Having come back from a sabbatical from posting thought-provoking stuff on FilipinoVoices.com (in deference to the Boss’s guidelines), I make my triumphant return here to re-elevate the discussion from the politico-speculative drivel it’s been languishing in over the last several days. I thought I’d use resident FV trajo, (tradtional “journalist”) Ding Gagelonia‘s bit of name-dropping…
tranquil,
Pasingit. the late Teddy Benigno was a personal friend.
He, among others, was founder of FOCAP – the Foreign Correspondents Association of the Philippines and was Press Secretary under Pres. Cory.
We had occasion to coordinate closely when I media officer of VP Tito Guingona [...]
… as a convenient jump-off point to cite the Teddyman’s seminal 2001 essay, “The worst, best of times“, where he wrote this insightful snippet (note that phrases set in boldface are my formatting):
In many of our recent writings, greatly helped by a month’s vacation where he could reflect better, this author chartered a different path. We sought to understand why the Filipino remained a “born loser” in the great human struggle to escape poverty, why our democracy remained an abject failure, why unlike the others our economy couldn’t soar. We talk and bicker too much, and act too little, said GMA in her SONA. The Yellow Paper II of 30 outstanding economists and social scientists said we needed more “effective leadership” plus a program to alleviate poverty. That multinational guru Peter Wallace said Filipinos must develop a sense of national pride and doing things for society, not the individual. The CNN-APS led by Triccie Sison and Brother Roly Dizon brought out its rapier to thrust gamely at poverty and corruption.
I have chosen the culture of the Filipino as my battleground.
Mine is the conviction that unless we dig deep into our culture, we will never see the pit bull that has torn our pants off, gnawed at our intestines and robbed us of our soul.
[...]
And then we go to Samuel P. Huntington (world famous for his classic Clash of Civilizations). In his Pan-American Dream, Huntington identifies ten values or mind-sets that distinguish progressive cultures from static cultures. You could almost swear Huntington was writing about the Philippines, vide:
First. time orientation. Progressive cultures emphasize the future. Static cultures emphasize the present or past.
Second. Work is central to the good life in progressive cultures but is a burden in static cultures. In the former, work structures daily life. Diligence, creativity, and achievement are rewarded not only financially but also with satisfaction and self-respect.
Third. Frugality is the mother of investment ‘ and financial security ‘ in progressive cultures but is a threat to the ‘egalitarian’ status quo in static cultures, which often have a zero-sum world view.
Fourth. Education is the key to progress in progressive cultures. Connections and family are what count in static cultures.
Fifth. Community. In progressive cultures, the radius of identification and trust extends beyond the family, to the broader society. Societies with a narrow focus of identification and trust are more prone to corruption, tax evasion, and nepotism, and they are less likely to engage in philantrophy.
Sixth. Merit is central to advancement in progressive cultures. Again, connections and family are what count in static cultures.
Seventh. The ethical code tends to be more rigorous in progressive cultures. Every advanced democracy (except Belgium, Taiwan, Italy and South Korea appears among the 25 least corrupt countries on Transparency International’s Corruption Perception Index.
Eighth. Justice and fair play are universal expectations in progressive cultures. In static culture, justice like personal advancement is often a function of whom you know and how much you can pay (Hear, hear! Now you know why GMA and Ping Lacson met in Malaca’ang. TCB).
Ninth. Authority tends toward dispersion and horizontality in progressive cultures, towards concentration and verticality in static cultures.
Tenth. Secularism. The influence of religious institution on civic life is small in progressive cultures. Its influence is often substantial in static cultures.What I want to happen is that our culture as Filipinos gets to front and center in a raging national discussion and debate. It’s time we elevated the quality and context of the national agenda. Huge and bigger cracks are opening in our republican armor . . . And unless we move soon, we Filipinos shall all miss the point. The locomotive. We are almost half a century late. Already we are biting the dust of Thailand and Malaysia. Shall we wait for Vietnam to send us to the cleaners?
Read the full essay and weep here.
Philippine society narrowly escaped a colossal loss of groundbreaking insight into the underbelly of its psyche. Though the Teddyman went on to write several more similar articles on our renowned Filipino-style cultural dysfunction, he died in 2005.
There is nothing special about today. But in any case, let us take it as an occassion to honour the esteemed Teodoro “Teddy” Benigno, Jr and reflect on the irony of how some of his “personal friends” and peers in the once illustrious profession of Pinoy-style journalism which he sought to bring honour to, today remain fixated on the droll and unintelligent, the trivial and the irrelevant.
[NB: GetRealPhilippines.com is currently migrating off its Geocities account which will go offline by the 26th October 2009. In the future, the above link can be accessed here (that page not migrated as of this writing). Watch this space for updates on our migration project. - benign0].
Though the headline news and popular discussions of these days titillate and intrigue — presidential breast implants, techno-grandstanding on IT-vendor management snafus, and “parallels” between other “revolutions” going on overseas — let us pause and re-visit this simple truth (another OBQ — original benign0 quote — alay sa lahat):
The popularity of an idea is never a good indicator of its validity.
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On a personal note, I like how you’ve found an opening to translate the lively discussion of culture going on elsewhere (you know, where we don’t have a fixation on the president’s boobs) into a larger arena. Too bad Teddy Benigno isn’t still around; maybe he could inspire his friends and colleagues to act a little less like Beavis & Butthead.
I agree with him in that culture is the main battleground. Obviously.
trajo, (tradtional “journalist”) : the term only really refers to old and antiquated, not to quality of the work nor seriousness of purpose.
Also reminds one of the adage about “… when doing same-oh same-oh… then not to expect new results”.
Seems to me the shoe fits either foot for some people, no?
… which, of course, is tra-jic.
Though some instances of tragedy is fodder for amusement and hilarity. [BUT.... the same joke repeated over... and over and over again becomes staleness that bring tears to one's eyes.]
I was writing on another blog about US racism, a deeply ingrained social evil, now largely eradicated. I have come to see corruption in the Philippines as a similar deeply ingrained social flaw. The similarities: corruption is rationalized as acceptable by those who are corrupt; it hurts people; your parents do it.
Joe the Radical
WE SHALL OVERCOME, SOMEDAY…
mr. joe radical, how about corruption in the u.s.? you can start with the wall street, chicago, ohio, new jersey, san francisco, among others. and i don’t mean just official corruption.
So the Philippines’ problem is somehow ameliorated by the existence of corruption elsewhere? Never mind where the U.S. and the Philippines rank comparatively on the CPI, what does another country’s internal corruption have to do with yours? You might as well claim there’s corruption on the Moon for all the relevance it has. It’s not an excuse to put your head back in the sand and continue to believe your problems are insoluble because they’re just too hard to face.
Ben K,
Bencard’s glasses get a little clouded sometimes, BenK. He sees US ethics as similar to Philippine ethics. Most would laugh that a well-regarded attorney could say such things, but hey, it takes all kinds . . .
I read yesterday about a survey showing the Philippines ranking as the least productive economy in Southeast Asia; ranking 43rd or somesuch (the survey excluded Vietnam, Myanmar, and a few other small players). The head of the Philippine government agency responsible for commercial development did what?
Criticized the survey technique, and whined that the survey people did not visit Subic and other dynamic commercial developments. I suppose she could never be honest and say, “yes, we need to stop sending 25% of our GNP into private pockets every year.”
When there is a failure to accept responsibility, how can there ever be a change?
I also read this morning that the US is investigating whether or not Ms. Arroyo allowed US grant money (which the US considers belongs to US citizens) to go into private pockets.
Joe
Joe, I hadn’t heard that last part, you got a link or other reference? Because I’ll seriously have to man my guns if there’s any truth to it.
I did hear about the survey, however, or rather the reaction to it — still have to look up the offending work. Sadly typical. Naturally, the method would not have been so flawed if the survey people had visited Subic…or maybe they did? It’s not as though that place is exactly a monument to ingenuity and progressive development.
BenK,
de Quieros (spelling?) editorial in today’s Inquirer (7/14). Really just a mention, no information at all. Tried to get a link, but failed.
Even had the survey people visited Subic or other places, I think the rating would be very poor. I see this kind of ranking, and if I am in charge it leads me to say, okay, let’s get out of the bottom third. What do we have to do to get there? Then move toward that goal. The problem with the blame-finding is that it is just so non-productive. I shudder every time I see legislators or other important people scape-goating poor performance.
The performance speaks for itself.
Same with the corruption ranking. Set a goal, and move toward it. This giant ship just lists in the water.
Joe
Okay, I found it:
http://www.imd.ch/research/publications/wcy/World-Competitiveness-Yearbook-Results.cfm
Here’s the point that the local authorities missed, judging from the ‘sound bites’ published in the Inquirer article:
“…IMD’s definition of competitiveness is: “How nations and businesses are managing the totality of their competencies to achieve greater prosperity”. Competitiveness is not just about growth or economic performance but should take into consideration the “soft factors” of competitiveness, such as the environment, quality of life, technology, knowledge, etc. This helps explain why some countries, the US, Japan, the UK, Nordic economies and small, open
economies like Hong Kong, Singapore and Switzerland are able to maintain their rankings in the top league despite short-term disruptions. Too much focus on short-termism helped trigger the crisis!”
There’s a pdf summary of the survey which you can download from their website.
joe & benk, look befor4e you leap, guys. i was responding to joe’s specific parallelism between alleged u.s.’ discrimination and philippine corruption as “deeply-ingrained social evil”, implying that corruption is not a u.s. problem, while discrimination is virtually non-existent in the philippines. benk is barking at the wrong tree, while joe’s spectacles are skewered badly, if not deliberately.
Sorry if I misread you, but that’s not how it came across at first. At any rate, now that you’ve clarified, I’d have to say I’d agree with you, if the point you’re making is that comparing Philippines’ corruption to American discrimination is an apples-to-oranges proposition. The very differences between the way both conditions exist in both countries, however, I think supports my point of view that any comparison is pointless. These conditions exist because of, and have to be solved in the context of, the social circumstances that create and aggravate them, which are, of course, completely incomparable between the US and the Philippines. I think the only real comparisons that could be made are that corruption is more subtle in the US than here, while discrimination is less visible (though no less an issue) here than in the US. Those little factoids do very little if anything to inform or offer solutions to either society.
Breast Implants or no Breast Implants. We are in a mess. Too much
politics. Leaders do not care, except to continue to hold power.
This is like a weight on our necks.
Unless we go beyond our Traditional Politics, and Traditional Politicians. We will continue to go around and around in the place
where we are. Never advancing.
I left the Philippines 30 years ago. I dont see any change in its
political structures. The Old politicos pass their old political
tactics to their children. Now the children are our politicos.
amen. nabanggit mo pa
actually if you take a good look at the situation, there are a lot of new political dynasties. So it really depends on how old “old” is.
If you go all the way back to pre WWII, almost all the dynasties of those days are gone. If you look at the political landscape before Marcos and compare it with post Marcos, you will see that a lot of new dynasties have come along.
In the Senate, Roxas is the only name that goes all the way back to colonial times. If you go to the House, there are more new names than old. And if you check out the governors, you will also see a lot of new names.
If your time span is 30 years then what you are seeing are the dynasties that came during and after Marcos.
the current dynamics sees the political elite come and go..
on the payroll of the local economic elite.
cojuangco, tan, zobel de ayala, the taipans have been at it for more than 30 years
Sure there are new ones, but in general, Mindanao still has the same dynasties.
Lanao del Sur – Alonto, Lucman, Adiong, Dimaporo, Macarambon, Dimakuta
Lanao del Norte – Badelles, Lluch, Cabili
Sultan Kudarat – Mangudadato
Cagayan de Oro City – Emano
General Santos City – Antonino
Zamboanga City – Lobregat, Lorenzo
Zamboanga del Norte – Adaza, Ubay, Carloto, Jalosjos
Zamboanga del Sur – Sagun-Lim, Enerio, Amatong, Cerilles
Tawi-Tawi – Jaafar
Camiguin – Romualdo
Misamis Occidental – Chiongbian, Ramiro
Misamis Oriental – Pelaez, Baculio
Saranggani – Chiongbian, Amatong
Sulu – Amilbangsa, Rasul, Abubakar, Ututalum, Tulawie
Surigao Norte – Navarro, Barbers, Ecleo
Surigao Sur – Falcon, Pimentel-Serra , Ty
Agusan del Sur – Paredes, Amante, Plaza
Bukidnon – Fortich, Zubiri, Acosta
Compostela Valley – Caballero
Cotabato – Pendatun, Mastura, Datumanong , Matalam, Mangilen, Sinsuat
Davao City – Garcia, Lopez, Duterte
Davao del Norte – Del Rosario/Garcia, Sarmiento
Davao del Sur – Bautista, Cagas
Davao Oriental – Almario/Zosa, Palma Gil
In Southern Mindanao alone, family names-wise, it is still the same names. The only difference is their dads where my dad’s friends/patients – and this time around – the new faces are schoolmates, batchmates, and my friends.. or friends of my friends.
Bong V
Lagyan mo ng start date yun mga dynasty na nabanggit mo para claro ang examples mo.
of the top of my head I can see two na sa 60s and later lang nagumpisa: 1.antonino. 2. zubiri nagumpisa lang yan kay joe nung ginawa siyang manager ng busco nung panahon ni marcos.
Sa business naman yan Tan sa Marcos era lang nagumpisa. At tignan mo yun mga ibang taipan. maliban k yuchengco puro mga bagong yaman yan.
Finally when you speak of political dynasties please distinguish between those dynasties that are freely elected and those dynasties that are there because of warlordism. The former are created by voters, the latter by guns and gold.
The prominent christian political dynasties in mindanao are the business pioneers from luzon and the visayas. Their province-mates followed when they opened up areas for economic development. For example, in bukidnon negresenses went to work in the canefields of busco. in many other places, visayans and luzonians went to work in logging concessions, farms, mines etc.
mcb:
start date or none – political dynasties exist -deal with it
warlordism or not – at the end of the day, the voters validate the dynasty through a vote.
moroever, the new dynasties, want to emulate the old dynasties – kaya hanggang ngayon wala pa ring asenso ang Pilipinas
you have more newspapers, you have more bloggers, and you have more of the same old crap
” I make my triumphant return here to re-elevate the discussion from the politico-speculative drivel it’s been languishing in over the last several days.”
Diyos ko po!
i concur with benigno’s observation. some drive-by posters and commenters here are hazardous to FV’s health. then again, how can malignant cells be controlled?
bencard,
you have a funny sense of tumor.
snipers like you balance out drive-by posters
As the Master Benign “Quotator” said “What I want to happen is that our culture as Filipinos gets to front and center in a raging national discussion and debate. It’s time we elevated the quality and context of the national agenda. Huge and bigger cracks are opening in our republican armor . . . And unless we move soon, we Filipinos shall all miss the point. The locomotive. We are almost half a century late. Already we are biting the dust of Thailand and Malaysia. Shall we wait for Vietnam to send us to the cleaners?”
What will a discussion or as you say a “raging national discussion” DO? Kung puro dak-dak nang dak-dak and you don’t offer any solution or action to any problem. Puro criticisms. The simple answer is NOTHING. Will it put food on da table? Answer: Noh! Will it educate a poor kid? Noh!
Everyone knew, we are part of an international community but some things has to start with the basic systems structure “ang pamilya”. So, it still boils down to Filipino values and it is all up to a person become a part of the community.
We are also not half a century late.
Being a part of the international community also implies what happens to the financial status of a huge country like America will affect us, as well as the other countries you cited. Developed and advanced Asian countries has been greatly affected.
If you can offer a solution that applies to the Philippine situation, it will be commendable. If not create ones that solves the problem and does not criticized or simply state the pitfalls / downsides of it. How can you apply any solution when in the first place, hindi ka naman Filipino in the true sense?
CheekyChic,
I know you didn’t address your question to me, but it is a good question. You asked what can, practically, be done to improve things.
My perspective is based on how the US broke down racial discrimination.
If I were to pick one step, it would be that government employees would demand a “fair employment” law that bans hiring on any basis other than qualification and demonstrated achievement. The hiring of family and friends must stop. When people have careers to protect, they will be less inclined to break the law by taking cash under the desk. In addition, only productive people would move to the positions that are now filled with the inept, so government performance will improve.
This would require a national outcry, similar to US rants regarding racial discrimination. So the broad nation has to develop a conscience, a very loud one. Or maybe a strike by government workers would get the kind of attention that is needed. Legislators on their own would not do this.
It is necessary to fundamentally change the way government work is done.
Maybe it is not practical here, you would have to tell me. It worked in the US.
Joe
We all knew nepotism, bribery and corruption exist in the system Joe. Even though, I might sound to be such an optimist, I don’t think it is too late to inculcate it into anyone’s mind that some things are wrong and dishonest. As you cited some steps to get rid of nepotism, taking people on jobs according to their merits and qualifications.
Anyone who has been outside the country and worked with companies who can take you for your skills appreciate this and knew that there are still some things good left in us.
We know, there are two sides to a coin, when it comes to bribery, the one who gives and the one who receives. If both parties think it is wrong and dishonest to neither give nor receive, then no one will do it.
It is really up to the person’s principles and honesty to do an honest living whether one works for the government for yourself, or anyone.
I thought you’d never ask! :-D
We have an entire section dedicated to developing systemic solutions to the deep issues — the kind ordinary schmoes fail to grasp — that afflict Pinoy society.
Click here to check out our brilliant work!
Oh Yeah, I will!
The country needs the right kind of corruption. What we have here is old fashioned crony landlordism as opposed to every successful industrialized economy that used crony capitalism to develop.
Built around manufacturing which means a fixed place and the availability of long term hard money supported by the state.
You can call it corruption but here in the Philippines it a mostly a primitive form of state capture by landed dynastic interests kept in place by foreign capital interests which distort activities to the non-tradable sectors. The rent seeking activities limited to to what is available.
The history of wealth requires crony capitalism not this primitive rent seeking activities of trade and finance exclusively. It simply will consecrate activities to real estate and construction.
The state then is forced to used inflation based taxation and real estate becomes the best hedge versus inflation in a primitive exclusively land based economy.
Under this system production is discouraged and made almost impossible to sustain.
To cheekychic: I believe that you are correct (and many Pinoys in Pinas will agree with you) that “the pamilya” is at the crux of the problem in terms of inculcating values into the population that will undo the legacy of Spain with regards the indolence of the Filipino.
Now here is a fundamental question —- are the current grandparents and parents failing their children? Are today’s grandparents and parents still imbued with the failure-syndrome of old that they are not yet capable of inculcating many of the personal discipline characteristics that Teddy Benigno allude to? One way to answer this question I pose is simple enough —- listen to what the 35-year-old and older generation say. If there is little inspiration and call to discipline both proposed and practiced by the current parents and grandparents, then there is a problem, wouldn’t you say? If today’s parents and grandparents still tell their kids “…hanggang dito na lang talaga tayo, anak… ganoon talaga iyon, kapos tayo ng mga malalakas na kamag-anak, eh, kaya abroad ka na lang para makatulong ka sa pang tuition ng mga kapatid mo.”
Benigz here is proposing authoritarian rule of the “enlightened ones”.
He would like to believe he is “enlightened”.
He is impatient, angry even, on those who are not.
That explains the arrogance and the insults. He is way up there on the totem pole looking down with derision and contempt on the stupid Pinoys.
He has a product (idea) copy pasted from Teodoro C. Benigno Jr. but no one is buying because he does not know how to sell.
Benigz’credibility and integrity is suspect because he chose to remain incognito until now, using a pseudonym based on a movement we could perhaps call “Benignoism”.
Dictatorship of the Elite, anyone?
I wrote way back how, even in the game of “corruption”, Pinoys are third-rate:
It harks back to what BenK wrote a while back where he makes a comparison between the organised corruption in Chicago and the chaotic hollow-headed theft we call “corruption” in Da Pinas:
Whereas tapeworms live their parasitical existence under the radar in harmonious co-existence with their host organisms, killers like the Ebola virus are so virulent that they tend to wipe out swaths of its hosts’ population often depriving itself of the chance to spread.
In that sense, Pinoys are worse than tapeworms. They steal from their hosts but don’t have the basic sense to keep them healthy enough to provide more abundant and sustainable sustenance.
Sobrang siba kasi mga Pinoy e. :-D
Drive-by, aiming at the messenger and not the message. Maybe if Benign0 gets under your skin so bad (and if that’s the case, he’s doing his job well, from a certain point of view) you ought to try ignoring him and just reading what Teddy Benigno wrote. Or is he too elite for credibility as well?
Classism is a two-way street.
TCB’s romanticism is amazing. He is a dreamer. I share his politics and his vision. I even enlisted in the movement he set up before, something with a “force” word in it, couldn’t remember now. He aligned and allied it with Eddie Villanueva’s Bangon Pilipinas to give it perhaps a mass appeal.
Thing here is, Benigz and BenK, if you want to convert adherents to your cause, you don’t go around insulting everyone.
That gives Elitism its diabolical image.
Who knows what you will do if you are already in power wielding authoritarian stick, shove the stupid ones in the shallow pit because they are “parasites”?
Benigz’ brand of elitism is a turn-off. And scary..
No, we’d probably keep Wowowee and shouting Mike Enriquez on the air to keep the non-thinkers busy, maybe hire a Chinese columnist once in a while to write something disparaging, so you can take to the streets and feel politically involved.
How someone can share a person’s “politics and vision” and criticize his “romanticism” in the same breath is a pretty neat trick, though. If you ever conduct a seminar on demagoguery, let me know, I could use some pointers.
It’s not a matter of “converting” anyone to a particular “cause”. It’s an effort to encourage rationalism, critical thinking, and objectivity in preference to sentimentality, rote tradition, and superstition. The direction the tools of reason lead people to take is up to them.
Obviously, it doesn’t work on everyone.
there’s always the elitism of the ignorant – must be such a turn on.
Before I respond in the manner that befits your otherwise brilliant challenge, let me ask this liitle favour off you first tranquil:
Please cite specific examples of what I write (I don’t know if BenK minds if I can ask this as well on his behalf) that could be construed as “insulting” to Filipinos?
Thanks. ;)
Yes, please do tell.
tranquil seems to identify himself as one of the many Pinoys in Pinas unable to hold their ground against verbal sparring. You know, the ones who always cite the lack of
as major reason for getting the grade of C-or-below [ and not getting a promotion ].
Right. “Level playing-field” is one of the world’s biggest cop-outs, not just here. People like tranquil don’t realize that the only way to level the playing field is to put more weight on one’s own end of it.
hahaha, and what, pray tell, is anything new or substantive are you saying here Mike H? All the rants and all the dakdak from Benigz been heard before, most are not even original as he so often pleasantly claim. We accept or reject the idea based on its closer approximation to coherence and credibility.
And bloggers like you and me can always click the button and walk away as we please, no?
oh puhleeze…pa inosente effect ka pa Benigz when your coconut arrogance and insult is all over the web..
Your Machiavellian slip is showing Benigz and you are doing TCB a desservice…
I suggest a re-brandingg Benigz. Go easy on those vaccuous synonyms. Your message is not getting through because of your arrogance and narcissism. Do you want to be Napoleon?
Struggling with an otherwise simple challenge, tranquil?
See, that’s the trouble with making un-substantiated “assertions”. You fail to realise that the devil is in the detail. Here’s my simple and humble suggestion, dude: think.
Too much “action” underpinned by too little “thinking”.
The above pretty much describes the comedy of errors known as Philippine History.
:-D
There are times when I am quite wrong in my assertions, and I learn new facts and different points of view as a result. In hindsight, I always deeply appreciate those (fortunately infrequent) instances.
This is not one of those times, though. Selah.
Until the systemic flaws are remedied, the nature of the Philippine National “debate” is just like Wowowee – full of faces, antics, clowns – and devoid of substance – same tired old scripts.
bongv, debate is a free exchange of ideas of all kinds, e.g. sublime, ludicrous, pragmatic, whimsical, infantile, intelligent. it’s just too bad, in our kind of system, no one can pick and choose what opinion can be expressed and foisted on another but one can accept, reject or believe in it. i think that’s the strength and beauty of our system.
bencard:
am not so sure about the strength and beauty of the system when the system winds up with the philippines as the sick man in asia, the most corrupt country in asia.
bongv, i think one reason is that we have an oversupply of trapos, trajos and “vacuous” pinoys in the country.
bencard:
seems you are on to something. if one were to look at the “debate” as a bell-shaped curve that represents a normal distribution of POVs, starting from the dumbest POV to the sharpest POV – the distribution curve is skewed to the left, in favor of the simplistic dumb POVs.