The Philippines

I have had a decade-long relationship with the Philippines, both personal and professional. As I find myself here in Makati once more today, my thoughts go out once more to this rather unique little country.

One of my senior colleagues recently - and somewhat uncharitably - described the Philippines as a "formerly developing country". Sadly, the sarcasm rings true. It is hard to believe today that at one time the Filipinos, who are now best known for exporting domestic workers to the world, used to import domestic workers from Hongkong! Or that Manila, and not Singapore, was seen as a "hub" location in Southeast Asia, especially from a US perspective.

The Philippines has been quoted as an example of how "a free-for-all democracy" may not always work. Personally, I think it is more a case of their system being hijacked by one individual (Marcos) who damaged the growth trajectory, the institutional architecture and the governance ethic so much that the country is yet to recover from it.

But the highlight of this country is not its politics or its ecomony ... it is the people! Happy, smiling, courteous people! I think it is well worth the time of a team of social scientists to explore this phenomenon. How do these people remain happy, and what can we learn from them?

Let me explain. It is hard to find a more disaster-prone place than the Philippines - well, at least among countries with over 75 million population. Every year, thousands of lives are lost to typhoons and landslides (the latter caused and/or aggravated by the blatant rape of the naturally forested landscape for timber). Every few years, thousands more are lost to earthquakes, and every few decades, to volcanic eruptions. If that doesn't kill enough people, the inept ferry companies make sure they drown a thousand or so every now and then. The country has suffered terrorisim and unrest in the south (much less now, though). Those who manage to live through all this face the prospect of widespread poverty, unemployment, corruption and sub-par infrastructure and services. The country's resources were plundered by a dictator for almost two decades. And yet, the people are always smiling and seem genuinely happy.

I was here in Manila in 2001 on the day of "People Power II" when the corrupt Estrada was thrown out of office. I was tense when I heard the news: people revolting to throw out a sitting president evoked imagery of arson and bloodshed. Instead, the Filipinos ate, sang and danced on the streets ... and threw out a president they did not like. How does that work?

Another people phenomenon worth exploring is the "overseas Filipino worker", or OFW. There are about 12 million of them, which means close to one in each household. They work as nurses, teachers, caregivers, entertainers and domestic helpers around the globe, but also increasingly in shipping, engineering and managerial roles. The interesting thing about them is that they practically spend their entire lives overseas without losing one bit of connectedness back home. As a % of their income, OFWs remit more money to their families back in the Philippines than do NRIs or NRCs (Indian and Chinese overseas workers).  Sometimes, this percentage is as high as 60 to even 80% of their income. So essentially, one member of the family (usually the eldest female child) leaves the home country to work for their entire life in a foreign country, often in a low-end job, and sends back pretty much her entire lifetime income to lift the rest of the family out of poverty. And this person is happy doing so!

Given the happy and friendly disposition of its people, it is hard not to have a soft spot for this country. I hope their development trajectory accelerates along the fragile recovery path it seems to have found in the last few years. Or is it that I am just getting infected by two other Filipino phenomena - eternal optimism and a tendency to root for the underdog!