People are the solution

“People are the solution, and not the burden.” These were the words I shared near the close of the Focused Group Discussion on Competitiveness and Innovation organized by the National Research Council of the Philippines (NRCP), an agency of the Department of Science and Technology (DOST). This event was held at the Traders Hotel, Roxas Boulevard, Pasay City, on August 14, 2012. I was privileged to be a participant to such discussion in my capacity as director for public advocacy of the Philippine Retailers Association, upon invitation of Dr. Filemon A. Uriarte Jr., former DOST Secretary, Dr. Lourdes J. Cruz, NRCP president, and Prof. Jose P. Tabadda of the NCPAG, University of the Philippines.

These closing words, while my own conclusions, were borne by the fact that the speakers in the discussion, independently but similarly, highlighted in their presentations that the Filipino, our people, is our competitive edge. Not just the Filipino as a person, but the big population we have. The World Economic Forum Global Competitive Index, for example, has as one of its components, “Market Size,” where we expectedly rated high — incidentally the only component where we rated high — and which helped us land 75th place out of 142 countries rated. Without such high mark for “Market Size,” our ranking would have been lower than our 75th place.

On another plane, we have become no. 1 in the BPO industry not because of low labor cost, but because of the special character and competence of our people, and investors have been and are willing to pay a premium for these. We can go on and on.

The organizers put together an excellent set of speakers for the Focused Group Discussion: Guillermo M. Luz, co-chairman (private sector) of the Bil Competitiveness Council; Fortunato T. de la Pena, Undersecretary, DOST; Prof. Federico M. Macaranas, Asian Institute of Management; and Benedict C. Hernandez, president and CEO, Business Processing Association of the Philippines.

The speakers, and my co-participants could not help but recognize the connection of what I said with the intensely debated RH bill pending in Congress. Of course, this was not part of the Focused Group Discussion, but as the presentations unfolded, there were paeans made to the Filipino, and therefore I thought it helpful for the select group of scientists, academicians and professionals, to correlate what we were discussing with what our legislators were passionately considering, and also view the whole RH bill issue from this vantage point, not just from the highly played out religious argument.

The focus of the opposition to the RH bill as played up is, yes, based on religious grounds, and I believe and support the stand of the Catholic Church to start with. But there are emotional grounds, too, as in the case of Sen. Tito Sotto in a recent Senate session, and these emotional grounds are valid, too, for they are real life stories, not theory, not speculation, but actual, painful experiences of mothers and fathers. But beyond these, we should also ensure that it is not lost in the debate and the public’s consciousness that the anti-RH stand is based on hard evidence, results of scientific and medical research, and actual governance experiences of countries.

We hope our legislators take serious heed to what Federico D. Pascual Jr. wrote in his Postscript column of Philippine STAR, issue of Aug. 12, 2012. He draws from various sources, but the conclusions point to the same thing:

“Worry over under-population ‘taking America over the financial cliff’ was also voiced out by Steven Mosher and Elizabeth Crnkovich in an article. They wrote: ‘Social Security is about to go belly up, financially speaking.”

And at the head of this crisis is a demographic disproportion: there are simply too few young people coming into the workforce to support the increasing number of elderly baby boomers who are retiring.

 In “What’s really happening behind the entitlement crisis” (Wall Street Journal, July 12), Ben Wattenberg explains that ‘never-born babies are the root cause of the “social deficit” that plagues nations across the world and threatens to break the bank in many.’

‘The math is simple. Birth rates have fallen so far and so fast that the thinning ranks of the young can no longer support the burgeoning numbers of retirees in country after country. Greece and Spain are already going over the demographic cliff.

‘The problem, at root, is the birth dearth. There are a number of factors contributing to the strange barrenness of this generation… these include delayed marriages, wealth, divorce, legalized abortion, and accessible contraception.’”

Mr. Pascual cites similar situations in Japan, China, South Korea, Taiwan, Singapore, and Europe.

The wonder of it all is that some of our legislators would like to lead us to the policy of population control, when it is clearly a failed policy. While countries, Singapore for example, are turning away from such policies, the RH proponents would like to still lead us there. What gives?

Senate President Juan Ponce Enrile, the much admired Presiding Officer of the Senate as Impeachment Court, hit the proverbial nail on the head with regard to all this undue passion of enacting an RH bill.

In the August 11, 2012 edition of the Philippine STAR, in the Search for Truth column of former Senator Ernesto M. Maceda, he writes about the grilling of NEDA Director General Arsenio Balisacan by Senate President Enrile. Sec. Balisacan admitted that the birth rate of the Philippines, at 1.98% is already, as it is, lower than the UN prescribed rate for the Philippines at 2.1% So, what’s all the fuss about enacting the RH bill?

From this perspective, it is clear that there is no need for an RH bill. The objective that it seeks to address is already happening. The other objective of maternal health care is already taken cared of by other legislation. The budget that is intended for condoms and contraception can be definitely better utilized for direct programs that will address the multifarious needs of the poor in helping them break through the cycle of poverty.

But even beyond the human debate, it is really, at the end of the day, still all about our faith and our relationship with God. My late grandmother always liked to remind us her grandchildren — “Man proposes, but God disposes.”

We, of course, need to do our part to build our nation. We must, of course, use our God-given talents to help improve the quality of life of our countrymen, especially the poor. But without God’s blessings, our human efforts will come to nought. One calamity can wipe out whatever we have built. Indeed, as the psalmist says in Psalm 127:

“Unless the Lord build the house, they labor in vain who build.”

It is incumbent for us, individually and as a country, to take to heart what St Paul wrote to the Galatians:

“Make no mistake: God is not mocked, for a person will reap only what he sows, because the one who sows for his flesh, will reap corruption from the flesh, but the one who sows for the spirit will reap eternal life from the spirit” (Galatians 6:7-8).

It is still best for a person or nation to follow the natural law and rhythm of life. Human life is not for us to give or withhold. Life is indeed a gift from God. As it is with us, so it is with nations. Life is a gift of God for nations. The Filipino is a gift to the Philippines. There are problems yes, but let us all together address the problems of poverty, food, education, health, shelter, livelihood directly. The answer does not lie in using our scarce resources to reduce the number of Filipinos. The solution is to use those resources to develop the Filipino to his full potential. And it takes people to do just that.

Thus, as we face problems and challenges as a nation, may we all realize that people are the solution, not the burden.

Here’s to life and people everyone!