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Branding
the Philippines: Sleepless in Manila
By Michael Alan Hamlin
June 2, 2003
Late last week another ambassador
had some pretty undiplomatic things to say about the Philippines.
Earlier, U.S. ambassador Francis J. Ricciardone took his hosts to
task, lamenting the impact of the Philippines' flawed judiciary
on foreign investors, among other complaints. Now, Japan ambassador
Kojiro Takano claims personal security issues, labor strife, and
bureaucratese are leaving him and Japanese investors sleepless.
"I have so far spent one year
(in the Philippines), but… I did not have even one night I
could sleep well," Takano told members of the Foreign Correspondents'
Association of the Philippines (FOCAP). "Many Japanese get
the impression that the peace and order situation in the Philippines
is very bad," he fretted, claiming that the Philippines' poor
image and government mismanagement are driving investors elsewhere.
Coming just days after President
Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo's high-profile visit to the U.S., the criticism
is especially inopportune for the administration. What makes it
so is not the problems themselves, which have been around for decades,
but the new reality that the Philippines' two biggest trading partners
have grown so frustrated with circumstances that they have abandoned
diplomatic deference to complain openly and bitterly about the Philippines'
inability to get a grip on itself.
To be sure, the Philippines' negative
image in Japan is nothing new. I lived there for close to a decade
in the 70s and 80s, and was so terrified by stories about the Philippines
that I put off travel here for years. Once here, of course, I found
that rumor and fact are considerably misaligned, but not so misaligned
that the severe negative perceptions can be easily or even reasonably
dealt with, it seems. Indeed, that they have persisted for 30 years
shows just how firmly entrenched negative perceptions are about
this country. That stark realization also demonstrates the tragedy
of chronic disregard of outside negative perceptions by consecutive
Philippine administrations, as well as the substance behind them.
Consider the problems Takano identified:
personal security, bureaucracy, and labor. I recall as an executive
many years ago at the Asian Institute of Management the nightmare
associated with foreign students - after finally being recruited
to the Philippines despite its worrisome reputation - being mugged
and shaken down by taxi drivers and their cohorts on the way to
Makati from the airport. More than one student turned on his heels
and went right back home. Last year representatives of the Harvard
Business School alumni in Hong Kong informed me that two of their
members had been robbed in broad daylight on Paseo de Roxas in front
of the world-class PhilamLife Building.
But foreigners certainly aren't the
only targets. A Filipina friend was recently held up - again in
broad daylight - on crowded Ayala Avenue in front of the old Insular
Life Building, and relieved of her mobile phone, wallet, and other
valuables. One of the amazing aspects of these crimes is that flea
market mobile phone vendors openly advertise that they "unlock
all brands and models of mobile phones." Presumably, these
phones are locked by telecom providers after being reported stolen.
The sheer volume of these services clearly indicates there's little
above board about this type of service. And yet these vendors are
allowed to operate openly without harassment in upscale malls.
There is little wonder, therefore,
that the perception of lawlessness is acute, and that you needn't
travel to Mindanao to confirm that assessment.
I've experienced the frustration
of manipulative bureaucracy firsthand in recent months, as you may
have read when this space has been devoted to an examination of
government's bidding out its e-procurement system. The gory details
involve blatant procedural anomalies, regularly changing technical
specifications, and ultimately the awarding of the project to a
firm marketing an untested and unproven technology whose ownership
is under dispute. Yet Department of Budget & Management secretary
Emilia T. Boncodin claims that "the public bidding was conducted
in full compliance with all applicable laws, rules, and regulations."
When it comes to labor law, Takano
can't complain too loudly, however. Japan has some of the least
progressive labor laws to be found anywhere. So do other Southeast
and North Asian economies, such as South Korea. And for political
reasons, most of these countries are doing little in the way of
remedying the problems they cause. After all, labor is votes. And
that explains why the Philippines' own regressive labor code remains
untouched: fear of electoral reprisal.
But the stakes are much higher for
the Philippines, particularly when in comes to traditional foreign
investment in manufacturing, which is already practically non-existent.
To earn back even a portion of that investment, the Philippines
must be clearly, substantially, and strategically better positioned
than its competition for investment. But this is a tactical choice
of non-disenfranchised voters with few jobs providing the strategic
promise of disenfranchised voters who have virtually no jobs to
choose from. Which, by the way, is what we have now.
The bottom line? Criticisms of ambassadors
like Takano and Ricciardone and others are certainly unpleasant.
But sometimes the truth hurts, and should be heeded.
(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 a co-author (Wiley, 2001), and he is currently
at work on High Visibility: The Making and Marketing of Asian Professionals
into Celebrities. Write him at mahamlin@teamasia.com.).
Copyright © 2003 Michael Alan
Hamlin. All Rights Reserved.
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