Turning global but parochial

Today is the start of the 23rd World Economic Forum (WEF) on East Asia, taking place here in Manila until May 23. With this year’s theme “Leveraging Growth for Equitable Progress,” more than 600 participants composed of top executives in both government and in private business coming from 30 countries across the globe are attending the three-day WEF conference.

At least three heads of government, including our own President Benigno “Noy” Aquino are also joining the top-level WEF meetings and activities. The two others are, Indonesian President Susilo Bambang Yudyohono and Vietnamese Prime Minister Nguyen Tan Dung. 

Klaus Schwab, WEF founder and executive chairman, clearly underscored the significance of this year’s conference. He cited: “Over three billion people live in ASEAN, China and India, and in 2014, the whole East Asian region is expected to be the fastest-growing region in the world. Such progress is impressive only when industry and government leaders are fully committed to equitable distribution and inclusive growth.”

The Manila hosting of the WEF on East Asia comes on the eve of economic integration of the ten-member states of the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) slated to take effect next year. WEF participants are expected to deliberate the opportunities of the ASEAN Economic Community — that includes the Philippines — to promote greater inclusion across East Asia.

As the host government, President Aquino will have  a wider audience to blow his horn on his administration’s pursuit of “inclusive growth” policy in pushing the Philippine economic takeoff.  His economic managers led by Finance Secretary Cesar Purisima are most especially proud to show as proof of the success of what he calls as “Aqui-nomics” the sustained investment upgrades by international risk ratings agencies like Standard & Poor’s and Fitch.

Independent international analysts are also bullish on their investment outlook for our country. Rajiv Biswas, Asia-Pacific chief economist for a global information company even boldly predicted the Philippines is set to become a trillion-dollar “tiger economy” by 2030 with its capacity to post long-term economic growth. But he admitted his cautious projection is premised on the condition that a sustained rapid growth will require continued economic reforms to improve the business climate of the Philippines.

Biswas reiterated we must make more attractive our country to foreign direct investment. Many others before him have been telling us this long before. But curiously, what the Philippine economy seems to attract more are “hot money” being poured here. But this is not the kind of investment we must attract because they slip out at the slightest signs of trouble.

He correctly noted though the growth drivers for the Philippines include the “rapidly growing technology-business process outsourcing sector and the strong flow of remittances” from millions of our overseas Filipino workers (OFWs) abroad. We have the skills and the technology. But  obviously, the Philippines needs investors’ confidence in our manufacturing sector and tourism industry to generate the gainful jobs needed by Filipinos.

As of latest government estimates, more than 10 million Filipinos are out work. They are either unemployed or underemployed. And more are joining the ranks of jobless with the latest batch this year of college graduates who could not get employed up to now.

While he was still Senator, the late Department of Foreign Affairs Secretary Blas Ople published in 1994 a book entitled “Global But Parochial.” A former Minister of Labor during the Marcos regime, Ople was regarded as “the father of OFWs” when he instituted into the Ministry the Philippine Overseas Employment Administration as stop-gap measure then against unemployment. Several decades later, overseas employment has become a major sector of the Philippine economy. 

A man way ahead of his time, Ople supported the efforts and programs of government to catapult the Philippines into the newly industrialized country (NIC). When he published his book, Ople was the chairman of the Senate foreign relations committee. The book is a collection of his privilege speeches and newspaper columns he wrote for the Manila Bulletin.

The Philippines was on the threshold of joining the so-called “tiger economies” in this part of the world during those times. This dream of NIC-hood for the country gained impetus, especially during the administration of former President Fidel V.Ramos. Unfortunately, the 1997 Asian financial crisis derailed our thrust to NIC-hood.

But several Presidents later, sadly the Philippines is still trying to meet the goal of becoming again a rice exporter.

Instead of finished products, we export more our OFWs abroad. Yesterday, we learned three of our state agency weather forecasters left last Sunday to work abroad for higher paying job. Aside from causing brain drain in our economy, our country has to pay for the social costs of separation of families whose breadwinners have to seek employment abroad.

The huge presence of our OFWs in countries where they are employed gave birth to Filipino communities spread across the globe.

Our nation has become a major influence in the culture of their host countries from the Middle East to the United States and elsewhere in the world. What is funny is finding how our native folklore like “aswang” even became an intellectual export product in Hollywood.

While watching my favorite TV series “The Grimm,” there was an episode last month about “aswang” that preyed on a Filipino couple who migrated to Portland, the setting of this police TV series based on villainous fairytale characters. We could not say if this is a bad thing for us Filipinos to be associated with “aswang” lurking in our country.

But looking at it from a positive point of view, the Philippines has gained so much notice, from both good and bad images we have abroad. Many of our elder statesmen like Ople who have passed on already have so much faith in the capacity of Filipinos to be at par with their counterparts at the international arena.

Indeed, Filipinos can turn global but parochial. If only we don’t shoot ourselves in the foot!