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Why We Are Where We Are / RP Has Turned the Corner

admin — Sat, 02 Jan 2010 11:23:07 +0000

WHY WE ARE WHERE WE ARE

By Rigoberto D. Tiglao

Philippine Daily Inquirer, 30 August 2009

The election season finds many a Filipino thinking not only who should be the next president, but pondering why the country – a nation of rich natural resources and talented people – can’t seem to get its act together, why it’s fallen back.

To understand why the country is where it is today, we have to look back more, even beyond our lands. After all, our country’s problems were created not just in the past decades, nor had it been isolated from the rest of the world.

For starters, when our nation was born in the 19^th century, it was already among the poor nations of the world, compared to European civilization which at that time made up the richest section of humanity.

But the world was bifurcated into the rich and poor sections only in the last 300 of the 8,000 years after the first human civilization emerged. The economic conditions of peoples all over the world since the fall of the Roman Empire were roughly the same, and it was only in the early 18^th century when the economies of Western Europe, and its main offshoot, the United States, pulled away from those of the rest of the world

Chart 1 plots this phenomenon, to include the Philippines and several Asian nations’ economic status measured by gross domestic product per capita, from 1820 to1940.

Chart 1: The Great Divergence

But how could different groups of the same Homo sapiens species, having the same brain power, have so different levels of well-being? Why did European-civilization economies surge ahead while most of the economies of Asia, Africa, and Latin America stagnated?

Historians have called this astonishing phenomenon “The Great Divergence” of the 18^th century, which created the present structure in which the world is starkly divided, with a few exceptions, into the rich European-civilization nations on the one hand, and, on the other, the rest of the world, where we are.

Explanations for this Great Divergence range from the cultural (the earthly, individualistic “Protestant Ethic” against the other-worldly, communal Catholic ethos); the geographic (e.g., the vast coal deposits near England’s major industrial centres provided cheap energy to the first factories); the catastrophic (Europe’s wars and plagues reduced populations so much that feudalism collapsed and technologies to increase productivity just had to be invented); the sociological (capitalism which emerged only in Europe invented its growth engine); and the technological (European technology, invented accidentally in most cases, just happened to be superior).

Whatever the most accurate explanation or set of explanations turn out to be, the factors that created European growth operated only within that continent (or transplanted to North America). The Philippines was not only far from Europe on the other side of the planet; it was annexed as a colony first by Spain and then by the US, and its economy yoked to serve these countries.

One powerful explanation for the Great Divergence is colonialism: that much of the growth of Europe was through the forcible extraction of labor (slavery mainly) as well as mineral and agricultural resources from the areas it colonized. Europe’s earliest factories were also given a boost by the markets – e.g., English manufactured textiles beating wiping out Indian hand-woven fabrics — artificially created in the colonies.

Colonial economy created structures of underdevelopment that blocked the adoption of capitalism and of modern technology in what would be the poor countries. Archetypical of this is the Philippines’ coconut plantations, created mainly by the Dutch-British Unilever and the US Procter and Gamble at the turn of the 18^th century to extract coconut oil, the raw material for soap and margarine. The resulting lower costs for these two products helped lower wages in Europe even as these created two of the most powerful multinationals in the world.

For the Philippines though, it created a type of economy that discouraged capital investments and resulted only in long-term productivity declines. The poorest areas in the country today — where both Moro and communist insurgencies have festered — are those in which lands are mostly planted to coconuts.

Even after the Age of Colonialism had ended, its impact has been such that the former USSR and Maoist China transformed it into a propaganda tool to make developing countries hate the US and other Western powers during the Cold War, and as a counter-foil to deep anti-communist thinking. Our local time-warped communists still rank “US imperialism” as the No. 1 reason for the country’s poverty, two decades after the term had completely vanished in Soviet and Maoist Chinese propaganda.

But the Great Divergence is only one part of the story of why we are where we are. There are more recent factors.

As late as 1820, the Philippines, even if it was poor compared to its colonizer Spain, was the most well-off in Asia, its $776 GDP per capita a bit bigger than Japan’s $737, and way above South Korea’s $604. Those of other Asian countries were all below $650.

However, Japan in the early 20^th century, and then South Korea and Taiwan in the 1970s and 1980s, would grow so fast to completely overtake our country, and break out of the structures created by the Great Divergence to become as rich as the Western nations.

Japan during its Meiji Restoration period at the turn of the century swiftly undertook a national movement to adopt Western technology. Waves of Japanese academics, scientists and engineers were sent to the US and Europe to learn Western technology. Japan quickly modernized to the level of European-civilization nations. Even devastated in World War II, it swiftly recovered to become one of the richest nations. It was a feat Taiwan and Korea would replicate.

It is the good news of the 20^th century: While Western-civilization countries developed modern social and material technologies, these tools are universal and are not racially- or culturally- bound. Any nation can adopt and use them in a matter of a few generations. Read Sony and Toyota for Japan; Samsung or LG and Kia for Korea; Acer for Taiwan.

For our country though, that was the time when we lost out to our neighbours. Korea and Taiwan overtook us in the 1960s, that by 2000 the average $15,500 GDP per capita of these countries – which before the war was smaller than ours – was six times that of our $2,385.

Worse news: Thailand’s GDP per capita outpaced ours in 1976; Indonesia’s in 1986, when we were busy in the People Power Revolution . We’re now ahead only of the war-torn countries of Vietnam, Laos, and Cambodia.

What happened?

THE PHILIPPINES’ PERFECT STORMS
Plot the Philippines’ growth rates since 1965 together with the average for Malaysia, Thailand, and Indonesia and why the Philippines stagnated clearly emerges.

Chart 2: Perfect Storms

The shaded area in chart 2, between the two lines represents the difference in the economic growth rates of the Philippines and the average of the rates of these three Southeast Asian countries.

These areas represent growth the country would have at the very least achieved, but which it didn’t for quite unique reasons. The shaded areas symbolize, as it were, the perfect political-economic storms that hit the Philippines mainly in the last two decades of the 20^th century, and explain why we lost out to our Asian neighbours.

The economic factor for the first storm of the 1970s was a global event, the oil shock of the 1970s. But it was political turmoil that made things a lot worse. An anti-Marcos student movement emerged, resulting in the unprecedented, violent street confrontations in 1970.

In August 21, 1971, the nearly perfect crime of the Plaza Miranda bombing had the effect its Communist Party perpetrators wanted: the worsening of the split within “the ruling class”, each warring faction represented by the Lopez and the Marcos clans.

The attack created an image that factions of the Philippine elite were now against each other’s throats, not only in rhetoric but physically, radically changing the decades-old genteel, non-violent rules of competition within the national elite.

With the support of the US since the military bases agreement would expire in 1974, and in order to remain in power since the 1935 constitution barred him from a third term, Ferdinand Marcos imposed his dictatorship September 1972.

The economy actually did well under martial law until 1976. It would eventually turn out to be the worst thing that ever happened to the country – because of developments that led to its end, and developments after its end.

Philippine history and its economic condition today would have been totally different if Marcos had turned over power to an elected successor right after the 1976. But then his fear of violent retribution for the Plaza Miranda bombing, universally blamed on him, probably convinced Marcos to hold on to the reins of power.

Benigno Aquino escaped death from the Plaza Miranda attack on August 21, 1971. In 1983, he changed plans while in Taiwan and returned to Manila on another August 21, to be killed most probably even before his feet touched Philippine soil.

The economy actually was already in trouble because of the global financial crisis, triggered by the unprecedented foreign-debt default by the biggest Latin American countries in late 1982. Aquino’s assassination unleashed widespread outrage that made up the political ingredient in this second of the country’s political-economic storms.

Widespread public opinion that Marcos massively cheated in the snap, presidential elections in 1985 created an explosive political situation that led to the economy’s worst recession ever, contracting 7% annually in 1984 and 1985. That paved the way for the unfolding of events towards the 1986 EDSA Revolution.

The restoration of democracy turned out though to be a brief, clear and cheerful day before the country’s third perfect political and economic storm broke out, the result of the most unfortunate confluence of several factors and events.

First, the electricity crisis erupted in 1987, due to the junking of the 620-megawatt nuclear plant project and the suspension of other power projects. This further debilitated the economy and discouraged investments. Second, military mutineers launched seven coup attempts against Corazon Aquino’s government while the New People’s Army went on a rampage of assassinating high-profile personalities. These created the image of a country in anarchy.

Dormant for 450 years, Mt. Pinatubo erupted in June 1991 – the second biggest volcanic eruption in the world in the 20^th century. Who would invest in a country with a big mushroom cloud looming near its capital, which forced even the mighty US military to abandon its biggest airbase in Asia?

And then, of all times, Mitsui executive Naboyuki Wakaoji was kidnapped by the NPA in November 1986. With Japanese TV showing him crying with his finger cut off, the Philippines became a place few Japanese would dare go. But that was when Japanese capital embarked on its great migration abroad – which was one of the most important factors that spurred the economic surge of Malaysia, Thailand, and Indonesia. By the 1990s, most Toshiba and Sony laptops would have the tag ‘Made in Malaysia’, or in Thailand.

There are many theories why our country remains poor; google the topic and there are more than a thousand entries — a popular topic in Filipino internet chattering. Corruption, our weak sense of nationhood, ‘bad’ cultural traits (e.g, ‘crab mentality’, the bahala na attitude, katamaran) are favourite explanations. Population is a factor that stares us in the face, and in the streets, but fear of the Catholic Church has muted debate on it. With their dogma of the zero-sum game of class-struggle, Filipino communists have succeeded in turning much of the national discourse into an exploited-versus-the-exploiter, people-versus-the-government mentality – an ethos of internecine hate.

But we are products of historical events. We are a young nation, born only in the 19^th century – and in the first place, born poor. And just when several other poor nations worked their way to get richer in the 70s and 80s, we were derailed partly by communist and separatist insurgencies, but more importantly, by unique confluences of events leading to and after 1986.

The Philippines’ People Power Revolution was a boon for humanity: it inspired democratization movements against all forms of dictatorships all over the globe. However, we paid dearly for it.

(The author is the Philippine Ambassador to Greece and Cyprus. This article is a condensed version of a chapter in a book he is writing.)

RP has turned the corner

(This article is a companion piece that was published together with the previous article in the Philippine Daily Inquirer, 30 August 2009.)

HOW PHILIPPINE ADMINISTRATIONS FARED Average Rates of Growth/Decline
	GDP growth	Inflation	Peso Depreciation	Cost of Money*
Marcos Martial Law (1973-1985)	3.3	17.4	-7.0	14.2
Corazon Aquino (1986-1992)	3.4	9.1	-4.2	17.2
Fidel Ramos (1992-1997)	3.8	7.6	-4.8	13.4
Joseph Estrada (1998-2000)	2.9	6.4	-11.6	11.8
Gloria M. Arroyo (2001-2008)	5.0	5.6	-0.7	6.2
*90-day Treasury bills Source: World Bank data, Bangko Sentral ng Pilipinas

By Rigoberto D. Tiglao

AN UNLUCKY country ours has been, but it is turning the corner. Look at Chart 2 again: the dark clouds were vanishing in the 1990s. We are well on the way toward the clear skies of political stability and therefore economic growth.

There have even been two years, in 1997 and then in 2007, when the Philippine growth rate outpaced our neighbors’. The country’s 7.2-percent growth rate in 2007 was its highest in the last three decades, faster than the 5.5 percent of Malaysia, Thailand and Indonesia.

Look at the big picture, look at the cold facts, and our country is far, far from being, as one columnist wrote, “sickly dying.” It is progressing not as much as we like to, and need to, but at least, there is progress, as political stability and our other democratic institutions are strengthened.

As shown in the table, except for the downward blip during the administration of former president Joseph Estrada, the average economic growth rates since the Marcos era have been increasing; inflation and interest rates decreasing; and the peso’s international value stabilizing. (See Table: How Philippine administrations fared.)

The past teaches us two lessons. First, as Japan, South Korea and Taiwan had dramatically demonstrated, not only European civilization’s material technology but its social technology – i.e. its institutions – can be adopted rapidly to create economic prosperity.

Second, the basic requirement for economic growth is political stability. And representative democracy with its mechanisms is still the best system for such stability –yes, that’s how important the elections in 2010 are.

People power in 1986 was an awe-inspiring event that should strengthen our cohesion as a nation. But ochlocracy – the rule of a shouting, frenzied mob, which the ancient Greeks, who invented democracy, already criticized 2,500 years ago – is a depraved, mistaken interpretation of the Edsa revolution.

RP has New Honorary Consul in Patras

admin — Tue, 08 Dec 2009 05:34:01 +0000

Mrs. Manalopoulou-Nikolopoulou's appointment as Philippine consul a.h. featured in the prestigious Greek magazine Image.

: Mrs. Anastasia Manolopoulou

Mrs. Anastasia Manolopoulou is the Philippines newest Honorary Consul with jurisdiction over Patras, Greece’s third largest city and port, as well as the department of Achaia. Ms. Manolopoulou holds graduate and post- graduate degrees in Business Administration. She is also a publisher of a local newspaper and magazine and owner of a music radio station. In 2006, she won a seat in the local Council Board in Patras. Aside from Greek, Ms. Manolopoulou speaks Spanish, English, French and Italian. Born in 1970 in Patras, Ms. Manolopoulou is married to Nikolaos Nikolopoulos, with whom she has four children. Mr. Nikolopoulos, who is with the New Democracy Party, regained a seat in Parliament in the recent elections in Greece.

Philippine Embassy in Greece Celebrates 111th Philippine Independence Day with Two Big Events

admin — Wed, 15 Jul 2009 19:28:42 +0000

In the evening of June 12, Ambassador Tiglao and Mrs. Getsy Tiglao hosted a well-attended diplomatic reception at the Ambassador’s residence at Paleo Psychico.

Ambassador and Mrs. Tiglao welcomed some 300 guests from the Greek government, the diplomatic corps, representatives from the Greek business sector, and leaders of the Filipino Community in Greece and members of Greek media.

Capt. Panagiotis Tsakos, who is one of Greece’s biggest ship owners, Olympic Gulf Tankers owner Adonis Antoniou, and Elvictor Group owner Stavros Galanakis were among the many shipping-industry magnates and executives at the celebration of the national day of the Philippines, whose nationals now make up about thirty per cent of the total officers and seamen in Greek-owned and managed ships. Some fifty resident ambassadors from Asia-Pacific, Europe, Latin America, and Africa enjoyed Filipino food at the reception together with honorary consuls, officials of the Greek Ministry of Foreign Affairs and other government institutions.

Two top-rating television channels in Greece, Star Channel and Antenna (ANT1) covered the event and interviewed Ambassador Tiglao together with Ilias Psinakis, a popular television personality. Ilias’ uncle, Steve Psinakis, is a prominent Greek corporate executive in Manila married into the country’s richest families and renowned as an anti-dictatorship fighter in the 1980s in the Philippines.

The guests were treated to servings of Filipino dishes such as pancit bihon, chicken adobo, spring rolls, pork barbecue and spicy chicken wings. The world-famous Philippine beer, San Miguel, in its original brew and in modern low-calorie and single-malt brews, became a favorite drink at the party, as well as the Coco Magic, virgin coconut juice produced and manufactured by Consolidated Dairy. “Best seller” of the evening was also the Filipino concoction called the halo-halo, with almost everyone lining up to sample a taste of the hugely popular Filipino summer dessert.

A video presentation about the Philippines and all-Filipino music put together by Philippine Embassy played all night.

In a separate celebration held on 21 June, the Philippine Embassy in cooperation with Filipino community organizations in Athens, held day-long festivities for the Filipino community at the Fokianos National Gymnasium in Zappeio.

For the second straight year, the stage and venue were covered with a huge marquee and four big tents to shade people from the hot summer sun. Athens News, once again the Philippine Embassy’s Communications Sponsor, distributed free newspapers and flyers at the event and beverages and other products provided by Coca Cola, San Miguel Beer and Coco Magic from Consolidated Dairy. Prizes for the raffle and other contests were provided by various companies in Greece.

The day-long event kicked-off with the parade of various Filipino community associations in Greece. Prior to the singing of the national anthem, selected students from the Philippine School in Greece (PSG) and (formerly known as KAPHILCA or Katipunan Philippines Cultural Academy), presented a biorama or a “living diorama” titled “Balik Silip sa Landas Tungo Sa Kalayaan”. It consisted of three parts: the cry of Balintawak, execution of Dr. Jose Rizal in Bagumbayan, and the proclamation of Philippine independence in Kawit, Cavite.

Officials of the Philippine Embassy led by the ambassador, read the Independence Day messages of President Gloria Macapagal Arroyo and other Philippine officials.

The occasion was highlighted by singing, dance and national costume competitions and superb cultural performances from PSG students and representatives of various Filipino organizations.

PSG students in colorful costumes wowed the crowd with their impressive performance of Singkil. PAMANA, a group of young Filipino children playing string instruments – mandolinata and guitar — under the watch of Atty. Humabon Orlanes, a long-time Filipino resident in Greece, delighted the audience with their rendition of Bayan Ko Tanging Ikaw, Hotel California and Faithful Love. The children’s parlor games and the modern dance contest also gave the event a very festive mood as the crowd continued to increase even towards the afternoon.

Various kinds of Filipino food like siopao, barbecue, caldereta, adobo, goto and halo-halo were available and sold from more than 30 food stalls set up by Filcom co-organizers especially for the event.

About 1,200 Filipinos, Greeks and other nationalities and even tourists attended this year’s celebration at Zappeio.

Philippine Embassy Hosts National Day Reception in Cyprus

admin — Wed, 15 Jul 2009 07:30:48 +0000

Cyprus President Dimitris Christofias and Mrs. Elsie Christofias led the guests in congratulating the Philippines on its national day. President Christofias engaged the Ambassador, Consul Kyriakides and guests in lively conversation at the reception held in a prominent restaurant in Nicosia.

Many of the resident ambassadors in Nicosia, including the US Ambassador Frank C. Urbancic, Jr., and the Ambassador of the Russian Federation Vyacheslav D. Shumskiy, officials of the Cyprus Ministry of Foreign Affairs, prominent Cypriot businessmen attended the reception. Filipino food, such as spring rolls and barbecue were also served among other dishes in the reception.

It was the first time that a diplomatic reception to celebrate the anniversary of the proclamation of Philippine independence was held in Cyprus. Consul a.h. Bushnell-Kyriakides was appointed Consul, a.h., for Nicosia in May 2007.

Ambassador Tiglao Hosts ASPAC Lunch

admin — Tue, 19 May 2009 19:31:50 +0000

The guest of honor was Foreign Affairs Deputy Minister for Economic Diplomacy and International Development Assistance Miltiadis Varvitsiotis. The ASPAC ambassadors led by Ambassador Tiglao and foreign ministry officials discussed Greece’s initiatives aimed at further developing trade with Asian countries, recent political developments in Greece, and Greek economic diplomacy and Hellenic Aid, among other issues. Deputy Foreign Minister Varvitsiotis discussed in brief with Ambassador Tiglao the forthcoming negotiations between Philippine and Greek social security officials to be held from 18 to 20 May 2009 in Athens. Deputy Foreign Minister Varvitsiotis assured the Ambassador that the Greek government fully supports the conclusion of a bilateral social security agreement between the two countries.

RP Lawmakers Visit Greece, Meet Filcom Leaders

admin — Tue, 19 May 2009 07:32:44 +0000

Ambassador Tiglao accompanied the visiting lawmakers to the Filipino Workers Resource Center (FWRC) in Ambelokipi. The lawmakers inspected the facilities at the FWRC and discussed the working conditions of the overseas Filipino workers in Greece, both land-based and sea-based, with the Ambassador and Labor Attaché George Eduvala.

After inspecting the FWRC, the lawmakers met with leaders of the Filipino community at a meeting organized by Ambassador Tiglao at the Philippine Embassy. At the meeting, Deputy Speaker del Mar lauded Ambassador Tiglao and the Philippine Embassy for their efforts in protecting and ensuring the welfare of overseas Filipinos in Greece.

The lawmakers also commended the overseas Filipino workers for their sacrifices in improving the lot of their families left in the Philippines. They assured the Filipino community leaders that they will endeavor to enact legislation that would be beneficial to OFWs, not only in Greece, but those in other parts of the world. An open forum followed the meeting where the lawmakers addressed the various concerns raised by the Filipino community leaders. Thereafter, the guests were treated to a buffet dinner consisting of pancit, bopis, longganiza, spring rolls, beef with broccoli, spare ribs, steamed rice, Greek salad, and fresh fruits. During their stay in Greece, the lawmakers were assisted by Philippine Embassy Administrative Officer Hermogenes Garcia, Labor Attaché Eduvala, Labor Administrative Assistant Tito Baldago Jr., and PAG-Ibig Representative Jean Santos.

BPULS inventor at IP Philippines

admin — Tue, 14 Apr 2009 19:36:38 +0000

World-renowned cardiologist and BPULS inventor, Dr. Helen Marcoyannopoulou-Fojas recently discussed how her invention works at the Intellectual Property Office of the Philippines.

BPULS, a Philippine-patented invention, is a portable, non-invasive, and inexpensive apparatus capable of scanning the whole arterial tree and allows early detection of cardiovascular diseases (CVDs).

Greek – Filipino scientist urges public to forego meat, walk daily

admin — Fri, 13 Mar 2009 19:38:51 +0000

The Inventor of the portable machine that can detect early signs of atherosclerosis (plaque buildup in the arterial wall) and in the process help save many lives from coronary artery disease can think of only two perfect complement to her machine: exercise and a diet filled with fruits and vegetables.

Download the PDF article here: Inquirer Story

Welcome Message of the Ambassador

admin — Tue, 08 Jul 2008 18:51:22 +0000

Mga Kababayan, welcome to the website of the Philippine Embassy in Athens!

Through this website, the Philippine Embassy hopes to reach out to you, our kababayans in Greece and in Cyprus, and to provide you with immediate access to the Philippine Embassy’s services.

Browse through the Consular Services page for information about passport and visa issuance, registration of birth and marriage, legal and notarial, and authentication services. Application forms can be downloaded from this website.

Visit the Labor and Welfare Services page for information about the Philippine Overseas Labor Office (POLO), OWWA, and PAG-IBIG and the services they offer.

This website also provides you with news and updates about the Embassy’s activities, significant developments in the Philippines, and community events.

Please feel free to send us your comments and suggestions on how we could best serve you.

Mabuhay ang mga Pilipino sa Gresya at Cyprus!

H.E. RIGOBERTO D. TIGLAO
Ambassador Extraordinary and Plenipotentiary
of the Republic of the Philippines to the
Hellenic Republic and the Republic of Cyprus (non-resident)

VISIT US
26 Antheon St. Paleo Psychico
Athens, Greece 15452
Tel: (210) 6721883
Fax: (210) 6721872
9:00 AM – 5:00 PM
Monday to Friday

Philippine Embassy Reduces Passport …

admin — Fri, 04 Jul 2008 09:09:27 +0000

Ambassador Rigoberto Tiglao is pleased to announce the reduction of fees for passports and other consular services such as notarials, visas, and citizenship reacquisition, effective 13 March 2008.

The reduction of consular services fees abroad is based on the directive of President Gloria Macapagal Arroyo to all Philippine foreign posts to ease the financial burden of overseas Filipino workers.

Ambassador Tiglao is confident that the reduction of fees would uplift the situation of our hardworking kababayans in Greece and Cyprus .

For the new schedule of consular fees, please follow this link.