[My response to an article in the Philippine Daily Inquirer by Filipino Senator Francis 'Kiko' Pangilinan:]
Senator Pangilinan voices nice wishes, but not very strong arguments. Without intending too much offense, it is because of foolhardy politicians such as Sen. Pangilinan and the foolhardy Filipino population (in general) who keep voting such inept politicians to power each electoral cycle, that the Philippines is in the decrepit position it is today. Some rebuttals of Pangilinan's points:
Senator Pangilinan voices nice wishes, but not very strong arguments. Without intending too much offense, it is because of foolhardy politicians such as Sen. Pangilinan and the foolhardy Filipino population (in general) who keep voting such inept politicians to power each electoral cycle, that the Philippines is in the decrepit position it is today. Some rebuttals of Pangilinan's points:
"1. We are strategically located at the heart of East Asia."
The Philippines is located in between Northeast and Southeast Asia, but so to are Vietnam, Taiwan, and especially China. All of these are currently more desirable economic locations than the Philippines. The senator's listing of Northeast and Southeast Asia is also poignant. Northeast Asians tend to look down on Southeast Asians, often to the point of removing them from 'East Asia'. Yet Northeast Asia is listed before Southeast Asia, the region to which the Philippines belongs. To some extent, this is rational, as Northeast Asia is a better source of investors than Southeast Asia. Still, the Philippines could engage with its own region as well as all East Asia a bit more, could stop ignoring the rest of Southeast Asia, and try to become less dependent on the United States.
"2. We are No. 1 in aquamarine resources worldwide."
How long will this last with climate change, pollution, and the death of the coral reefs around the Philippines? Additionally, the Philippines has not been able to translate its marine wealth into better economic conditions. The Philippines is not as much a leader in producing shrimp as Vietnam; the Philippines is not a major fishing nation. So far, Philippine marine resources have not turned the Philippines into an aquacultural powerhouse, and in the near future I doubt it will.
"3. We have a huge tourism industry potential."
Really, does the Philippines? The Philippines is considerably behind Thailand in the tourism sector, an economic area with limited growth potential. Westerners find Thailand to be a more exotic (Buddhism, rich and 'strange' foreign culture) and desirable travel destination. The Philippines does not have many authentic 'Asian' landmarks such as Boroburdur or Angkor Wat; and the pseudo-Chinese buildings in Manila and Cebu are just a tacky embarrassment. Asian tourists might be drawn to the exotic (Roman Catholic, Latin-influenced culture) Philippines a bit more, but if any Asian tourists have a hankering for Latin culture (I personally have a low opinion of Hispanic culture) they could fairly easily book a trip for Latin America or Spain, which are far more Latin than the Philippines. And there are plenty of tropical islands in the world looking for tropics-loving tourists.
"4. We are now the No. 2 in the BPO industry worldwide and can become No. 1"
Even if the Philippines could overtake India (no small feat since India's educational system now almost matches the Philippines' and they have 1.1 billion people to the Philippines 100 million), there are only so many jobs to be gained--even indirectly--from BPO. BPO alone cannot make the Philippine economy thrive considering how far behind the Philippines is, and how fast the population is growing.
"5. We are extremely creative and artistic people."
This remark makes me angry. Filipinos should in theory be creative. But they aren't. Latin America's primary redeeming feature is its artistry and creativity. The Philippines has the worst of Asian and Latin cultures (not to mention American): all the uncreativity and copycatting of East Asia, and all the economic ineptitude and slow growth of Latin America. Filipinos 'perform' abroad by singing songs written and first sung by foreigners. They do not sing Filipino songs to foreign audiences, and from what I have listened to, Filipino rock is crud, arguably even beating out French rock--and the French don't even try to be good at 'Anglo-Saxon' music. The Philippines has output no artistic wave. Foreigners do not listen to Filipino music or avidly flock to Filipino art galleries. Even East Asians beat out the Philippines in this regard (think J-Pop, K-Pop, and Chinese modern art is currently very trendy in the West).
"6. We have the emergence of a new generation of progressive and results-oriented public sector leaders."
Is that so? I'd never guess. Corruption sure seems to still be rife in the Philippines. Any results are short-term, as politicians seek to placate the mob rather than set long-lasting projects that would lead to prosperity in the long-term even if they seem undesirable now. Any results-orientation and progressiveness on the part of Filipinos seems to be to try to oust corrupt, incompetent politicians before their terms are up, via protests rather than the ballot box where such ousters should be done, making the Philippines appear even more unstable and unattractive to potential foreign investors.
"7. Information and communication technology advancement is enhancing our sense of nationhood."
I agree. However, the Philippines needs to work much harder to form a common identity and ethnicity. Many may find it sad, or disapprove, but the Filipino tribes (Tagalogs, Cebuanos, Ilocanos, Pampangans, also 'Chinese/Tsinoys' and Korean-Filipinos and white Filipinos if they exist, etc.) have to go, and be replaced by Filipinos. A single, standardized language has to be the language of the entire country. I would even approve of the government creating a list of 100 or so 'Filipino' surnames, and assigning them randomly to every citizen household in the Philippines. No Chinese or European family names, at least in public. All Filipinos should have a 'Filipino' name. This goes for given names as well. Those Spanish-style and 'American/English' names don't mean squat in Filipino. Most peoples', especially in Asia, names actually mean something. Stop going foreign; stop giving undue adulation to foreign things; stop denigrating the indigenous. Have more respect for your country and people.
"8. We have a re-emerging middle class mindset."
I wasn't aware the Philippines ever had a 'middle class mindset'. As far as I can tell, income distribution in the Philippines continues to be appalling and far behind most of its neighbors, if not all. This hurts the economy of the entire country. Land reform is necessary to knock the landholding elite from power. Business reform is necessary to knock the bribing, business elite from power and encourage more competition and investment. Unfortunately, the landholding and business elite has a stranglehold on the Philippine government, economy, and culture (via the media). When Filipino actors drawn from the elite (Aquinos, Ongpaucos, etc.) and act as poor Filipinos in movies, that is infuriating. Their families are the very ones responsible for all those poor 'ordinary' Filipinos in the first place, and here they are pretending to be those whom they and their families keep in poverty!
"9. We are a young nation."
This is also India's argument about why it will one day supposedly surpass China. The Philippines large population is a double-edged sword. The population will make it so there are plenty of available laborers in the future. However, the Philippines can't even create enough jobs for the number of Filipinos there are now, which is why Filipinos are forced to look abroad for better business opportunities. A young nation is horrible if you do not have any jobs for those children when they grow up, or for their parents now. The cost of educating an ever-larger pool of children is increasing faster than the Philippines is developing, and so educational quality is in decline. The average Filipino's English is sub-par, to say the least. That the Philippines is a young nation does not work in its favor with the current Philippine economic condition.
"10. We are a people who love to laugh, who love our families."
This is a huge part of the problem with the Philippines. There is not enough discontent among Filipinos to truly push for meaningful change. Filipinos are too easygoing to be sufficiently embarrassed and angered by their nation's very poor status in the world. The senator's comments here reflect this Filipino self-delusion that things aren't that bad. Filipinos' love of their families leads overseas Filipino workers to support leaching family members who don't work, but instead just continually receive and spend remittances sent by their few diligent, loving family members who work in often abusive conditions in foreign lands.
Senator Francis 'Kiko' Pangilinan's comments here are weak arguments. Mr. Pangilinan might also consider dropping the 'Kiko'; mature adults usually should avoid nicknames especially when they are representatives of a sovereign nation.
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Found this article interesting? Check out:
History: The Roadmap to the Future.
History: The Roadmap to the Future--Africa.
History: The Roadmap to the Future--Asia.
History: The Roadmap to the Future--Europe.
History: The Roadmap to the Future--Latin America.
Or:
The Science Fiction Channel + Technorium.
The Vegetarian Diaries + Biologeel.
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