I’ve been a member of the Pwede Na! Complete Pinoy Guide to Personal Finance Yahoogroup since 2004, ever since I’ve bought the book, but I rarely join the discussions there. However, an email sent by a member of the group containing yet another analysis of the country’s problems caught my ire, which started a fiery thread of several emails with me ranting about how Filipinos almost always dwell on problems but never look for solutions that they could act on.
After I managed to calm down, I think I inadvertently put on “paper” a lot of my sentiments on the current political situation, and why I think that we should rather discuss on solutions that we as a citizenry can carry out. Here is the body of one of my saner, more sensible emails:
Hi Chimi,
I’m sorry if you feel misconstrued; and I know that it is very very important that we tackle the core problems to be able to find the solutions. I am also sorry if someone starts to think that I am against the concept of people going out of the country to become OFWs. I will explain:
On discussing problems
My beef with regards to discussing the problems is that that’s all we ever do — discuss problems. Open the newspaper — any newspaper, read the opinion section.
Day in day out for the past decade and a half of my 27 years alive (I’ve started reading newspapers daily as an adolescent… with my father ranting in the background) all I’ve ever read about are problems and problems and the problem with this and the problem with that. Most of them are critical, comprehensive, and well-researched. Well-analyzed.
However they all contain one flaw : all the solutions they present rely on the government, which, unfortunately, almost always means that the solutions are neither implemented nor heeded.
And of course the analyses continue. Day in and day out more and more analysis from pundits and columnists and all I ever see are problems. They have a name for this phenomenon: analysis paralysis.
Meanwhile, the entrepreneurs that I mentioned (in a previous email, I mentioned Henry Sy, John Gokongwei and Socorro Ramos, all of who didn’t finish college but managed to become multi-millionaires) just kept on working harder and harder, and thus getting richer and richer. It was almost as if they were immune to the problems of the nation, but they are not. It was as if they were apathetic to the problems of the country, but they aren’t. They’re just too busy earning money, improving their businesses, and creating more jobs.
So I am not saying that we ignore the problems. What I am saying is that we already know the problems. It’s time to ask what can we do about them? Or to be more specific, what can we do with our lives so that despite these problems we would be protected from their adverse effects?
On OFWs
I’m sure all of us know the importance of the OFW to our current economy. The Balance of Payments surplus we are enjoying is due largely to the dollars that are flowing in to the country. But just like the 60s, we should not rest on our laurels and treat it as a permanent solution. The long-term social and economic costs ( e.g., the separation of families, the brain drain) of sending workers overseas are too great and will damage us in the long run.
So how will we offset the necessity to earn abroad? By encouraging OFWs to become entrepreneurs as well. This is viable because they earn enough savings to put up their own businesses, and necessary out of the need to continue earning money during their retirement years.
On entrepreneurship
Now you might ask why the over-emphasis on entrepreneurship? That’s because entrepreneurship generates jobs — and if enough people become entrepreneurs then those who do not have the ability to be so or those who are still learning about it can be employed by them. And if there are enough jobs, the requirement for UP, Ateneo, or DLSU grads will start being considered absurd because these universities can only churn out so much graduates in a given year.
Fortunately even in the current situation there are industries that have stopped giving a premium on the Big 3 graduates because they have become both expensive and scarce. I will admit that I did not face this problem (I graduated from DLSU) but many of my best colleagues (I’m in the IT industry) come from a plethora of universities both belittled and unknown: AMA, STI, Bicol University, Pamantasan ng Lungsod ng Maynila to name a few. They are very good (most are admittedly better than myself) and the IT industry simply cannot afford to ignore them because of the ongoing brain drain, with many of these guys gone forever to Singapore.
It’s hard.. but I choose to stay here. I believe my fight is here. Praise the Lord, however, that I am provided with larger than usual earnings because of my profession. At the moment I’m still employed as an IT professional, but my wife is running a home-based travel agency business by which we hope to learn the ropes of entrepreneurship.
There have been opportunities to work in Singapore as well, and it’s hard to resist, but I believe that what we are doing is for the best. When the time comes hopefully I could put up my own IT-related/empowered business (or expand our travel agency business towards that direction) to be able to educate and later employ impoverished-but-deserving countrymen, out of my own earnings and effort.
This is the way that I believe I can help in pushing this country forward, and I hope some, if not many of you, will join me with my dream.
I apologize for the length of this response, and the tone of my previous mail. I hope I have not offended anyone.
God bless,
-Jonjon
9 responses so far ↓
1 Sidney // Aug 26, 2007 at 3:43 pm
“all I’ve ever read about are problems and problems and the problem with this and the problem with that.”
Excellent blog entry! I hope many people will follow your advice.
2 r.o. // Aug 26, 2007 at 3:51 pm
this made me think and rethink. thanks.
3 Jon Limjap // Aug 27, 2007 at 7:52 am
Sidney,
Thanks
r.o.,
I hope it makes you act too.
Wish you’ve already read the book as well.
4 r.o. // Aug 27, 2007 at 10:37 am
not yet but i sure will within this week. so youre saying that while we analyze, we also do something about what’s within our control. makes sense. i just don’t know how
5 Eugene // Aug 28, 2007 at 12:29 pm
Commendations on this entry! I enjoyed and was inspired by it. Let’s hope that many more Filipinos may see our country’s problems as opportunities as you have done.
I’m in the local IT industry as well and I also enjoy a higher than median salary. It’s also my dream to put up my own business in the future. But I’m still young (hehehe) and I still have a lot to learn.
6 Ato Kenny // Nov 12, 2007 at 10:43 pm
Because of the so called “analysis paralysis” syndrome, the analysts become part of the problem. We should all be like you, Jon. More power to you.
7 Anonymous // May 20, 2008 at 2:48 pm
This blog makes a tremendous amount of sense. You’re right about Filipinos being entrepreneurial but lacking the skills and know-how, we simply copy off whatever businesses we see around us, hence we’ve got a gazillion tricycle drivers and sari sari stores.
Let’s face it. We’re “segurista,” we abhor risks. We do not put ourselves out there, we mimic what we thought is already accepted and successful.
Look at our music. We have fantastic COVER bands. They don’t make their own original music, they just try to mimic the genius of others. There are a few who do write their own and I thank them from the bottom of my heart. For a musical country, we could have made an impact in the music world if they’ll be the norm rather than the exception. But, alas, as mere imitators, we’re forgotten, undistinguished.
We need industrialists, people who unashamedly want to be BIG BUSINESS. But no, you say you’ve got ambition, you say you want to make it big and people think you’re arrogant and greedy.
Yes, sometimes you have to start small. Yes, there’s a need for a LOT of SMEs. But when you’ve got potential, please, don’t just say “i’m a simple man, with simple needs.” Fine, live a simple life but don’t live a simple-minded one. Our country NEEDS us. It needs sons and daughters who can think BIG, who can provide lots of jobs for those who are stuck into thinking that they’ll reap their rewards in heaven. We need people who can compete internationally so we don’t have to protect our markets thanks to our own inefficiencies.
And yes, I agree. I don’t like the idea that we’re all now just dreaming of leaving this country to make big bucks and to be immune from whatever mess our country gets into. That shows that we no longer think we’re responsible for the destiny of this country. Despite the fact that we’re a democracy and we DO decide the majority of who gets to run this country (not all of course, a few got there through cheating, a FEW).
But I have to say this. I admire the initiative to make their own lives better. They’re already better than the people they’ve left behind, people who believe it’s hopeless for them now because this country is hopeless.
And I’ve noticed one more thing about balikbayans. A great many of them (not all of course) come back with a better mentality… of being the masters of their own destinies, of having a better sense of their own worth without feeling guilty about it. Of not being afraid to compete with the best of the rest of the world.
Yes, by all means. Do what you can for your country. Whether that means joining the government so that at least one part of it (you), would be honest and efficient. Do start your own business, invest, compete, grow it. Go abroad, learn from the rest of the world and come back if you can to implement what you’ve learned. VOTE wisely and try to take a more active part in the political process.
Let’s stop being victims of our own culture.
Don’t, please, encourage laziness by sending money home to people unwilling to help themselves. Strive for greatness, don’t be TYPICAL Filipino (because that means you’re corrupt and poor) but a better Filipino, someone who can admit there’s something wrong with us and it needs fixing. That’s the most patriotic thing you can do. I’m not saying thrown the baby out with the bath water. There are a million and one things that is wonderful about us. But mostly, our virtues and our vices are just opposite sides of the same coin. Love for family could be one of the best things in this life, but it could also lead to nepotism. So it’s our choice, which side of the coin would it be?
8 Anonymous // May 20, 2008 at 2:56 pm
Sorry, was I ranting? Haha. But I forgot to add, let’s also patronize our own products, all things being equal. Sadly, even if our products are better, our compatriots would still go for the “imported” ones. And who can blame them? Listen to TV and radio ads. They say stuff like it’s the best, it’s imported. WTF? How can we grow as a country if we don’t patronize our own products? Sure, if the imported one is better, go for it, we don’t want to patronize BAD products. But as I said, all things being equal, shouldn’t we try as much as possible to go for the locally produced one? They’re likely to be fresher, it’s environmentally sound as we avoid the environmental costs of transporting goods.
9 Jon Limjap // May 20, 2008 at 11:43 pm
Anonymous,
Thanks for the comment, although I would’ve appreciated if you had divulged your name.
And I definitely agree with this. It’s time that we stand up to fulfill our own destinies. Hindi naman yan gagawin ng gobyerno para sa atin.
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