A typical
slum area in the
Philippines. Photo: correctphilippines.org
he
Philippines has about 200 political clans spanning Apari up North to
Jolo down South. These clans control most of the local politics in their
bailiwicks. They wield tremendous power and have so for decades. A rich,
powerful, and politically connected family makes up the core of each
clan. Family members are treated like royalty and are well-known
throughout their region. Clans also maintain a well-oiled and expansive
political machinery, so it is no wonder they handily win in local
elections. Clans can thus easily perpetuate themselves in positions of
power. In the Philippines, they are also referred to as political
dynasties.
Clans have been around at least since the Spanish colonial period. Once
a family has established itself as the preeminent clan in a region, it
becomes extremely difficult to dislodge it from power. And the longer a
clan remains in power, the stronger the sense of entitlement felt by its
core members. Like royals, clan offspring are born into power. They
quickly learn that their social standing is far above the common people
… many times they believe they are even above the law. Inculcated in
these scions is the fact that eventually, they will grow up to rule the
town, city, province, or region their family controls. It is their
destiny.
All
the above would be fine, if this was still the 12th century and all our
neighbors were autocracies like ours. Unfortunately, this is the 21st
century and most countries are now meritocracies whose economies have
rocketed past ours.
The
Philippine economy on the other hand continues to meander towards
“first-world” territory but never quite arrives. For example: today we
have one of the highest growth rates in the region. So, do you think the
Philippines has finally turned the corner and is on its way to becoming
the next, Japan, Taiwan, South Korea, or Singapore? Probably not, in the
foreseeable future.
And
why is this so? One reason is because in the Philippines, both the
government and private sectors are run by second-stringers—individuals
not fully qualified for the job. In the Philippines meritocracy is
almost non-existent. A typical Filipino worker gets a job, or a
promotion, not because of his skill or ability to do that job but
because of the connections he or his family has. Likewise, in politics,
the country is lead by the sons and daughters of political dynasties.
They are elected into office solely because they carry the right
surname—it does not matter whether they know anything about the job or
not.
So
over time all Filipinos have learned to accept mediocrity as the norm—in
business, in politics, even in life. We never got much from Filipino
politicos and we have learned not to expect much from them. Wrong
decisions, poor of planning, lack of choices, and constant delays, are
simply par for the course as far as Pinoys are concerned. We’ve learned
to accept it, live with it, and if possible, we’ve learned to work
around it.
As
we noted earlier, if every other country in the world operated this way,
things wouldn’t be so bad. Unfortunately, that isn’t the case. Most
advanced countries are meritocracies were the best and the brightest
rise to the top. In government, only those with proven accomplishments
and a solid track record of success are voted into power by the
electorate. Unlike the Philippines, the public expects action from their
leaders. They hold their feet to the fire, and remove them from office
when they don’t get the expected results.
Given their radically different environment, it is hard to envision
situations where the Philippines can compete, or even keep pace with
such countries. Should Pinoys just learn to accept the fact that their
country will always be among the poorer, less developed countries of the
world?
Might there be a way to change things? Perhaps. We’ll talk about one
possibility in the next part of this editorial.
Published 3/22/2018 |