Wanted: Chief Executive

SEOUL. It may be fortuitous that my husband and I would be visiting South Korea at the time when the big news at home is FPJ, Jr. has finally admitted he is running in May 2004. It gives me a chance to compare the two countries. We have not done badly. We Filipinos tend to think that we are unique in our problems with government but this is not so. Even a day in another country, more prosperous and more developed as South Korea reminds me once again that we are not alone in our political difficulties. Indeed Wednesday’s JoongAng Daily’s (second largest newspaper in that country) reads like a Manila newspaper. First, the similarity. Here, too, political bickering is in fashion. President Roh has managed to deepen the political crisis by vetoing a bill to create a special investigation team against his former aides. Reading the woes of the country (according to my reading ) – economic recession, rising unemployment, debate over the dispatch of troops to Iraq, the radical street rallies and the prosecution’s ongoing investigation of campaign funds makes me feel at home. But not quite. There is a difference and it is this difference that is crucial to us Filipinos ton understand why we failed.

Here, despite political bickering, the country arguably functions well and for a first time visitor it can be reassuring to know that ordinary Koreans are able to live their lives detached from troublesome politics. Not that they don’t care. They care but there are institutions which continue to grind regardless of politics, giving South Koreans a sense of well-being. Transportation is efficient, and I do not see any rubbish strewn in the streets. At least in the parts of the city our guide brought us, there were no slums to report about, unlike Manila where tin and cardboard houses are cheek by jowl with high rise buildings even in the financial district. But by yesterday, newspapers were reporting on 250 families from a shantytown in south central Seoul who were fighting demolition to make way for a land developer.

Our guide, a university student, Jason, did not seem alarmed. It was part and parcel of Seoul’s life even if this is one of the most developed cities in the world. This gave me the clue on what the difference is between South Korea and the Philippines. It has its infrastructure – transportation, health, education, well thought out road system – in place. When did all this happen? According to some South Koreans I spoke too they may have disliked General Park Chung Hee but it was during his strict military regime that a frenetic program to build the necessary infrastructure for a modern city was done. Then there were the chaebols or the giant, world-class firms that put South Korea in the world map –Hyundai, Daewoo, Samsung and the rest. It is my opinion that there had been a trade off – the military dictatorship would get things done at the sacrifice of some human rights. Of course, such arrangement can only be temporary and in time the people rebelled against the trade off. Meantime they had their infrastructure which serves the nation up to this day.

As far as the chaebols were concerned they were propelled by men of steel. "Made in Korea" on the world stage was made possible by the legendary founder of Hyundai –Chung Ju Yung. The Phlippines suffers from a surfeit of larger than life men like him. The wealthiest businessmen are in service industries or land deve-lopment. We do not make things, says one of the Koreans we met during the visit. And as far as a political trade off is concerned, we did the same thing with Marcos – especially in the first years of his brand of military dictatorship. We gave him a free hand to put our country in the path of progress during the first few years. But that was about it. A promise not fulfilled. Human rights continued to be violated and the infrastructure, except for a few Imeldific buildings and the love bridge of San Juanico, was not built and meanwhile we heard of missing Marcos millions in the vaults of Swiss banks.

Tomorrow we move on to Ulsan the site of Hyundai Heavy Industries and the Hyundai Motor companies and then to Gyeongju, capital of the Sillia Kingdom which consolidated the Korean nation. It is the equivalent of Kyoto, the cultural capital of Japan. It is sad that we know so little about the culture and history of this country astride the two great powers of China and Japan. We have much to learn from them, not to mention the economic benefits that can be generated with closer ties with this country.

I was not surprised that FPJ has thrown his hat in the presidential ring. This was a long time coming but already his political allies are manipulating the actor candidate even before he wins. We are back again where we left off the Erap presidency. Sometime ago Edwin Lee sent me a paper he called "Blueprint for the Future".Among other things, he wrote on the qualities we should look for in our candidate for president in 2004. This is how he would write his advertisement:

Wanted In 2004

Medium-sized republic with a population of 80 million is looking for a Chief Executive Officer to manage a bureaucracy with an annual budget of 800 billion pesos. Prospective candidates must have a strong political, financial, operational, philosophical and psychological background. A track record in restructuring and reengineering oversized organizations will be an advantage. Must have the ability to analyze problems and look beyond the obvious in the search for root causes. An innovative leader, he or she should always be looking for ways to motivate subordinates and to preempt potential problems before they can occur. Must be a student of human nature, in order to understand why subordinates make mistakes – not in order to rebuke them, but to find ways to change the environment that has led to previous failures. Prospective candidates must be eccentric, fastidious about personal appearances, tireless in the search for and pursuit of excellence, and as demanding of himself/herself as he or she is of others. Every candidate must be rated in terms of his or her moral and financial integrity. Actors and actresses need not apply.

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That about sums up how we should regard FPJ’s announcement to run.

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