One of Southeast Asia’s wealthiest billionaires recently sent shockwaves by publicly complaining that the Philippines is hopeless in terms of economic progress in the next 100 years, that there may not be any good leadership for three more generations, that the exchange rate of the peso vis-à-vis the US dollar will suffer major declines in the coming years, that excessive politics in our society is hopeless. I personally admire the business acumen and entrepreneurial courage of this tycoon, but I disagree with his assessment, because I believe the Philippines is not hopeless.
A recent survey showed that many Filipinos are discouraged by the true state of the nation, that they dream of migrating out of the Philippines, joining the thousands who leave our shores every day. Instead of angrily dismissing this reality of pessimism, we should confront its root causes, push for far-reaching reforms and secure a better Philippine future with hope and faith. It is better to light a candle than to curse the darkness. Even in the worst circumstances – like Jewish prisoners going to the gas chambers of the Holocaust – how come there are still people who can find hope, faith and an indomitable will to live?
Many years ago a young midwestern lawyer in America suffered such deep depression that his friends thought it wise to keep all knives and razors away from him. During this time, this man wrote: "I am now the most miserable man living. Whether I shall ever be better, I cannot tell. I awfully forebode I shall not." He was wrong. He did recover from his depression, from his two business failures, from the death of his sweetheart, from his eight election losses, and he eventually became one of America’s best loved presidents – his name was Abraham Lincoln.
It is amazing that many of the public monuments that we have are symbols of suffering and defeat, such as the statue of Gomburza in Manila depicting the execution of the three martyr priests; the Ayala Avenue statue of Ninoy Aquino depicting his arrest upon arrival from exile (which was already an improvement over the original Ninoy statue showing the senator in the process of falling down the stairs of the plane). It is also surprising to realize that every year, the country marks public holidays commemorate national defeats and tragedies, such as the execution of the national hero on December 30 as Rizal Day, the execution of Andres Bonifacio as National Heroes Day on November 30, the Fall of Bataan, and many others. Even the lyrics of our national anthem seem to connote a defeatist attitude and subliminally encourage a pernicious culture of pessimism – our national anthem ends with the line "ang mamatay ng dahil sa iyo." Why don’t we reform our way of thinking, be more positive, assertive and optimistic, why not use "ang mabuhay ng dahil sa iyo"?
I could not forget that during Tourism Secretary Richard Gordon’s sales mission to China and Hong Kong, he once had a difficult time convincing a crowd of domestic helpers on September 15 that they can become volunteers to invite more tourists, that the Philippines is not hopeless in changing its old image of lawlessness. He asked the audience, pointing to the sea outside the window: "If I tell you now that I will build a train under that sea, what will be your reaction? Look at you, doubting me, surely the question in your minds is how much would be the cut of Gordon on this project, or you would ask if I was being crazy. How come if we Filipinos dare to dream big, we ourselves shoot down each other’s aspirations and seek to destroy each other? How come if a Chinese leader stands before his people and declares that he will send a Chinese astronaut to the moon, they will believe and they will work hard to achieve this great dream? Catch yourself. Do not continue to be victims. You became overseas contract workers because you are risk-takers, you are horizon-chasers, you did not want to remain as perpetual victims back home. Let us work hard and build up our tourism industry, so that the Philippines will have a sense of achievement and a source of national pride, so that your relatives back home will have more jobs and your country a better economy."
Regal Films this week started showing a new movie entitled Prosti, and many people claim that prostitution is the oldest profession. Others claim it is really farming. Last night in a restaurant, I overheard a surgeon, an engineer and a politician debating which of their professions was the oldest. The surgeon said: "Eve was made from Adam’s rib, and that, of course, was a surgical operation. Obviously, surgery is the oldest profession."
The engineer countered with: "Yes, but before that, order was created out of chaos, and that most certainly was an engineering job."
The politician smiled and said triumphantly: "Aha! Talo na kayong lahat! And just who do you think created the chaos?"
At another time during a visit to the Philippine Senate, I asked a Catholic priest inside the elevator: "Father, do you pray for our senators?" The Catholic priest replied: "No, I look at the senators and pray for the country."
It is tragic that most of our people look up to politicians for national salvation, especially every election season. But I believe the best way to really save this country is to insulate its economic life from the shenanigans, self-destructive antics and amorality of our politicians.
Another way out of the national rut is to support the few but outstanding politicians who dare defy the age-old traditional politics of inertia and patronage – among this rare breed of action-oriented and reformist politicians include Naga City Mayor Jesse Robredo (La Salle-trained engineer, with a master’s degree in business administration from the Asian Institute of Management, master’s in public administration from Harvard University, recipient of the Magsaysay Award for exemplary government service, and nemesis of oligarchs), Metro Manila Development Authority Chairman Bayani Fernando (a former businessman), Tourism Secretary Richard Gordon (who said he does not wish to make his people comfortable but to transform them), Manila Mayor Lito Atienza (whose efforts are focused on the renewal and beautification of the capital city), Davao City Mayor Rodolfo Duterte (who has banned smoking in public places, fireworks and clamped down hard on crimes with an iron fist), and others.
The number 2 reason the Philippines is not hopeless is that, by and large, the economy is well-managed. Although the President may not be perfect, though we may not like the way she grimaces on television or her many public relations antics, she has done a decent job in macroeconomic management. Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo may lack charisma, but she is successful in choosing a high-caliber team of economic managers and technocrats who are pro-reforms and pro-investments. Everybody now assumes we shall have a balanced government budget by year 2006. Unlike Argentina or Brazil, the political class in the Philippines is said to be instinctively more conservative, and the country has a plan to balance the budget. Whoever wins the presidential election in 2004, the same kind of economic team will be managing the economy towards reforms. In contrast, the Latin American countries often have ideologically divergent political parties with extreme policies such as threatening to nationalize public utilities and major corporations with socialistic programs. For his number 3 reason, the DBP president pointed out the blessing of democracy as a national strength, despite its many imperfections and inconveniences.
Why are Filipinos overseas more successful than the same Filipinos in the Philippines? The overseas Filipinos flourish in societies where the dominant cultures encourage initiative, reward hard work and merit. The millions of overseas contract workers are more cosmopolitan in outlook, have been exposed to foreign cultural values, have better economic conditions, and they constitute the country’s emergent middle-class. In the latter years of the Ching Dynasty, it was the cosmopolitan and wealthier overseas Chinese diaspora which financed and supported the 1911 republican revolution of Dr. Sun Yat Sen. Can the OCWs break the vicious cycle of the culture of pessimism, reject the traditional cultural values and help create a more efficient Filipino society? Can balikbayans be expected to toughen the national character of the Filipino nation with their foreign countries’ positive cultural values, instead of just replenishing our basketball teams, showbiz and modelling worlds with their talents and physiques?
There are many reasons to be hopeful and optimistic about the Philippine future. Among the possible sources of global competitiveness for the Philippines are in tourism, high fashion, music, leisure, arts and entertainment. If the government can stamp out corruption in the police and military organizations and win the war against crimes, there is no reason the Philippines cannot become another Spain, Italy or France of Asian tourism. We may not have the aptitude and industrial prowess to win over the efficient factories of China or Vietnam, but the Philippines has the unique heritage of being Asia’s only former Spanish colony and the world’s only former American colony as diverse tourism attractions. Imagine, a Latin nation in the middle of the Pacific ocean? If our outdated and inefficient textile mills cannot compete, perhaps Manila and Cebu should aspire to become like Milan or Paris as high fashion capitals of Asia?
Instead of exporting musical bands and entertainers overseas, why not build up tourism entertainment facilities and attract the rest of the world to visit the Philippines? Spain up to this day is still notorious for its very long siestas, its expensive fiestas and is often in the news due to Basque separatist violence and terrorism, but how come they do not wallow in pessimism and self-pity, but have consistently drawn many millions of tourists? It is not a coincidence that the Philippines has San Miguel as Asia’s first beer, Magnolia as Southeast Asia’s first ice cream, Philippine Airlines as Asia’s first airline and other firsts, for all these indicate that the country’s global competitiveness is in tourism, leisure, services and entertainment.
A businessman recently infected with the contagious disease of optimism even said that perhaps our notoriously corrupt and amoral politicians and their endless bickering can be transformed into a tourist attraction, similar to the famous crocodile farms of Thailand or the carnivals of South America or the circuses and clown shows of Europe.