Is Juan de la Cruz digging his grave deeper?

Because in our heart of hearts we believe we are “Seraphim, the highest order or choir of angels … who are attendants or guardians before God's throne … one of them touched Isaiah's lips with a live coal from the altar, cleansing him from sin”? [catholic.org]

And it explains why we aren’t predisposed to reforms? And it starts from the top? “’A fish rots from the head down’ means that leadership is the root cause of an organization's failure and demise. This is true whether that organization is a country, a company, or a sales force. How could it be otherwise?” [thesalesblog.com]

“I do not doubt Mr. Duterte’s capacity to install himself as the nation’s ruler in a revolutionary government.” [The romanticism of a ‘revolutionary’ government, Randy David, Public Lives, Philippine Daily Inquirer, 22nd Oct 2017]

“It isn’t a president’s most responsible statement. DU30 won 38 percent of all the votes in the last election and is now in charge of our constitutional government.” [Threatening a civil war, Francisco Tatad, The Manila Times, 18th Oct 2017]

Hindi nag-iisa si Du30? And Cayetano is one of them? “Alan has the right ingredients to be a respectable, awe-inspiring statesman. But these things—educational attainment, intelligence, eloquence, and even bearing—all come to waste when the person’s moral compass is askew.

“He defended the Philippine National Police’s ruthlessly unjust antidrug operations, maintaining that all their targets were— “YES!”—involved in drugs, and that for pointing a gun at the police during their arrest, they had their deaths coming. Really, seeing him dodge the rebuttals of the host [in a TV interview], he was also being heartless and insensitive toward the kin of those suspects who have been gunned down.

“Now strangely devoted to Marcos-loving President Duterte, this present-day Alan is hard to reconcile with the Alan we all saw at last year’s vice-presidential debate, where he really went after Bongbong Marcos on live television, lambasting him and his family (deservedly so) for the many human rights abuses during his late father Ferdinand Marcos’ dictatorship, among other sins.” [Alan breaks my heart, ELLEN P. ABESAMIS, Letters to the Editor, Philippine Daily Inquirer, 21st Oct 2017]

In the meantime, “[W]e … appear to be stuck in place, held back by deep divisions and endless political bickering, and seemingly condemned to watching our neighbors pass us by, one by one.” [Falling behind, again (?), Cielito F. Habito, No Free Lunch, Philippine Daily Inquirer, 10th Oct 2017]

Is PH a ship adrift? “Main business chamber identifies issues holding back progress,” Victor V. Saulon, BusinessWorld, 20th Oct 2017. “THE PHILIPPINE CHAMBER of Commerce and Industry (PCCI) has identified issues encompassing a number of sectors including agriculture, energy and power that it wants the government to resolve through a list of initiatives that range from investment promotion to the passage of key legislative measures.”

And to add insult to injury, “PHL’s natural resources near brink of depletion,” Jonathan L. Mayuga, The Broader Look, BusinessMirror, 18th Oct 2017. “The Philippines is the richest in the world in terms of biodiversity on a per unit basis. Yet poor appreciation of biodiversity, lack of investment, is resulting in a natural-resources depletion that leads to biodiversity loss faster than the discovery of their potential contribution to the economy.”

But let’s get back to Du30. “First, he has threatened to cut diplomatic ties with Europe and give the European diplomats in the country 24 hours to pack up and leave.

“Just when and how did Europe become our enemy? As a Filipino, I would like to know; I am sure the Europeans, who must have thought they had a stable working relationship with the Philippines all these years, would also like to know.

“If Europe had become our enemy, shouldn’t DU30 order his diplomats and all Filipinos living and working there to come home, and his minions in Congress to declare war? Wouldn’t this be a wonderful way of putting to use the firearms shipment we have just received and will probably be receiving still from China?

“Second, DU30 has threatened to install a revolutionary government if he sees the ‘Yellows,’ the ‘Reds,’ or any other group ‘destabilizing’ his dysfunctional government … DU30 tends to regard mere ‘dissent’ as ‘dissidence’ and therefore ‘destabilizing.’ His attack dogs tend to denounce honest and constructive criticism as ‘detraction,’ which, correctly understood, means exposing somebody’s private fault for no legitimate and sufficient public motive.” [Tatad, op. cit.]

How deep down the abyss are we? “Today, 30 years after the promulgation of the 1987 Constitution, a number of our people who thirst for comprehensive change are again drawn to the romanticism of revolutionary rule — this time for the purpose of putting an end to the political order established at Edsa.

“It’s not going to be easy, and I doubt if the majority of our people will allow it. It will usher in another period of instability from which we may not recover for a long time. Ironically, the one state institution that perhaps separates us today from the imposition of dictatorial rule is the Philippine military. Martial law nearly destroyed the professionalism of the armed forces.

“The Edsa uprising and the failed coup attempts that followed turned brother officers against each other, narrowly avoiding a slaughter in their ranks. It is a lesson they will not forget — that partisan politics is not a game in which the man in uniform must ever get involved.” [David, op. cit.]

What are we up to?

If the administration is a management team, have we heard of IBM and P&G? These two once venerated enterprises would prove themselves excellent organizations yet had to fall from their thrones. We have long fallen from ours yet we behave as though we are Seraphim?

Until we acknowledge and recognize and understand and accept that we have lots to learn from others, we would always invoke sovereignty and nationalism. Sadly, it is misplaced. And it brings France’s Marcon to mind. Nationalism is war; 80 years ago, we saw that in Europe, he says.

The writer is in his client’s office in Sofia as he writes. And he can only recall that he has been amid regional cum global challenges and initiatives. And surprisingly, we are among those that have not truly learned – from AEC to NAFTA to EU to globalization. And so recently we invited Mahathir to once again speak to us.

But we never truly want to learn from others. On the other hand, the writer’s Eastern European friends can’t seem to curb their desire to learn from others including competition – that they are a greater and greater threat to their bigger Western competition.

To kick-off the planning and budget process for 2018, the writer challenged them to consider four growth hypotheses: (a) grow at a minimum 11% or (b) 14% or at a mind-boggling (c) 20% or (d) 27%. As he explained, your task over the next 4 weeks is to experiment and come up with the most optimum scenario. There are 6 ways to Sunday, so you have a couple more to explore. Remember the story of creation. The first supposedly great idea will be the Monday version. You need to come up with the Saturday version.

In the case of PH, we are good at embracing our ideas even when they have not worked, for decades. Take land reform or the war on poverty or the war on drugs. We have another bright idea, federalism. Yet each one was just the Monday version – aka as flavor-of-the-month if not populism. And worse, a continuing demonstration of our lack of foresight.

For example, how could Lee, Mahathir and Deng embrace a common idea, i.e., to beg for Western money and technology? They’re ahead in moving civilization forward. That is why. Of course, the West isn’t perfect but look at Singapore, Malaysia and China. In the meantime, the world must evolve to the next level of development. It cannot standstill which we Pinoys have yet to internalize. It is called dynamic as opposed to static. Because perfection is not of this world; impermanence is what it is about. And why we believe in the afterlife.

But we know better because we’re Seraphim? Consider: “God comes into the world in always-surprising ways so that sincere seeker will always find … Most scientists are willing to move forward with some degree of not-knowing; in fact, this is what calls them forward and motivates them. As new discoveries are affirmed, they remain open to new evidence that would tweak or even change the previous ‘belief.’ Many religious folks insist upon complete ‘knowing’ at the very beginning and then being certain every step of the way, which actually keeps them more ‘rational’ and controlling than most scientists. This is the dead end of most fundamentalist religion, and why it cannot deal with thorny issues in any creative or compassionate way. Now I know why Paul dared to speak of ‘the curse of the law’ (Galatians 3:13). Law reigns and discernment is unnecessary, which means there is little growth or change in such people. When you do not grow, you remain an infant.” [Faith and Science, Open to Change, Richard Rohr’s Daily Meditation, 23rd Oct 2017]

“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]

A vicious circle ... and a broken record

“If the Philippines wants to eradicate poverty, it must post a GDP growth of at least 6 percent every year until 2040.” [PHL needs above 6% GDP growth up to 2040 to end poverty–expert, Cai Ordinario, BusinessMirror, 18th Oct 2017]

We aren’t hearing this for the first time, are we? If it sounds like a broken record it is because we’re caught in a vicious circle. And the prescriptions too are not new. But where are we really? “The Philippines has already improved its GDP growth to an average of 6.2 percent between 2010 and 2015. In 2016 GDP grew by 6.9 percent, and in the first semester of 2017, it expanded by 6.4 percent … The challenge for us is really sustaining this particular growth.” [Ordinario, op. cit.]

Left unsaid is for decades and more recently, PH GDP growth has been driven by OFW remittances and the BPO industry. In the meantime, “WHAT a huge disappointment the Duterte administration has evolved into after so much hope and hype were generated from the election … [N]ot much actual progress towards a unified vision with game plan … has been achieved. The drug war has been discredited with outlandish claims of police ‘fighting back’ and investigating vigilante killings that some count as high as 7,000 dead in total … Incredulous statements defending the administration’s performance to date weaken the credibility of the government. You cannot govern effectively for long when credibility is diminished.” [Disappointment and reset, Philip Camara, The Manila Times, 19th Oct 2017]

What vision and what game plan? “We really have to curb down our population growth and poverty will be eradicated in the next quarter of a century. There are hurdles to sustaining that particular growth … Growing the economy … requires making food cheap and accessible for all, as well as boosting the country’s trade and investment growth.

“[F]or one, rice remains expensive, not only for consumers, but also for farmers themselves … The poorest farmers … also suffer from expensive rice since they are consumers themselves … Data showed that this is largely due to high trade costs.

“The Philippines … spends about P36.25 billion a year for poor farmers, who are also penalized by high rice prices. Industry and manufacturing are not really kicking because wage costs can be high when food costs are high; so we really need to do something about agriculture.

“Improve the productivity in agriculture to bring down food costs in order to put pressure and encourage investments in industry and manufacturing … The main hurdle in improving agriculture productivity is agrarian reform, which is one restriction in land ownership in the Philippines.

“If these hurdles in the economy will be addressed and growth will be sustained … foreign direct investments will post a 10-percent growth annually from the current rate of 4.64 percent, while labor productivity will improve 3.71 percent, from the current 0.32 percent.” [Ordinario, op. cit.]

Really? What about other hurdles? “AI poses a major threat particularly to the business process outsourcing (BPO) sector, one of the major pillars of the Philippine economy which employs more than one million Filipinos.

“The government and even the private sector should retrain the work force to address the increased need for advanced technical skills and determine sectors that will help absorb the labor pool that will be displaced …

“The Kinder to Grade 12 program, which added two years to the 10-year basic education curriculum, is a bold solution to address the demands of tomorrow’s jobs, as it incorporates more high-value skills like critical thinking, problem solving, and creativity … Change is that fast so we have to teach them to adjust. By the time they graduate, nothing is useful anymore especially with the advent of artificial intelligence …

“If the world becomes much more protectionist, much more nationalistic, you would see some of those investment flows being curtailed … Likewise … the infrastructure program is ‘one of the best ways’ to attract foreign investment and the government should ‘restart’ the public-private partnership program instead of solely depending on official development assistance ...” [Education overhaul seen critical in responding to threat from AI, automation, Krista A. M. Montealegre, BusinessWorld, 19th Oct 2017]

We seem to have all the answers yet why are we the regional laggard?

“Dr. Mahathir was the Prime Minister of Malaysia from 1981 to 2003, a period spanning five terms.  He has the record of the longest serving Prime Minister of Malaysia.  During his term, Malaysia experienced rapid growth and poverty was practically eradicated.

“[H]e was the keynote speaker at the culmination of Finex Week with the theme: ‘Breaking Barriers to Competitiveness in the ASEAN Financial Sector.’ Dr. Mahathir’s first point was that when countries that are less developed trade with more developed countries, they are trading with a handicap.

“Ways must be found to compensate for the handicap or else the less developed country will not fully benefit from the trade relationship. The alignment of less developed countries as a trading bloc like the way that ASEAN developed was one way to make up for the handicap of the members for being less developed countries.

“Dr. Mahathir also shared his experiences in taxation and economic development. He said that the right rate of taxation must be determined and adapted to the specific circumstance … He gave a specific example of how his government brought down drastically the taxes on luxury goods.  As a result, tourists from around the region came to shop and this created jobs and income.

“Income tax collections on the businesses and individuals participating in this industry ultimately ended up being much greater than the revenues lost by bringing down the tax rates on luxury goods.

“Dr. Mahathir was well known for being a strong proponent of investments in infrastructure … He talked about the highway that his government had built from Singapore to Thailand a distance of over one thousand miles.

“He said that while he let the private sector build and operate the highway, he realized that if they charged toll rates that were too high, many people may not be able to afford to use it and the positive impact on the economy would not be as desired.  So he arranged for the government to grant low interest financing for the project proponents of the highway so that the toll rates would be lower.

“The highway turned out to be a big success with businesses going up and thriving along the highway and property prices going up along the areas where the highway passed.

“Dr. Mahathir believed in technology and industrialization.  He said that he pushed the Proton car project as a Malaysian car not so much to compete with the car manufacturers of the advanced countries but more to develop the industrial base of Malaysia.” [Dr. Mahathir’s thoughts on competitiveness in the ASEAN region, Valentin A. Araneta, Manila Bulletin, 18th Oct 2017]

That’s what leadership is about. And Mahathir is not speaking for the first time. When Deng Xiaoping sought his views as well as that of Lee Kuan Yew, both said “Beg for Western money and technology.” And Mahathir said the same thing to us.

But are we prepared to listen? Not if we examine how we have mismanaged PH for decades. And that is because we’ve been caught in a vicious circle of our own making. But which we have yet to acknowledge and recognize: That Juan de la Cruz is parochial and insular ... defers to hierarchy and expects paternalism in return ... values and relies on political patronage and dynasties ... and oligarchy.

And why reforms, education for instance, aren’t our cup of tea. The latest findings in education reform call for a growth mindset not a fixed mindset. And beyond teacher-directed learning is learning through discovery, that is, by developing one’s own hypothesis and experiment. How will that find a home in the inward-looking, fixed and closed mind of Juan de la Cruz? And we wonder why innovation and competitiveness is alien to us? And why even teeny tiny Brunei is more competitive than PH?

Such insularity – aka false sovereignty and nationalism – happens even in the private sector. We would want to believe that Procter & Gamble, for instance, is a progressive enterprise yet here is how an analyst describes the global behemoth: “Procter & Gamble Won The Battle But Lost The War,” Josh Arnold, Seeking Alpha, 11th Oct 2017.

“Without Trian, an equity fund, PG will remain bloated and overvalued … The problem is that while the stock has continued its move up, the rest of the market has left it behind.

“PG needs someone else to come in and show it the error of its ways … [I]t has little willingness to change.

“[I]t has grown fat and happy over the past several years. Trian, no doubt, would have come in with some fresh ideas, including the reorganization it pitched ...

“Trian would have been able to help PG and give it the kick in the pants … But for now, all the evidence supports PG just carrying on as it has for years and that just isn't good enough.” Sound like PH?

“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]

Will Juan de la Cruz ever get it?

“[W]e … appear to be stuck in place, held back by deep divisions and endless political bickering, and seemingly condemned to watching our neighbors pass us by, one by one.” [Falling behind, again (?), Cielito F. Habito, No Free Lunch, Philippine Daily Inquirer, 10th Oct 2017]

The wife won’t tire reminding the writer, “don’t look around to pin blame on another.” We all know that but the human condition is such that man’s instinct is to protect and defend one’s self-esteem. Think Trump and his the-best-defense-is-offense tweets 24/7 and the brazen lies that will make Lyin’ Ted a saint, if not Crooked Hilary straight.

“To say that we all struggle with confirmation bias is not to say that some individuals don’t overcome it better than others or that some aren’t closer to seeing the truth of things better than others. Objective reality exists, truth matters, and we have to pursue them with purpose and without fear. But in our present moment, truth, including truth that unsettles us, has far too often become subordinate to justifying and defending at all costs our own, often unsound, preconceptions … You can see that in others. But can you see it in yourself?” [Seeing Trump through a glass, darkly; Peter Wehner, The New York Times, 7th Oct 2017; Wehner is a senior fellow at the Ethics and Public Policy Center, served in the previous three Republican administrations]

The writer couldn’t have said it better. Wehner continues: “But here’s the thing: What’s easy to see in others is hard to see in ourselves. I can assure myself that my intellectual integrity is superior to theirs, yet in my honest moments I recognize that I struggle with these same human frailties and flaws … I have some of the same mental habit that I’m critical of in others.

“When I served the George W. Bush White House, I believed before the war began that it was justified … These suppositions caused me to ignore, much longer than I should have, the problems inherent in our occupation strategy … I relay all this because confirmation bias is far more difficult to overcome than most of us like to admit. We are ever in search of data that confirms what we want to believe. ‘Illusions is the first of all pleasures,’ Voltaire said.

“I am highly critical of President Trump, and that puts me at odds with a vast majority of my fellow Republicans.”

The writer is highly critical of Juan de la Cruz. Because in his heart of hearts he believes we are better than this – still underdeveloped and the regional laggard and most recently overtaken by Brunei and Vietnam in competitiveness. But we see it through the prism of the war on poverty and, more recently, the war on drugs. And to be highly critical of Juan de la Cruz puts the writer at odds with a vast majority of Filipinos.

We must know by now that Malaysia, for example, did not share our short-term prism when they addressed rural poverty. Instead of parceling out land they pooled them to attain economies of scale. They could see beyond the horizon.

It is not surprising given the phenomenon of the growth versus the fixed mindset is a relatively new discovery from the social sciences. We are still held in place by Pinoy creativity or “abilidad” as well as our moral uprightness – as in holier-than-thou. And we have yet to recognize they are a manifestation of our fixed mindset.

It reinforces our backward orientation and our inability to be forward-looking. Worse is we’ve never demonstrated foresight. And are now debating, for instance: If federalism is the solution, what is the problem? But we like the low-hanging fruit. OFW remittances and the BPO industry instead of industrialization in tandem with infrastructure development.

We keep highlighting that electricity in PH is the most expensive in the region. But that is just the tip of the iceberg. We never understood that the problem is development; again, because we lack foresight. And why we fall into the trap of debating which comes first, the chicken or the egg.

The latest UN Sustainable Development Goals have recognized this challenge. To quote from an earlier post: “[T]he SDGs can be a weapon for growth and sustainability. The point is how to fulfill the SDGs through a more pro-active and forward-looking national development program.” [SDG 9 commits PHL to ‘inclusive, sustainable industrialization,’ Rene E. Ofreneo, BusinessMirror, 30th Aug 2017]

“However, one of the goals can also be an instrument for the realization of the other SDGs. This is SDG 9, which commits nations to ‘build resilient infrastructure, promote inclusive and sustainable industrialization and foster innovation.

“In other words, infrastructure development, industrialization and innovation … will pave the way for the realization of the other goals.”

It takes a growth mindset to develop the ability to look beyond the horizon. Every nation started out poor. But that is why there is such a thing as development.  But we can’t imagine and visualize a virtuous circle as in an ecosystem. That is too far out for Juan de la Cruz? Why? [And why the blog always closes with the quotes below. They aren’t meant to bore us, they are for us to reflect on.]

He is parochial and insular; hierarchical and paternalistic; relies on political patronage and dynasties and oligarchy. That is why we are constantly amid a perfect storm.

And why we are defined by crab mentality, i.e., we can never ever prioritize given the elements that consume us. And which is confirmed by another phenomenon, the irrationality of man. “People give into biases when making decisions, and that human miscalculation can come with serious consequences.” [Misbehaving: The Story of Behavioral Economics by Richard Thaler, 2015; Thaler is the winner of the 2017 Nobel prize in economics]

In the meantime, the elite class – and going by the admonition of the wife, that includes the writer, given he spent the first 20 years of his career in the Philippines and represented the employers’ group – must defend how they’ve called the shots for decades.

“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]

Juan de la Cruz: Is he unreformable?

Which simply means he is incorrigible and unchangeable. Consider: “The latest WEF Global Competitiveness Index showed two countries in ASEAN – Brunei and Vietnam – have overtaken the Philippines to take the fifth and sixth spots in the region, respectively.” [NCC seeks faster reforms to boost competitiveness, Richmond Mercurio, philstar.com, 29th Sep 2017]

“It seems to me that, yes, we are changing, but we are resetting our social, cultural, and political foundations to lower, inferior levels. Six years of what’s happening today will change us, especially the young, but regretfully not for the better.” [Yes, we are changing: Backwards, Benjamin R. Punongbayan, BusinessWorld, 27th Sep 2017]

Yet we recognize that we must reform. “We simply cannot afford to let up in our efforts to improve processes, introduce reforms, and make the country more competitive because other countries are also working hard.” [Mercurio, op. cit.]

“Who are we? Such a question can be answered from different lenses. Let’s confine our conversation to the Filipino values system. What is our values system and how does it work? This may not sound new because we are characteristically known as hospitable, loyal, patient, resilient (so said also some foreign observers after Hainan in Tacloban). We rely on the goodness of God, we say bahala na. Wrongly or right, we believe in fate, in luck or suwerte at diyos na ang maglalaan, etc.

“How do we explain our action? What values are the mainsprings of our behavior? We justify our digging deep into our pockets this fiesta by the fact that our son’s new job has given a better life for our family (familia). We owe (utang na loob) this to the governor. It’s a shame (hiya) if we don’t invite him and treat him as well as we can (smooth interpersonal relations or pakikisama). This example shows that we can better explain our behavior not by referring to a single value but rather to our values system. Jesuit Filipinologist Fr. Jaime Bulatao lists four major Filipino values — familia, hiya, utang na loob and pakikisama. All the rest of the values in the values system are secondary to these four major ones.” [Who are we Filipinos (?), Teresita Tanhueco-Tumapon, The Manila Times, 24th Apr 2015]

We can explain how we behave and why but can we reform? The writer covered the Asia region – including Communist China – for 10 years and Central and Eastern Europe – formerly under Soviet rule – the last 14 years. And in both regions, he witnessed how people can demonstrate a growth as opposed to a fixed mindset. China and the Asian Tigers have figured out and traversed the journey from poverty to prosperity. And while not as dramatic, countries once under Soviet rule have likewise demonstrated a growth mindset.

“‘If you imagine less, less will be what you undoubtedly deserve,’ Debbie Millman counseled in one of the best commencement speeches ever given … Far from Pollyanna platitude, this advice actually reflects what modern psychology knows about how belief systems about our own abilities and potential fuel our behavior and predict our success. Much of that understanding stems from the work of Stanford psychologist Carol Dweck, synthesized in her remarkably insightful Mindset: The New Psychology of Success.

“One of the most basic beliefs we carry about ourselves … has to do with how we view and inhabit what we consider to be our personality. A ‘fixed mindset’ assumes that our character, intelligence, and creative ability are static givens which we can’t change in any meaningful way, and success is the affirmation of that inherent intelligence, an assessment of how those givens measure up against an equally fixed standard; striving for success and avoiding failure at all costs become a way of maintaining the sense of being smart or skilled. A ‘growth mindset,’ on the other hand, thrives on challenge and sees failure not as evidence of unintelligence but as a heartening springboard for growth and for stretching our existing abilities.” [Fixed vs. Growth: The Two Basic Mindsets That Shape Our Lives, Maria Popova,www.brainpickings.org/2014/01/29]

But let’s get back to PH. “Even worse is that those who have an existing business in the Philippines are now planning their exit strategies including a large BPO company which employs more than three thousand call center agents. The exodus is not confined to American and European companies either. Last month, the Korean Chamber of Commerce of the Philippines announced that several of its member companies involved in manufacturing are moving to Vietnam. They cited peace and order issues, rising costs and difficulty in doing business in the Philippines as the reasons.

“All these will manifest itself in lower manufacturing activities, a deceleration in capital formation, and weakening export earnings in the years to come. It’s going to hurt the economy and derail the economic miracle we were all hoping for. To think, just a year ago, we were touted ‘Asia’s Brightest Star. It’s sad how the reputation of the nation plummeted so quickly, so uselessly.

“The war on drugs is doing us more damage than good. The travesty is that the killings will not even save the next generation from drug dependency nor solve the drug menace. Even Malacañang admits it. Instead, it will confine the next generation to a life of poverty since the killings are starving the country of the investments it badly needs to propel the economy forward. The social and economic costs of this war is more than its worth.” [Investors’ Shifting Sentiments: Numbers Don’t Lie, Andrew J. Masigan, BusinessWorld, 28th Sep 2017]

How can Juan de la Cruz embrace change? “Charles Duhigg, an investigative reporter for The New York Times, has written an entertaining book … ‘The Power of Habit: Why We Do What We Do in Life and Business.’ Duhigg has read hundreds of scientific papers and interviewed many of the scientists who wrote them, and relays interesting findings on habit formation and change from the fields of social psychology, clinical psychology and neuroscience. This is not a self-help book conveying one author’s homespun remedies, but a serious look at the science of habit formation and change.

“Duhigg is optimistic about how we can put the science to use. ‘Once you understand that habits can change,’ he concludes, ‘you have the freedom — and the responsibility — to remake them. Once you understand that habits can be rebuilt, the power becomes easier to grasp, and the only option left is to get to work.’ He also suggests that by understanding the nature of habits we can influence group behavior, turning companies into profit makers and ensuring the success of social movements.” [Timothy D. Wilson, Book Review, The New York Times, ‘The Power of Habit’ by Charles Duhigg, 9th Mar 2012]

On the other hand, are we in a race to the bottom to become the world’s pariah? “Palace on international call for end to killings: We will never accept dictation,” Ian Nicolas Cigaral, philstar.com, 29th Sep 2017.

Because we value sovereignty ... including driving investors away ... to Vietnam. Is Juan de la Cruz unreformable?

We are so inward-looking [think Mindanao and why we are a nation divided – in the name of religion?] that we are unable to internalize a growth mindset despite spinning down the abyss.

Which should then not surprise the NCC how thankless a job it has. Let us not forget Brunei and Vietnam aren’t the first ones to have overtaken PH.

Competition, as in winning, is survival … It is a habit as much as losing is … And why tribes either thrive or perish – like organisms as Darwin taught the world.

Too bad so sad ... It will get worse before it gets better for Juan de la Cruz ...

“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]