We can make a difference

(Inaugural address as MAP president for 2006 delivered Jan. 24, 2006 at the Mandarin Oriental Hotel, Makati City)

Not many of us have been around the past 55 years, but today is the very first time that a woman is delivering the inaugural address as MAP president. Truth be told, I was frankly intrigued by the curious reaction of people who heard of my election to this prestigious position. They seemed more impressed that a woman was elected to this office rather than that I, as a person, had the distinct privilege of being elected president. Not being a flag-waving feminist, my take is that perhaps unintentionally, MAP’s core membership of CEO’s are still inclined to tradition that MAP should continue to elect a man at its helm, as has been the case year after year for more than half a century.

The honor of being the first woman president is not mine. It belongs to Cora dela Paz when she assumed the MAP presidency from Bobby de Ocampo when Bobby was appointed secretary of finance in 1994. But by today’s enlightened standards of equality and opportunity, two women out of 57 or 1/3 of one percent is not a politically correct ratio, considering there are 87 female members or 11.5 percent out of a total of 761. Judging by these numbers, we can infer that it is much easier for a woman to be elected president of the Philippines than it is for a woman to be president of MAP. If only for this phenomenon of sorts, I am very pleased to have made it and quite proud that the formidable glass ceiling has been at least slightly dented. I hope this encourages the women of MAP to be bolder and to aspire for more active roles to make this outstanding organization even better. MAP is a meritocracy and its leadership is not a prerogative of gender. Rather, it is awarded on the basis of qualifications, initiative, motivation and willingness to serve, qualities equally given out by God to both genders.

Your 2006 board has aptly chosen Call to Action: Country Above Self as our theme for the year. We wanted to capture in one small but powerful phrase an overarching vision: that of Country Above Self. More than a catchy slogan, we want this to represent the values and ideals that MAP holds dear as corporate and individual citizens of this country. I refer to such conservative and perhaps old-fashioned values as action not rhetoric; service to others and concern for the larger common good instead of total focus on self; doing what is right instead of what is easy; pride and love of country over cynicism, complacency and apathy.

More than ever and especially in these tumultuous times, love of country is the only emotion compelling enough to unite us into purposeful action and spirited cooperation. I hasten to add that the love of country I speak of is a catalyst that should be an engine of practical, useful, sensible and meaningful change. Love of country is not a luxury we can afford to ignore; it is the necessary ingredient to economic success. Look at what passionate love of country and intense national pride have done for our more prosperous and pragmatic Asian neighbors!

MAP is an organization like no other. We count among our members business leaders and captains of industry who run the country’s largest corporations and are responsible for producing a big bulk of our country’s GDP. We are also proud to have in our midst corporate executives and their companies who constitute the country’s largest taxpayers. Some among us have walked the corridors of political power as senior government officials and Cabinet ministers under diffferent administrations. Doyens of the academe with power to influence young minds as well as hardworking, driven entrepreneurs who create wealth and provide employment in the countryside are in our roster. With this caliber of membership, MAP can be as influential and as assertive as it wants to be. In recent history, MAP has demonstrated its pivotal role in shaping the direction of the nation’s destiny. MAP members marched shoulder to shoulder with the business community in calling for change in the country’s political leadership. We can make a difference if we so choose.

After the two EDSA’s MAP has channeled its focus largely on what it does best – creating a healthy and competitive business environment. Presently, we are well aware of the policy weaknesses, barriers and disincentives to growth and investment that have accumulated like barnacle over the years. This byzantine infrastructure has caused wary international investors to shy away from our country in favor of our more competitively-positioned neighbors. So what can MAP do? MAP can lead the efforts towards the deconstruction and dismantling of unproductive rules and guidelines. We can clear the path of obstructions and bureaucratic red tape. We can provide a more compelling spectrum of investment opportunities and allow for a smoother, stronger inflow of much-needed direct foreign investments into our country. We can be instrumental in tearing down the barricades to allow for the free and deregulated operation of market forces. MAP can work for a government that stimulates, attracts and supports rather than inhibits, restricts and encroaches upon the domain of private enterprise. If we at MAP want change, we must seize the initiative to make things happen. This is in our best interests as profit-oriented business people and progressive capitalists.

If MAP desires to remain a relevant instrument of macro-economic change and an active proponent of constructive reforms, it needs the strong support and commitment of our grassroots individual members. We realize and accept that this support and commitment are not easily given nor can they be taken for granted. We will work hard to earn them. Your board will focus on making you proud and privileged to be MAPpers. We will strive to meet your expectations and maximize the benefits you will derive from MAP through its programs, advocacies, projects, network and alliances. We will keep communication lines open to constantly feel your pulse, your needs and expectations and aspire to quickly address them. In pursuit of these ends, your Board commits to do the following:

1. We will spearhead and organize events and situations to bring our members closer together. Our commitees will create opportunities to expand our networking activities with the objective of encouraging interaction with our fellow members.

It is possible that we have not tapped into this rich internal resource and database. Hence, we have not fully optimized the possibilities and potential of doing business and helping each other.

2. Much like our counterpart management associations in other countries, MAP will assist in the continuing education of our membership. We all agree that learning is a never-ending endeavor. We will help the membership gain access to the newest and state-of-the-art educational tools and materials on management, leadership, business, technology and self-improvement that are available in the market place. We will bring these to our members, through the MAP portal or through seminars, conferences and discussion forums. Whenever possible, we will attempt to bring local and international experts to share with us their ideas, concepts, innovations and trends in the global market.

3. MAP is cognizant of the great importance of achieving balance, health and happiness in our lives. To meet members’ expressed interest for a well-rounded holistic approach to self-discovery and development, we intend to broaden our training goals to cover not only topics on professional and career growth but likewise on physical and emotional health. Discussions about executive health and wellness, family life, spiritual enlightenment, food and wine ranked high in our survey of preferences. Many of our members are seeking different challenges and goals in their life cycle. They have articulated their desire to explore subjects that will enrich their human spirit or ideas that will provide a lasting legacy for their achivements. We will look into this special niche.

Recently, your board approved the reactivation of its membership to the Asian Association of Management Organizations, where the Philippines, among all Asian countries, remains to be the only non-member. By rejoining the AAMO, MAP will have access to its facilities and get invited to meetings and conferences sponsored by them. We feel it is imperative to be part of this regional management bloc to bring the Philippine perspective to this Asian alliance while at the same time downloading the benefits of being in the loop and in circulation, so to speak, to our members. Once again, the derivative advantages of cross-cultural networking come into play. We must be plugged in. As global geopolitics and economics shifts to Asia as China, India, Japan and Australia flex their muscles, this is no time for the Philippines to be an isolated island and outsider.

On another front, the MAP Research and Development Foundation has been reactivated to support the requirements of our committees, particularly for projects that require extensive and exhaustive research and development work. If we are to submit credible and substantive position papers to the government, take a stand on national issues or hold summits on concerns of the hour, we need to produce professionally competent output of think-tank level. These high quality papers are our means to lobby for meaningful policy changes. In time, MAP can perhaps develop the visibility and reputation for expertise as a leading authority on economic, financial, investment and management matters.

Your board is confident that with these improved membership programs in place and a climate of energetic enthusiasm, we will succeed in getting all of you more involved to keep MAP not only dynamic, responsive and relevant but cutting-edge exciting.

Let me now return to our chosen theme of the year. Some of you may say that country above self is just another motherhood platitude. Perhaps it is; but if we adopt it as our paradigm, we can eventually actualize it and make it part of our way of life. We can begin by asking ourselves one question every ime we make an important decision – is this ultimately good for my country? Not surprisingly, choosing country is difficult because, often it entails short-term pain and sacrifice. When bottomlines and our pocketbooks are hit or threatened, we automatically revert to our default mode: thinking only about our self interest. Sadly, this to-each-his-own mentality might be the real reason why we’re the Sick Old Man of Asia for decades. Contrary to conventional wisdom, it is not corruption which has held us down because corruption is present even in the most economically advanced countries. Rather, it is because Filipinos of all social classes have little love for their country. It is not "top of the mind" in our consciousness as a people.

Let us test ourselves with these sample questions. Isn’t it easier to compromise on taxes, in spite of knowing the money will not go to the government coffers, because doing so will save us several thousand pesos? Isn’t it cheaper to pay the judge and get a favorable decision than to let justice take its course? Isn’t it wiser to give a kickback to the approving officer than to go through a fair bidding? How often have we said "ako ang bahala sa iyo" or "I will take care of you" in order to motivate a corrupt officer to do our bidding? But such case-to-case, one-on-one, short-cuts for the sake of expediency have indirectly cost us more. Much, much more, as a country and as a people.

Because they are so commonplace and almost second nature, these ingrained behavior patterns don’t bother us anymore. We have learned to accept them as part and parcel of the cost and manner of doing business here. Repeated many times over and in bigger magnitudes, these practices create a chain reaction that has condemned our country to the top of the corruption pile and to the bottom of the competitive list.

Individually and collectively, we at MAP must do what we can to restore delicadeza, shame, and a sense of outrage against what have now become commonplace malpractices. To the extent possible, we must reclaim our dignity as a nation. Through programs that educate and enlighten not only ourselves but also those whom we deal with, we can bring back reasonable benchmarks against which we can measure ourselves. By recognizing and rewarding excellence and instances of exemplary behavior, we can encourage our employees and our youth. By responsibly speaking out and condemning corrupt practices and pursuing legal means to prosecute egregious offenders when warranted, we can deter miscreants from giving Philippine business a bad name. Finally, by being ourselves visible role-models of the values we have publicly espoused – that of accountability, credibility, transparency, fairness, integrity and service to others – we can demonstrate that good governance and ethics are compatible with sound business practice and common sense.

If we can only do as we speak and live by it, or as we often say "walk the walk and talk the talk", then MAP would have planted the seeds of change. How fast and how much the seeds will grow depend on our passion to plant these seeds around by our deeds and by our examples. Mahatma Gandhi said "Be the change you want to be in the world". There is no time to pass the buck and wait for the government or a miracle to change the status quo. If the seemingly unimportant flapping of butterfly wings in South America can affect global climate, we can surely try change in our more limited sphere. Who knows what we can accomplish!

Before I conclude this address, I want to give due recognition to all the past presidents of MAP who have collectively and individually contributed their work and wisdom, then and until now, to bestow on MAP the prestige and leadership it enjoys in the business community. I wish to thank the 2005 board led by its president Simon Paterno for their continuing support to MAP in the form of heading many of the 2006 committees. We in the 2006 board will do our utmost to uphold MAP’s tradition of excellence and achievement.

I want to end on an upbeat note. I thought this quotation on service from the 1913 Nobel Laureate for Literature Rabindranath Tagore is appropriate:

I slept and dreamt that life was joy

I awoke and saw that life was service

I acted, and behold, life was joy!