As Singapore celebrated its 50th year of independence, one cannot
help but reflect on what could have been for our own country, the
Philippines. After all, Singapore and the Philippines started as equals
back in the 1960s. Records even suggests that the Philippines was the
most developed country in the region during that time due to America’s
assistance in recovery after the second world war. But alas, the
Philippines has been left in the dust by the rest of its neighbors as
each country learned to evolve through the times.
Intelligent and efficient Singapore: The country the Philippines could have been.
Similar
to a marathon runner ahead in the race but who stumbled and suffered a
spectacular fall, it has been hard for the Philippines to pick herself
up. It’s become even more difficult after the country fell in the hands
of the oligarchs who replaced former President Ferdinand Marcos after
his ouster in 1986. Meanwhile, from what was described as a formerly
sleepy port, Singapore had grown to become a global finance and trade
hub. The legacy of Singapore’s founder former Prime Minister Lee Kuan
Yew continues to guide the country’s multicultural society even after
his death.
Some say it is not fair to compare Singapore to the Philippines
because Singapore is smaller. The country is just 716 square kilometers,
just a little bigger than Metro Manila. But like with most things, it’s
not the size of something that matters but what you do with it that
counts. Singaporeans obviously did a lot with their space in spite of
the scarce resources within it. Just to give you an idea of what they
had to deal with, the country had been relying on imported water from
Malaysia for most of its water needs. In recent years, “the city-state
has made its gutters, drains and rivulets a vast basin to catch
rainfall” in addition to increasing the size of its water catchment
areas just to ease their dependence on Malaysia. It is evident that
instead of holding them back, lack of resources has certainly made
Singaporeans become more resourceful.
Accommodating Singapore’s booming population seems like a welcome
challenge for them as well. To manage the country’s growth, which is
projected to reach six million people in the next two decades, the
Singapore government has teamed up with experts
from the “Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT) to devise ways to
manage its expansion — knowledge it plans to export to other cities.”
The whole point is “to study how cities work and how they can work
better.” Those who have been to Singapore will know how efficient things
are run in the country.
If only the Philippines can learn from Singapore and apply these to
the task of managing its people and resources, the country can also join
the rest of its neighbors at the finish line. Despite the Philippines’
vast resources and abundant talent pool, the country cannot seem to get
its act together. Let us look at the reasons why:
1. Weak law enforcement leads to lack of discipline.
Lee Kuan Yew’s advice was: Filipinos needs to develop discipline more
than democracy. He was right. Democracy only works when the majority
are informed and educated. That’s not the case in the Philippines. It
seems there is this misguided notion among Filipinos that democracy
means freedom to do whatever they want including breaking the law.
The reason why Filipinos lack discipline is because law enforcement
agencies including the police and justice department do not or cannot do
their jobs properly. To help them with their jobs, they have to
realize that they are dealing with mostly ignorant and arrogant people
so they need to apply zero tolerance and effect strict enforcement of
the law. Otherwise, the people will not learn to obey the rules. Perhaps
it would be best if members of the Philippine law enforcement agencies
treat the populace like children who need guidance. That’s how it’s done
in Singapore until now anyway. No chewing gum, anyone?
Everyday there is chaos on major roads in the Philippines due to lack
of discipline. One wonders what the traffic enforcers are doing to fix
the problem. Nothing, it seems. Every day there is someone throwing
garbage in the river and someone building a new shack illegally on
private and public lands. One wonders what the police and local
government agencies are doing to nip the problem in the bud. These are
just some of the violations that are tolerated in the country. Some say
this is so because politicians patronize the masses to get their votes.
Which brings us to the next item.
2. Patronage politics has perverted democracy.
It’s also called padrino system. This is the reason why law
enforcement is weak in the Philippines. The law is not applied equally
to everyone. This is evident in the way incumbent public servants use
selective justice in prosecuting criminals. This is why a lot of people
think it’s okay to do the crime. If you need further convincing, just
look at how President BS Aquino treats his allies. When people see
others get away with violating the law just by being friends with those
in power or by bribing those in power, their natural tendency is to
emulate or copy what they see. A lot of the elite members of Philippine
society do this to get away with violating the law. Those from the lower
class just copy the behavior of those from the upper class.
Mismanagement and mediocrity ruined the Philippines.
This
is precisely the reason why it is best to first ask the elite members
of Philippine society to change instead of asking or expecting the
masses to change.
As long as patronage politics is strong in the Philippines, the
country will not progress. You can even see patronage politics on the
road. The buses that block the road on EDSA and cause major traffic jams
are operated by the elites and, unfortunately, these bus operators are
not doing anything to discipline their drivers and neither are the
traffic enforcers doing anything drastic since they more than likely get
a cut from the bus operators.
3. Anti-intellectual attitudes discourage critical debate.
An anti-intellectual attitude in the Philippines is a problem that
has plagued the country since the mid 1980s. The problem started when
Filipinos allowed a “reluctant” housewife with no expertise in running a
government to become the President of the Republic. Instead of
promoting excellence, former President Cory Aquino promoted mediocrity.
The society also became increasingly emotional and vindictive.
One just needs to look at the current crop of public servants today
and one will realize why the country is run like hell. Instead of voting
for experts and professionals or at least someone with more experience
and vision, Filipinos love putting a lot of celebrities and popular
personalities and their relatives in powerful positions in government.
It seems as though Filipinos are allergic to people who have
knowledge and expertise in solving the country’s problems so they would
rather go for someone who they can relate with even when nothing is
being done to solve the country’s woes. No wonder the country’s public
transport system is almost in ruin.
It’s only in the Philippines where intellectuals are ostracised. When
you explain something that is deemed too complicated for the average
person, they will simply dismiss you with “eh di wow!” or similar
exasperated expressions in a condescending manner. It is the reason why
some intellectuals would rather go with the flow than risk being shamed
for using their heads.
As long as intellectuals and experts are not in charge of the
Philippines, the country will not reach the same status as Singapore.
The above reasons are what is holding the Philippines back from
reaching First World status. They all pertain to Filipino cultural
traits. There are some who would say that the country’s flawed system is
what’s holding the country back and suggest that perhaps a
parliamentary form of government will help foster intellectual
discourse. However, the system is only as good as the people. There is
very little chance a good system will be designed by a society that is
lacking in discipline, is anti-intellectual, and is imprisoned by
patronage politics. Sadly, such a society is guaranteed to either remain
stagnant or become worse in the decades to come.
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