Selling the Philippines - A VOICE FROM AMERICA by Ernie D. Delfin

I have attended many Philippine-sponsored fora, meetings or conferences trying to market the Philippines to foreign investors. One such forum was a business conference which Department of Trade & Industry Secretary Mar Roxas attended. He came to Orange County, California last year when he was just appointed by former President Estrada. If I remember it right, Secretary Roxas even went to Seattle, WA to "beg" Bill Gates, the CEO of Microsoft, to consider donating "something" and investing in the Philippines. He paved the way for Erap to pay homage to one of the richest man in the world, Bill Gates.

Marketing fora (satirically described as economic/political junkets, sometimes) have lofty and ambitious goals, but I often wonder about the results or yield of such conferences and marketing group entourage. Have they ever quantified the yield versus the precious dollars and efforts that were spent for such trips? Are these marketing people the most qualified people to sell the Philippines? Do they truly understand what matters most to foreign investors? I have serious doubts, which are unfortunately shared by people who are deeply involved in the marketing business in the United States.

After almost 20 years that I have been in business, I no longer believe that most meetings – especially those where social butterflies and business wannabes attend just to rub elbows with many approval-seeking public personalities – are the best way to get business or sell your product. That is a myth. There is a very questionable correlation between meetings and productivity, between efficiency and popularity, quantity and quality. The process of closing a sale is normally done after trust has been established between parties when buyer and seller have arrived to the conclusion that such a transaction is a win-win relationship. And that is where these fora fail terribly as they just come and go. Relationship and trust are never built on just one meeting. Good and lasting business is never a one-night stand.

Selling the Philippines is unlike the selling of a product like, say ice cream on a hot summer day.

Right now, selling the Philippines is a very tough job. Marketers must believe in their products 110 percent. Filipinos in America can be the best unpaid marketing people for the Philippines. But the vast majority of us cannot even sell the country to ourselves.

Let’s look at one obvious example, our tourism industry.

In the United States alone, there are over two million Filipino Americans. How many are availing of the P50 to $l exchange rate to visit the Philippines? I know many Filipinos who have never been home for over 10 or even 20 years, but they take their vacation in Europe, the Caribbean or Mexico – simply because the Philippines is not a very healthy, stimulating or worthwhile destination for a real vacation. Many Filipinos go home only if there is a tragedy or death in the family, not necessarily a leisure type of homecoming where dollars are spent more extravagantly.

One aspect that must be improved to world-class standards is the Ninoy Aquino International Airport, the point of entry to the country. For us who have traveled to many countries and have seen many airports, we can say that our airport system is at the bottom or near the bottom compared to many modern ones. Those who follow Philippine STAR publisher Max Soliven’s description of his many travels can visualize the stark differences of what we have versus what we could have had like in most progressive countries.

First impressions last. The first few hours that tourists experience in the Philippines are critical – the way they are treated at customs, the taxicab ride to their hotel and what they see along the way. There should be a way or avenue for tourists not to see at least during their first hour or two about the sad state of squatters or slums on their way to their hotel.

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Let’s look at how foreigners view the Philippines as a place to invest their dollars. Is it the best place for him to invest? A purely capitalist investor will think twice before going into the Philippines because of what he hears or reads. Recent socio-political events, kidnappings for ransom, disruptive labor unions, unpredictability of the political and economic policies, counter-productive rallies, are not very conducive for investment. They might outweigh the positive factors that are emphasized in any dog and pony show even if it is hosted by a Fidel V. Ramos (the ex-president or is he still the president in the shadows?).

If I were the president of the Philippines, I would create a special Task Force with one specific primary objective of mining the wealth from the millions of Filipinos, (with their growing and extended families and friends) who are living abroad by enticing them to visit the Philippines and invest in their homeland. Achieving this, however, is easier said than done because the Philippines has to overcome many real or imagined obstacles – such as kidnappings, peace and order breakdown, unpredictability of economic policies, an unstable government, graft and corruption at all levels and traffic jams. Possibly, some special incentives can be offered to compensate or overcome some of these mental roadblocks..

In the final analysis, any person or nationality that expects a different result but keeps on doing the same things over and over again can be certified as an insane person. I still refuse that the Filipino people are insane people! Can we prove to the world community that we are not?

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I am generally an eternal optimist, but sometimes, as far as the Philippines is concerned, I am beginning to have some serious doubts as the partial results of the recent elections still show that many shallow, morally corrupt politicians, inept leaders and opportunists from the Puwersa Ng (Erap) Masa are still winning. Quo vadis, Filipinos?

It must start from every one of us. We must stop idolizing people without substance (I am glad Nora Aunor-type candidates are losing) rich people without morality (Marcos, Erap, Enrile) electing people of dubious or duplicitous character (Honasan, Defensor, Mark Jimenez) admiring people that make bad role models (Imelda Marcos, Loi Estrada) politicians with mistresses and generals with queridas, and wealthy people who exploit people and our environment for plain profits. We must have higher moral leaders that can inspire us to reach our greatest potential. Are there no more Rizal, Bonifacio, Mabini, Aguinaldo, Del Pilar, Diego Silang, of the 21st century? Don’t we read our history books any more?

By the way, this question has been bothering me for a long time: How come Filipinos, if given the chance, want to go to the best educated, most experienced doctor or surgeon as far as the United States when they are ill, but during election time would prefer to vote and choose many mangmangs to help cure the ills of the country? Are Filipinos masochistic by nature? Can Filipino social scientists explain why?

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E-mail the writer at pmafounder@emailko. com and erdelusa@ hotmail.com Or visit his websites at http://www. progressive times.com