The way out - Why And Why Not

ROME -- On my first trip to Europe some 28 years ago, I couldn't get over the fact that the maid or cleaning woman in our Geneva youth hostel was a Spanish woman. We called her Doña Margarita and she was the most adorable of women, always smiling and always giving me additional portions of food simply because I came from the Philippines. "Somos parientes" (We're relatives), she would always explain to my foreign friends.

Given my Filipino nationalist background, I couldn't help but be shocked that Spaniards, whom Filipinos have been taught to regard as a superior race, could be taking on jobs as servants or work with their hands.

But as late as the 1970s, the plain truth was that Spain was a poor country by western standards. European prosperity had bypassed her shortly after the Siglo de Oro or Golden Age of the 16th century and even more so during the Franco era. On the trains, you would meet Spanish carpenters who would tell you of bright sons they were sending to college back in Granada.

In my conversations with Doña Margarita and other Spaniards I detected none of the anti-Filipino slurs we had come to expect of the Manila Spaniards and immortalized in Jose Rizal's two revolutionary novels.

On the contrary, the Spaniards I met were surprisingly libertarian in spirit and if they felt a bit apologetic for Spain's backwardness, they nonetheless believed in the dignity of labor. They were working hard away from home because they wanted to build a better future for themselves and their families. Spanish wages were horribly low and by working abroad, often taking on dreary jobs and odd hours, they would be earning much more in a shorter time. It was frankly a money game -- so much work and sacrifice for so much compensation, much of it promptly shipped back home.

This is the reason why every time I encounter Filipino workers abroad, I always look to the Spanish example for a bit of positive thinking. After all, Spain was able to dig her way out of economic pariah status in something less than 20 years. No more do you find Spanish workers sweeping streets in other European capitals or scrubbing floors outside their country.

Indeed, Filipinos and other foreign workers are now coming to Spain itself precisely to undertake these menial jobs for the Spaniards who have presumably upgraded themselves for higher and more dignified occupations.

Perhaps this is why Spaniards have a healthier attitude towards foreign workers than, say, the French who have produced a racist monster like Jacques La Pen. For much of the 1980s and 1990s, Spain was under a socialist government and its policy towards labor was progressive and fair.

Within just one generation, Spain moved from being an exporter of labor to an exporter of products. With the country's prosperity of recent vintage, Spaniards can't possibly look down on foreign workers without looking ridiculous and hypocritical.

If Spain was able to make the big leap forward, why can't the Philippines do the same?

Spain dug her way out, according to some experts, for a number of reasons: 1) she had a modest industrial base in Barcelona and Bilbao and a lot of hard currency pouring in from tourism and overseas workers remittances; 2) the Francisco Franco era was followed by democratization under King Juan Carlos; and 3) Spain, like neighboring Portugal, hitched its wagon to the powerful economic and machine called the European Community.

Although much of Spain was frozen in feudal conditions under the dictatorship, it had an industrial sector in the north that was more or less in tune with Europe. Financial capital was slowly building up because tourism had become a mass industry and workers were sending home billions in earnings. What was holding back investor confidence was the dictatorship and the uncertain future of the country after Franco's death.

Not too many high hopes were raised when Juan Carlos de Borbon succeeded Franco under a restored monarchy. But when fascist military officers attempted a rollback of limited democratic gains, the new king intervened to save democracy. This was what paved the way for Spain to eventually rejoin the rest of Europe through the common market.

As a member of the European Community, Spain was not only flooded with new investments; it was also the recipient of massive assistance for infrastructure and public services. In due time, its antiquated highways and underdeveloped facilities were raised to continental standards. The economy boomed and the armies of overseas workers all came back to live and work under increasingly better terms in their own country.

Can a similar transformation take place in the Philippines?

Only after the so-called Filipino culture of corruption, especially crony capitalism, has been purged, transparency imposed and the economic playing field leveled for all players. Also, the Asian boom that was derailed by the financial crisis has to be brought back on track. A new leadership truly respected by the people will be of immense help.

Nelson A. Navarro's e-mail address: <[email protected]>