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New Voices
By Michael Alan Hamlin
February 11, 2002
An interesting thing happened last
week: Business decided to take a stand. Now, that may not seem like
much in view of the business community's vocal dismay with the previous
administration, and its role in lobbying - some might say forcing
- a traumatic yet probably necessary change in government a little
over a year ago. But it is a significant development in my view.
It is significant because while business can be very noisy when
conditions are really bad, silence usually accompanies good times,
and even not-so-bad times. And despite some notable moaning, times
aren't so bad. In fact for some traditional and non-traditional
sectors alike, they are pretty good. Recent confidence surveys bear
this out.
Sure, it's common for business to complain privately
that newspapers are too negative in their reporting, but the community
seldom gets worked up enough to try to do something about it. For
example, one high-profile business association claiming to represent
Philippine business was in the newspapers every day during former
president Joseph Estrada's impeachment and eventual dethroning.
Now that the government it helped install is under sustained, fierce
critical attack, where are they? One reason - perhaps the main reason
- for the reduced visibility is that negative news sells more papers
than good news. Or least that's the rumor.
Which makes the business community's new voice that
much more remarkable: it has to actually make the effort to get
attention in order to air its views. And, it's willing to make that
effort.
Take for example a statement issued by the Management
Association of the Philippines (MAP) in support of the presence
of U.S. troops in the country. Business is forced to constantly
reassure investors interested in investing in their companies and
clients who worry whether supplies will be disrupted that the Abu
Sayyaf are an isolated bunch of kidnapping bandits confined to Basilan.
This is not a reality issue, but a perception issue. As long as
the Abu Sayyaf remains free, broad negative perceptions will hold
sway.
Most of the business people I know who head up MAP
are patriots, too. They could be just about anyplace they want to
be, and make significantly more money. But they stay here. Now,
I'm not referring to the mystic 350 or so family dynasties that
are said to control the Philippine economy, but to professional
managers that have worked themselves up their organizations to earn
the right to lead them. They have a commitment to, and a stake in,
the success of the Philippines as well as the businesses they head.
And to them, dealing with the Abu Sayyaf with finality
is in the best interest of both their country and their businesses.
When MAP surveyed its 709 members on the issue of the joint RP-US
military "exercise," about 30 percent, or 207 members
responded. Of those respondents, a whopping but not surprising,
95.7 percent "expressed strong support" for the exercise.
The association didn't stop there, noting that "some respondents
indicated that international terrorism is a phenomenon that transcends
national boundaries and narrow-minded nationalism," a direct
criticism of groups that continue to protest against the exercise.
That's not the only issued MAP has decided to take
up. During its inaugural 2002 meeting last week, embattled finance
secretary Jose Isidro N. Camacho, who happens to be a MAP member,
was the keynote speaker. Incoming MAP president Ramon Y. Dimacali's
somewhat emotional expression of support for Camacho was met with
a resounding, sustained round of applause not often offered by this
street-smart, tough-nosed crowd. MAP also joined 16 other associations
to issue a public statement of support for the confirmation of the
secretary, who has been repeatedly bypassed.
But what made me decide to write about the New Voices
in the community was a request to do so. Tech entrepreneur and Philippine
Stock Exchange (PSE) stalwart Ramon Garcia told me late last week
that the military exercises had clearly enhanced the perception
of the Philippines as a country willing to make the hard decisions
necessary to deal effectively with its problems. And he's willing
to step up and say so.
I have to admit, this is an interesting notion. While
I wouldn't consider myself a dedicated critic of the administration,
I haven't been a cheer leader either (and don't intend to become
one). And one of the issues I've publicly wondered about with respect
to this administration's capacity to lead is whether it has the
political will - and the mandate - to make tough decisions and to
stick to them. Some critics will, perversely it seems to me, argue
that the administration's decision to stick to its guns in this
case isn't that hard, given the broad public support the joint exercises
enjoy. However, despite broad support for a more permanent US presence
a decade ago, anti-bases supporters managed to garner the Senate
votes necessary to ask that the Americans leave. The members of
civil society that oppose a prolonged but temporary US presence
now may not be big in absolute numbers, but they are loud, and they
have often exerted influence far out of proportion to their base
of support.
For that reason, I don't have a problem acknowledging
that in this case at least, President Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo made
a gutsy decision, and if her comments Friday are any indication,
it seems she's going to remain firm. That appears to be the case
with Camacho as well, whose victimization is a clear strategic blunder
by the opposition. That resolve is likely to pay dividends, as long
as it lasts. Not the least of which is the new-found urge of business
and other groups as well as individuals to publicly come to the
aid of the administration.
(Michael Alan Hamlin is the managing director of consultancy
TeamAsia and the author of three books on Asian economies and companies.
His latest book is Marketing Asian Places, of which he is co-author.
His e-mail address is mahamlin@teamasia.com.ph.)
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