Smiles for the World

What is the Philippine brand? Many foreigners have given me a common comment: it is the Pinoy’s natural compassion, the friendship and easy smile.

The ambassador of Chile, Roberto Mayorga, told me these qualities have disappeared from many countries, his own included, as they prospered. Last year, Chile was the world’s 46th richest economy based on nominal GDP per capita of $14,278 (the Philippines ranked 126th in the International Monetary Fund list, with $2,223).

The Chilean embassy under Ambassador Mayorga is launching this afternoon the “Calidad Humana Project: Smiles for the World” in hopes of promoting what he believes is a uniquely Filipino quality.

Among the embassy’s partners is the Department of Tourism, whose head, Secretary Ramon Jimenez, will deliver the closing remarks during today’s ceremonies at the University of Santo Tomas in Manila.

The other partners are the Cultural Center of the Philippines, University of Asia and the Pacific, University of the Philippines, Ateneo de Manila University, De La Salle University, the embassy of Brazil, Coca-Cola Philippines, McDonald’s and The Philippine STAR.

Last year the Chilean embassy launched an essay-writing contest for students, together with UST and the UA&P, on “Calidad Humana.” The contest received 3,000 entries from around the country.

A panel of judges composed of National Artist F. Sionil Jose, businessman Jorge Araneta, Philippine National Red Cross chairman Richard Gordon, Coca-Cola representative Rachel Belarmino and People Asia magazine editor-in-chief Joanne Rae Ramirez picked the four winners, who will receive their awards this afternoon.

The winners are Jan Gabriel Melendrez Castañeda of the University of Perpetual Help in Las Piñas (first prize), Katrina Monica Chen Gaw of Ateneo, Camille Pascasio of UST, and Alyssa Alexandra Yao Alfonso of Southcrest School in Cebu.

A photo contest for Smiles for the World is also being launched today.

Ambassador Mayorga, who has seen much of the world, is passionate about the project and hopes the initiative can go global. Some of his thoughts:

“Why is it that in many countries of the world, despite the economic progress, people are becoming less human? No doubt, they have more material satisfaction, but less sense of friendship, hospitality, compassion, less ‘alegria de vivir.’

“In other words, they have achieved material prosperity but lost human enrichment.

“On the contrary, here in the Philippines, most of the people give priority to ‘concern for others’ rather than material things. They have what we call ‘calidad de vida’: human compassion, humanity, human tone.”

Lest people start thinking he is Don Quixote, he hastens to add, “Of course there are exceptions; we are not in paradise.”

It feels good for our people to be perceived in this way. The Pinoy smile is a good brand to develop, alongside the tourism come-on of having fun in the Philippines.

Apart from knowing how to have fun, our calidad humana sees us through the worst moments of grief.

In mourning

Relatives and friends of Interior and Local Government Secretary Jesse Robredo saw their worst fears confirmed as his body was finally retrieved yesterday morning from the wreckage of the light plane that crashed off Masbate.

As usually happens in this country, expressions of genuine grief and sympathy mingled with buckets of crocodile tears. Robredo died without being confirmed by the Commission on Appointments. Some CA members, probably spooked by the outpouring of praise for Robredo (including from those perceived to have wanted him out of his post), announced yesterday that he would receive an unprecedented posthumous confirmation, two years after his nomination.

Sen. Franklin Drilon, Robredo’s ally in the Liberal Party, sniffed that there is no such thing as a posthumous CA confirmation.

The selection of a secretary of the Department of the Interior and Local Government (DILG) was a major battleground for warring factions as Noynoy Aquino was forming his government.

Expect the battle to resume even before Robredo receives a proper burial.

The DILG has supervision not only over local government units but also over the Philippine National Police. Some quarters think the post of DILG chief can be used as a stepping stone to higher office, or for assisting someone aspiring for high office.

I’m not sure the first perception is still valid. Elpidio Quirino, who served as interior secretary from 1935 to 1938, rose to the presidency in 1948, but among the post-EDSA secretaries of the DILG, only Aquilino Pimentel Jr. was later elected to high office, with his son and namesake replacing him at the Senate. Alfredo Lim lost in his presidential bid, although he’s back as mayor of Manila.

The records of other DILG chiefs since 1986 are spotty. One was linked to systematic dagdag-bawas or vote shaving and padding; another shot himself after being accused of corruption.

But the second perception about the role of the DILG chief may be accurate in our land of patronage politics. A sympathetic DILG chief can be invaluable for a politician during an election campaign.

To be fair, many Pinoys genuinely lose their animosity – especially petty ones – toward someone who dies or who is struck by other tragedies. In this country, death tends to emphasize the positive qualities of a person – and there’s a lot to emphasize in Jesse Robredo, a Ramon Magsaysay awardee for local governance way back when he was 42. Some of those perceived crocodile tears could be arising from genuine mourning after all.

The empathy comes naturally and is part of the Pinoy’s calidad humana.

It would have been interesting to see how a decent public servant like Robredo would have comported himself and handled DILG resources in the forthcoming campaign for the 2013 midterm elections.

Unfortunately, the nation will no longer be able to see him at work again.