This is a developing country. It’s your job to develop it.”

That’s from USA Today (2nd Apr 2017.) The news is about Melinda Gates and her advocacy and family planning. But more to the point, an Indonesian mother has internalized development, beyond the war on poverty, for example, that we Pinoys are so emotional about – if not the war on drugs.

Are we yet to get our head together? What if we get our worldview clarified and crystallized before we jump the gun on the how-to? Think of the Indonesian woman that profoundly pronounced, it is our job to develop this country. Like, we want to be the next Asian Tiger not the regional laggard?

Because we don’t want to respect the Soviet-communist system – in case we’re still ideologically torn – that undid the law of nature, treated people like automatons, dissed the hierarchy of human needs and mandated against their growth and development.

They validated Darwin and went extinct.

“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]

“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]

“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]

Institutionalizing tyranny

“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]

Are we surprised why despite Rizal’s admonition over a century ago we still created a Marcos and a Duterte? It comes with the territory, best described as our “culture” and defined as: parochial and insular; hierarchical and paternalistic; political patronage and dynasties; and oligarchic; that what comes out of the hopper is a culture of impunity.

“Journalists on Duterte’s tirade: Mindset of a petty tyrant,” philstar.com, 31st Mar 2017. “It was a brazen abuse of your immense power as chief executive of this land and only shows how little, if any, appreciation you have of democracy and governance.”

It goes beyond Duterte. We mirror a banana republic the fact that three presidents had to be chased out of Malacañang. Yet Marcos, Estrada and Macapagal-Arroyo have been resurrected? Should we pause and think that through and internalize it?

And by the way, Du30 wants the US to confront China while on the high seas? The Gunfight at the OK Corral? What would have happened if Khrushchev asked his commanders to confront the US blockade of Cuba?

And what about those analysts that are heaping praises and giving credit to PH? Consider: (a) how many credit-rating upgrades we got during PNoy’s time; (b) two years ago we saw how manufacturing was ticking up; (c) and today exports appear to be taking a turn for the better. The halo effect is coming from the 6%-7% GDP growth we’ve been delivering for several years now.

Recall our three income generators – OFW remittances, the BPO industry and tourism – are driving consumption, including local manufacturing and a bit of export, such that our local output matches those of our neighbors. That is the asset side of our ledger; while the liability side says, we lag in exports – big time – and remain the regional laggard. Yet we see 1+1 = 3, erroneously reading our net worth.

The bottom line: we’re nowhere near being the next Asian Tiger. Because we have no game plan to stick to and aggressively drive, we allowed ourselves to be distracted by these accolades – including the self-generated ones as in Narcissus.

For example, we don’t have the platform – i.e., the synergy amongst energy, infrastructure development and industrialization – and the elements that the Four Asian Tigers shared to join the ranks of the world’s richest nations – i.e., fueled by exports and rapid industrialization; and focused on exports, an educated populace and high savings rates.

In other words, these now rich nations that were once poor like us knew what dots to connect – and connected them. While we continue to suffer under the cloud of dualism and either/or debates.

You don’t like narco-politics, then you must embrace EJKs! You don’t like Mexicans and Muslims take your jobs away or put your security at risk, then you must embrace parochialism and insularity! The difference? The US has 3 branches and check-and-balance is supreme.

But back to the analysts. Who are they? They never saw the Global Recession of 2009 coming yet a decade earlier two Nobel Prize winners piloted the collapse of their hedge fund, Long-Term Capital Management – that the financial market had to be rescued to preempt a contagion. And more recently Buffett took them to task for charging premium fees for wealth management services even when they can’t beat the S&P 500 index.

Of course, they can move “hot money” in a split second globally – or as fast as Trump sends out tweets. And we Pinoys celebrate even hot money when it is FDI that we need if we want sustained levels of investment from foreigners. Beggars can’t be choosers yet we say we don’t like Western influence. What are we and who are we?

On the other hand, the “common tao” sees reality with a 20/20 vision because he intimately knows Juan de la Cruz and his poverty. And who among us don’t have an advocacy to help the poor? Yet unwittingly, are we institutionalizing poverty? See above re hierarchical and paternalistic. Recall even Washington owned slaves.

What about our servants or muchachas? Do we expect them to move up the hierarchy or are they part of the family and yet their destiny has been cast in stone? How many of us see it as a positive that muchacha A took care of our oldest daughter? But that is why we enacted “batas kasambahay”!

It is a most glaring demonstration of our hierarchical and paternalistic instincts. And it explains why innovation and competitiveness isn’t us. It is our own caste system. Because innovation is the acknowledgment of the hierarchy of human needs. The Soviet-communist system discounted human needs and where are they today?

For example, they sold most everything in the village store for the equivalent of today’s 50 euro cents, to make them affordable, but without regard whether they were fit for human consumption. Yet the commissars had their version of the US military Officers’ Club, where they had goods and services fit for royalty. Are we any different?

When the writer introduced his Eastern European friends to the challenge of innovation, they were surprised that the first lesson was on Maslow’s hierarchy of human needs. “But we are poor Bulgarians. We can’t even imagine being peddled anything that is not meant to be affordable.”

The writer replays the anecdote every time he is in the training room with new marketing and sales folks. “How many of you wear designer jeans? How many of you have a smartphone?” And then the writer pulls out his trusty Nokia phone: “Who wants this phone?” Nokia once held the distinction of dominating the global cellphone market with cheap phones they sold in India and China. Because they believed in the bottom of the pyramid.

Do we get the drift?

Our creative juices are constricted when we assume that Juan de la Cruz must be peddled only cheap products. It is not only Juan de la Cruz whose destiny we cast in stone. Worse is we defined ourselves as consumers and not . . . innovators . . . and . . . creators a.k.a. “pwede na ‘yan.” And erroneously reading our net worth. [See above re 1+1 = 3. Are we in denial, a symptom of our “Dutch Disease”?]

They are the crux of why innovation and competitiveness isn’t us. And why we fall into dualism and the trap of either/or debates – and enamored by the war on drugs and the war on poverty.

We have forgotten the law of nature, that our muchachas must not be confined to the role of pariah, and have needs beyond the physiological. And not to forget, they are made in the image and likeness of The Creator.

And we have forgotten the laws of physics – and why crab mentality is us.

As well as the reality of evolution and extinction – the risk that comes beyond regional laggard – if we don’t grow and develop.

We all know how much we suffer from our infrastructure deficits. And how embarrassed we are traveling to visit our neighbors. But how can we move from the war on poverty and the war on drugs and thinking livelihood enterprises to thinking rapid industrialization to drive growth and development?

Where are we coming from?

“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]

“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]

“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]