Our Dream PH 2046: From gloom to glimmers of hope

(First of two parts)

Editor’s Note: From the speech delivered by the author as speaker at the recent Management Association of the Philippines (MAP) general membership meeting in Iloilo City.

We feel much gloom and hopelessness as many of us focus on the politics as played out in our country. The sense of unease becomes even deeper as we look at the immediate prospects for our political process leading up to 2028.

But seeds of hope are being planted. Iloilo—and a few others such as Pasig, Baguio and the Province of Bataan—provide glimmers of optimism and confidence about our future.

The challenge before us: how to lift the dark clouds of gloom from our national horizon and spread the glimmers of hope to shine through more brightly and decisively.

The first step: Realism

Many of us may choose to remain entrapped and bewildered by the political games being played out. But many more of us can take the time and look at the national scene with realism.

We can take the first realistic step—to recognize that we have been entrapped by these three endemic ills: lack of civic-mindedness; corruption; and poverty. They are closely interrelated and reinforce each other.

They share the same root cause: too much concern, among many of our fellow citizens, about themselves, their fortune, their political standing; their self-advancement; and very little operative concern for country and people. Lack of civic-mindedness is at the very core of what has been keeping us down, and in gloom.

We face up to the relative lack of civic-mindedness, not by politics alone. Nor by simply looking for personalities we can best sell to the electorate.

Not by smart, short-term solutions that are presented as slogans to disseminate through trolls and social media. Nor by building up a war chest, filled with treasure accumulated through whatever means, fair or foul. Nor by grassroots organizing, undertaken by super-smart, effective political specialists that are most adept at reading the political tea leaves, reinforced by constant polling and public opinion surveys.

These have been the tried and tested ways: we have done all these before. And look at where we are today! These win elections, but they do not address our endemic problems. The facts are that on the whole, they have made our problems worse!

We have good news, however. As we look around, we see there are alternative ways. These ways do not limit their perspective on politics; they go way beyond politics; they look at real needs of ordinary people—not just their short-term demands and preferences, but also the opportunities that can be provided for the benefits that can sustain them for life, over the long term.

They also go beyond personalities made to look good, with their empty promises. Instead, they put in place practices and mechanisms that deliver concrete, specific outcomes that ordinary citizens actually see and experience, such as: garbage is collected regularly and efficiently; walkways are constructed with ordinary people, including senior citizens, actually using them; and livelihood training opportunities are given to qualified youth so within two years they are employed with good-paying jobs.

They go beyond standalone projects that provide a veneer of activity and of public works undertaken. Instead, they go for a more comprehensive set of strategic priorities that bring the entire locality to significantly higher economic ground. These are pursued with multisector support and contribution.

Indeed, going beyond politics, personalities and stand-alone projects is what good governance does. It is our good fortune that it is already observed in several LGUs, NGAs and PLCs in our country.

The second step: Envisioning

Now that we have proven that good governance delivers transformative outcomes at the local, sectoral and corporate level, we should take the next step, to apply and adopt governance for the country. This would get us to think about our human resources (HR), yes about our population asset that has already proven to be a boon for our economy.

Instead of the more than $30 billion dollars that we have managed to secure as the economic base for the growth of the economy, what else must we do—as a country—to make that asset base grow its economic value, its contribution to national income, by at least $3—$5 billion a year.

What can we do to tap into our strategic resource of maritime personnel that claim an indispensable percentage for the world’s marine fleet to sail on and operate? What do we do with our medical and health care personnel that are in such great demand from the global health sector?

And what can we strategize—as a country—to use our trained lawyers, teachers, accountants, engineers and IT specialists such that we—as an economy—can extract maximum economic value, similar to what we are earning from our BPO sector?

These are the strategic HR base issues we should be addressing and resolving as we go from one political electoral cycle to the next.

Beyond HR that would enable us to raise our annual real economic growth on a sustained basis, there is the equally important economic base that we have in our natural resources.

We have water: we should not waste it away. We have low-cost green energy that would finally enable industries operating in our economic and industrial zones to be competitive through the supply of cheap and abundant electricity and water. And we have our forest and marine reserves that are staring at us with their great economic potential.

And instead of standalone flood control projects that already take so much of our public money without strategic effect, why can’t we go about pursuing a comprehensive program that enables us to extract high productivity from our seven major river basins?

That program has been crying out for attention and systematic funding for years! The funding is there, but it has been frittered away by corrupt hands digging into our national budget for standalone “water-management” projects that mainly add to their personal bank accounts!

Lest we forget, we do have an important financial resource base, which we have not allowed to grow and develop. Despite the inflow of financial resources through our OFW and BPO sectors, our savings rate remains abysmally low; our financial literacy rates keep most of our population in the “ignorant” category; our financial inclusion rate remains way below par.

(To be continued)

The author is the “MAP Management Person of the Year 2009,” chair of the Center for Excellence in Governance, founder and chair emeritus of the Institute of Corporate Directors and Institute for Solidarity in Asia