Like It Is
By Peter Walace
Manila Standard Today
I have often wondered why the Philippines is so poorly regarded internationally (the lowest levels of foreign investment and smallest number of tourists confirm this).
There’s so much that is attractive about the Philippines—but it’s not known. The image of the Philippines is of bungling cops unable to break down a bus door so eight tourists die. The image of New Zealand is of a country that rescues, nurtures and sends a penguin back home to Antarctica. A country that cares is not careless.
You have an image of a country from minor events, not from in-depth knowledge. Well, the Philippines is not a land of bungling cops (Incidentally, I’d almost guarantee that the promised properly, professionally equipped, intensively trained rescue team has not been created. If it is, I’d like to see a demonstration), but of talented people who perform as well as, or better, in many cases, than anyone else.
The situation is so bad that at many events the Philippines is not compared poorly to elsewhere, it isn’t compared at all. It’s not on the list. I really have no simple answer to why this is so, despite I’ve thought and thought about it over the years. Here is a country with a warmth, hospitality and friendship you won’t find anywhere else.
Multinational corporations tell me that their operations here are ranked up at the top on performance, efficiency, profitability amongst their subsidiaries around the world. That’s reality. I can tell you loyalty of staff is incredible. My team thinks nothing of working way beyond eight hours if the client or project needs it. Of working years for us in a belief in what we do. That’s a loyalty replicated in numerous companies. Texas Instruments doubled its investment here because after a typhoon that devastated Baguio and many of TI’s employees’ houses, the employees were all back at work the next day.
I wrote a booklet some years ago to help foreigners new to, or thinking about investing and living, here understand what they’re getting into. I listed the country’s best features based on various surveys, as: 1) English language proficiency; 2) Labor availability, quality and reliability; 3) Adaptability to Western culture and practices; 4) Market potential and size; 5) Educational attainment; 6) Low cost environment; 7) Positive Filipino attitude; 
Quality and quantity of middle management and technical people; 9) Comfortable local lifestyle; 10) Strategic location; and 11) Good telecoms infrastructure.
Note how much of it is people: it’s the Filipino. Close to 9 million of them around the world tell you that, too. The global shipping industry experienced a great slump during the recent world economic meltdown, yet Filipino seamen didn’t lose their jobs. Other nationalities did.
But note too how two of the most important features (English capability and education) are being thrown away. My wife was taught in English, her home spoke English, English was the language of choice. Tagalog was placed alongside it. Today, misplaced nationalism seems to think Tagalog must be spoken as it’s the language of home so it’s easier for kids to learn in it. Yes, the language of home is the easiest language to use to impart knowledge, but 40 years ago, that language was English.
The other argument is that Tagalog identifies the nation. Well I speak English, not Aboriginal; Americans speak English, not some red Indian language. Language doesn’t define a nation, language is for one purpose, and one purpose only: Communication.
The world speaks English. More than 300,000 Filipinos have jobs in call centers because they speak English. Another 200,000 are employed in other business process outsourcing sub-sectors like transcription & digital content/game development where English is also the primary language used. Most of the nearly 9 million Filipinos around the world have jobs because they speak English. None is there because he or she speaks a Filipino dialect. The interconnectivity of the world, the explosion (the only word) of globalization makes English essential if we are to be a leader in the IT industry where we’ve done so well already. So it must be taught equally with Tagalog, not as a second language.
It also means education is ever more essential, yet we’ve just lost all our universities out of the world’s Top 300. Some 35 percent of kids never finish primary school, another 27 percent drop out from secondary. Of 100 primary school entrants, only 14 earn a college degree. The deterioration of the educational system is heart breaking and is becoming a major deterrent to new investment. There are still enough Filipinos to meet industry needs, but it won’t continue. The BPO industry, where the Philippines is a world leader, can find enough people now, but soon it won’t be able to. Not having enough money to fund education is not an excuse. There is enough money—if corruption is stopped as the President wants; if schools are built, not monumental government offices (go see the opulent monstrosity in Calamba to satisfy someone’s ego); if tax effort (taxes as a share of GDP) is brought up to the 17-18 percent of elsewhere in Asia; if tax changes are pushed through (sin tax amendments and fiscal incentive reforms could add about P95 billion that could be put into education and health). The money is there. Lack of money is not an excuse.
The other human factors that make the Philippines so attractive remain strong, so how do we get the world to know about them? Spend money, that’s how. Market the Philippines aggressively. Create the image (based on what is the reality). It’s a job that Tourism Secretary Mon Jimenez and Trade Secretary Gregory Domingo must be tasked to do. And that, Congress should agree, should be liberally funded—the returns will be multiples of what is spent.
We can’t sit around and wait for the world to discover the real Philippines, we have to tell the world. But forget the stereotyped, unimaginative ways: Rescue a penguin. Get the world to stand up and take notice.
When you market something, you sell its best feature, you identify the product with a unique feature. Well the unique feature of the Philippines is the Filipino. I’d sell the Filipino, concentrate on getting the message across that the reason to invest or visit is because the people are great.
No one wants to see a church, they want to see a temple. Beautiful beaches abound around the world, but people that make for a wonderful experience don’t. Workers that go beyond what is expected elsewhere in the world are as scarce as hen’s teeth (I presume hens have no teeth, I’ve never looked).
What must go hand-in-hand with this, though, is a change in the leadership of the country. Over the past 40 years, China has leaped past the Philippine, as I explained last week, for only one reason: better, more focused, more idealistic, nationalistic leadership. Nothing else was different, it can be the only logical conclusion. Three of the country’s past four leaders have been accused of corruption, of putting themselves before the nation. And many of the people below them have replicated that attitude. So the Philippines sank off the map.
Can it be made to surface again? Can we get a truly patriotic leadership? This is the challenge for President Noynoy Aquino. It’s a challenge he seems to have accepted, but can he bring the other leaders along with him?
That’s his real challenge. Can he change the wang wang culture at all levels?
Can Filipinos truly care for their country, not themselves. After 333 years in a monastery and 45 years in Hollywood—close to 400 years of foreign domination!—who wouldn’t want to think only of themselves and protect their families? But 113 years of independence is surely enough for Filipinos to realize it’s their country now and they must care for it, genuinely care for it—in action, not words.
Sell the Filipino to the world, it’s the Philippine advantage.
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