Bullish on next generation Pinoys

A major international investment bank is bullish on the next generation Pinoys. “A strong progressive force is emerging in the Philippines,” CLSA Asia Pacific Markets leads off its country report, “spurred on by a maturing electorate, new political talent, an educated workforce backed by returning expatriates, committed and forward-thinking company executives and a consumer base less tolerant of mediocrity.”

The Filipino people, CLSA strongly asserts, is the country’s solid fundamental foundation, “ but strong political leadership is needed to trigger any lasting stability and economic growth.” And for those of us who are wondering if we will see a Philippines we can be proud of within our lifetimes, CLSA predicts “the tipping point will take place in the next five to 10 years.”

The next generation Filipino, CLSA observes, is evolving “from the changing character of Philippine politicians, to the deepening talent pool of managers in the corporate sector and finally to the developing Filipino worker — local and overseas.” The next generation Filipino “epitomizes the quality of people required if the country is to move forward,” CLSA observes.

CLSA sees the truly global Filipino emerging in the next 10 years: a people who are more international in perspective, tolerant of different cultures, more open-minded, driven and results-oriented, more technology savvy, more tolerant of change, multi-culturally exposed and more sophisticated, knowledgeable and demanding workforce, consumers and managers.

As for the prevailing chaos in our streets and country in general, CLSA points out “there are plenty of examples illustrating that Filipinos can unify, follow and succeed. Filipinos overseas, whether permanent residents, professionals or working visas or OFWs, have shown they can be led, can follow laws when these are enforced fairly, and have the creative talent to do well and shine.”

There are, as we might expect, problems along the way towards this dawning of a new era. The principal obstacle the CLSA report singled out is today’s Pinoy politician. “ Political leaders today are hardly the role models they ought to be,” CLSA laments.

But we shouldn’t despair because CLSA thinks “the cascade effect of free-flowing information, an active and aggressive media, growing exposure to work and life overseas and indirect exposure to the world through call centers” should help the new generation overcome the scourge of traditional politicians on our lives.” Overall, CLSA insists, “we are encouraged by what we see.”

And CLSA thinks it is all starting to unfold. In case we have not noticed, the average Filipino has shifted gear, the investment bank observes. And proof of this emerging change for the better, CLSA points out, is the mid-term 2007 elections that “show incipient political maturity.” More specifically, the bank cites “the electoral defeat of public figures like Cesar Montano and Richard Gomez – movie actors – and Manny Pacquiao, a world famous boxer, seems to evince a more enlightened electorate.”

CLSA’s country report puts a lot of importance on 2010. “In many respects, 2010 is important for the Philippines political future… the 2010 elections will be a good start.” CLSA is hopeful about the names being mentioned as potential successor to Ate Glue.

Quezon City Mayor Sonny Belmonte is the only local government official, and the oldest, mentioned in CLSA’s short list which includes Chiz Escudero, Dick Gordon, Loren Legarda, Manny Pangilinan, Manny Villar, Mar Roxas, Noli de Castro and Ping Lacson.

CLSA doesn’t think Ate Glue will be an important factor in 2010. “We would be surprised if Arroyo officially names a preferred candidate for 2010. Nor would we expect her endorsement to be aggressively sought. The experience of many candidates in 2007 – from senators to local government level leaders – speaks volumes regarding the effect of being too closely associated with the president. Ralph Recto’s in his re-election bid, Prospero Pichay and Mike Defensor all paid dearly with embarrassing losses.”

Interestingly, the report felt the Senate damaged the promising top leadership prospects of former Sen. Juan Flavier and Sen. Dick Gordon. Praising Flavier as an effective Health Secretary, CLSA thought “his stint in the Senate had been less than stellar.”

As for Gordon, the report noted that he “was believed to be a strong presidential material as early as 1992. His claim to fame was his work to turnaround Subic Base after Mount Pinatubo’s eruption… his stint as tourism secretary was equally spectacular… He was an energetic, combative administrator who delivered results… But in the Senate, he has failed to inspire because of ‘his way or the highway’ brand of management.”

If the CLSA report was downbeat on the quality of the current political leadership, it was upbeat on the quality of private sector leadership. “Filipinos have always suffered from the absence of good role models at the top levels of government,” the report observes. But, “the business sector has no such gap.”

CLSA predicts a positive generational change in the Philippine business world. Even if the next generation has pretty big shoes to fill, “all of them are well prepared.” Among the next generation business leaders cited were Jaime Augusto Zobel de Ayala, Lance Gokongwei, Miguel Aboitiz and Tessie Sy-Coson.

Most encouraging is how these young taipans view their responsibilities: “Our key responsibility is to manage our businesses well, provide stable and secure jobs, invest in the local economy and make a positive influence as we grow our business.” According to the CLSA report, it is the view of these new generation taipans that “giving back is not done just simply through charitable work or corporate social responsibility programs, but built into the way the companies are structured and run.”

I don’t know about you folks, but this CLSA report really made my day. It gave me hope that despite everything we see around us today, the future is going to be brighter and we may yet see all these good things happen within our lifetimes. CLSA echoed many of the points I have raised in this column, notably my feeling that the OFW phenomenon will eventually result in a much improved electorate. All those OFWs have seen how things work in other lands and will want the same kind of governance at home.

Oh… if we can just fast forward these last three years of Ate Glue so we can get started with this bright new world for us…. Then again… we are known for shooting ourselves in the foot just when the promise of good things are about to happen. We have to remain focused and of course, we have to pray hard that CLSA has, what we would say in Tagalog… may dilang anghel or an angel’s tongue whose predictions of a great future for us will surely come true.

Cyber notes

Back to our horrible reality… COA found out that computer packages worth P138.84 million in public schools were not used “due to lack of resources, facilities and technical capability to operationalize the PCs for Public Schools Project.” The COA discovered that 349 computer packages worth P115.7 million were used by the school administrative offices instead of the students because they schools were not ready to implement the computerization project.

The project is spearheaded by the Department of Trade and Industry together with the DepEd, Department of Science and Technology, Department of Finance and the private sector. Funds were also secured from the Priority Development Assistance Funds (PDAF) of congressmen. It aims to provide computers to schools for students to use as a learning tool. This DepEd failure negates all the best intentions for the project.

E, kung yung mas maliit na project hindi kaya, CyberEd pa kaya? I have two words for Secretary Lapus — WHITE ELEPHANTS.

Support group

This one came from Dr. Ernie E.

Obstetrician: “Will the father be present during the birth?”

Pregnant lady: “No, but my husband will.”

Boo Chanco’s e-mail address is [email protected]