Why did we fall behind?
Thus, the two authoritarian leaders were the masters of their respective countries’ fate, with Marcos wielding absolute power for 13 years (September 1972 to February 1986). Those 13 years could have been the transformative golden era of the Philippines, as the “Park Years” were for Korea. What the two rulers did for their country was a study in contrast.
According to Wikipedia, in October 1972, Park Chung-hee dissolved the legislature and suspended the 1963 Constitution in a self-coup, drawing inspiration from Ferdinand Marcos who declared martial law in the Philippines on September 21, 1972. Ironically, Marcos, in turn, failed to emulate Park’s economic “Miracle on the Han River.” Park was reputed to be a modest man who did not enrich himself despite his 18 years in power. Park is the father of South Korea’s present impeached President Park Geun-hye. But that is another story.
In 2014, when my wife Angie and I visited Korea 11 years after my retirement, I noticed that most of the English books in Seoul’s largest bookstore were about Park Chung-hee. The following year, Park topped the Korean Gallup poll on the greatest president in Korean history, getting approval ratings of 44 percent despite his authoritarian and repressive rule.
Because of the development programs implemented by Park between 1961 and 1979, Korea was able to achieve remarkable economic growth in 30 years which, under ordinary circumstances, would have taken 100 years to do. He was able to raise per capita income from less than $100 annually when he gained power to more than $1,000 at the time of his assassination. Korea’s real GDP growth averaged 10 percent annually between 1962 and 1994.
The leadership factor worked in tandem with the Korean people’s innate characteristics, including their entrepreneurial spirit. Korea’s educational system is now at par with Japan. It is also a blessing that this country has a homogeneous people, with a common language serving as a unifying factor. Devoid of natural resources, the Korean people had to struggle for survival in the face of harsh winters and a formidable geography; 70 percent of its territory is mountainous. Another important element that goaded the Koreans to strive for excellence was their earnest desire to equal or even surpass the achievements of the Japanese who occupied and humiliated them for 35 years—from 1910 to 1945.
Seeing how our airline passengers and bus and MRT/ LRT commuters suffer, I wish we could have a transportation system and network similar to Korea’s. I attended the inauguration in 2001 of the Incheon International Airport, which has been consistently voted or acclaimed as the best airport in the world. There is a train and buses servicing the huge airport. the subway system was under construction. Now it’s metro has been expanded and upgraded to make it on par with that of Tokyo. Unlike the bus stations scattered along EDSA, Seoul’s Express Bus Terminal serves as the hub of provincial bus lines and is connected to the metro lines. The terminal itself has been transformed into a shopping mall, restaurant row and even a family center. The JW Marriott Hotel, the Shinsegae Department Store and Seoul’s biggest underground shopping center are adjuncts to the terminal. There you have it, interconnectedness at its best.
When I attended the 2002 Asian Games in Busan, I took the Saem to reach Korea’s second biggest city. Last year, Angie and I took the Korea Express Train (KTX) to Busan and reached the place in 2½ hours. In early 2003, executives of France’s TGV (Train a Grande Vitesse), the builder of the KTX, invited me and some members of my Embassy staff for a ride on the railway. (One of the French engineers was married to a Filipina.) The construction of the KTX began in April 2004.
On our way, back to Seoul last year, a limousine took us via the Gyeongbu National Expressway which opened in 1970, a partnership project between Park Chung-hee and Chung Ju-yung’s Hyundai Group. We experienced how a well-thought-out transportation infrastructure facilitates the movement of people, goods and services—an essential element for national progress. The Republic of Korea is now the fourth largest economy in Asia and 11th largest in the world. Its GDP per capita income in 2013 was US$25,976.
Of the seven countries where I was assigned, South Korea, Thailand and India overtook the Philippines in economic development in the 40-year span that I was in our foreign service. During my three-year (1973 to 1975) post- (Third Secretary), Thailand and the Philippines had almost the same size of population and degree of economic development. Now, our population has exceeded that of Thailand by some 30percent: Thailand – 68.7 million, Philippines – 102,250,133 (2016). Thailand - trialized country or upper middle income economy. Its GDP per capita income is US$15,319 as of 2015 while that of the Philippines is only $3,042 (nominal 2016). Two-thirds of Thai in GDP is accounted for by exports while twothirds of the Philippine economy is consumer- driven. Thailand’s transportation network and physical infrastructure are far more numerous and superior to ours. Thailand expected to receive over 32 million tourists in 2016 while the Philippine target was a measly 6 million arrivals for the same year. In fact, Thailand overshadows the Philippines in all economic indexes. The gap has become so wide that a Philippine-based foreign economist said sometime ago that it would take the Philippines some 30 years to be where Thailand is today.
I was Ambassador to India from 1994 to 1996. During my watch, the Indian economy was still sluggish despite the fact that it had decided to open itself to the globalizing economy in 1991. Upon gaining independence from Britain, Prime Minister Jawaharlal Nehru put India on the road to economic self- sufficiency to be achieved by central planning. From 1947 up to 1990, India was governed by a License Raj (rule), an elaborate system of licenses, regulations and accompanying red tape required for setting and running businesses.
India’s economic transformation began at the start of the new millennium. With its thriving economy, India, a nuclear- weapon state, has grown further in international importance. It is now the sixth largest economy in the world with its economy growing at the annual rate of 8 to 9 percent. It is improving its road network and infrastructure. New Delhi now even has a Metro serving the capital and satellite cities. While there were only bazaars serving as shopping centers during my posting there, India now abounds in shopping malls. And India’s exports are creating their niches in American, European and Asian markets, including the Philippines. The burgeoning Indian automo- tive industry has invaded the Philippines. Tata Motors Philippines offers cars and commercial vehicles. Mahindra is the provider of patrol jeeps to the PNP. It has become an agricultural powerhouse and net exporter of food. It has globally known companies in steel, pharmaceutics, information and space technologies
Despite its broadening economic ascendancy, India is still a country of “dehumanizing poverty” where a vast number of people (one-third of the population) do not enjoy a decent standard of living. But there is no doubt that the country is proceeding remarkably in the direction of poverty alleviation. It is a trend that would someday make India with its population of 1.2 billion a mega-market like China.
A recent book included the Philippines among the emerging markets or economies. The Philippines registered a GDP growth rate of 7.1 percent in the third quarter of 2016 on account of higher investments and consumption. We outperformed others in the Asian region. But one swallow does not make a summer. We have been in a boom-and-bust cycle before. We are still struggling to extricate ourselves from the quagmire of a Third World status. It is a known fact that for a country to be in the take-off stage for economic success, it should first consistently register a sustainable growth rate of 7 to 8 percent over a number of years. According to economist Sixto K. Roxas, the Philippines registered a dismal real GDP growth rate of only 3.8 percent per annum from 1962 to 2003. Regrettably, the essential elements needed for sustained economic progress are still not with us.
Our people are well aware of the many negative factors that militate against our economic goals. Right now, we are wallowing in a morass of political, economic and social ills. We crave for moral regeneration and economic redemption but lack the desire and resolve to light a candle in the midst of darkness.
As General Luna in the hit movie said: “ (We have an even bigger enemy than the Americans. Ourselves.)
We should all take a hard look in the mirror to visualize where we are in contrast with other countries. By doing this, we could have a glimmer of what our national hero Jose Rizal called “
(our lost Eden).