Prosperity for all

Instead of being a champion of what he believes is the right of the state to kill drug suspects, President Duterte may want to remake himself into a champion of those who are being left behind by the forces of globalization.

Duterte made the right noises on this issue in his speech before chief executive officers from the Asia-Pacific last week in Da Nang, Vietnam.

The Asia-Pacific is the world’s most dynamic region. It is home to the three largest economies and several of the most competitive states, with three ranking among the top 10 in the latest World Happiness Report.

Happiness in that report is based not on the level of cheerfulness and ease of smiling away one’s problems, but on quality of life indicators including GDP per capita, healthy years of life expectancy, social support, perceptions of corruption, freedom to make life decisions, and the ability to be generous enough to make donations.

The Philippines ranked 72nd among 155 economies in the latest happiness index released earlier this year, many notches behind ASEAN neighbors Singapore, Thailand and Malaysia. Also ahead of us were Taiwan, Japan, South Korea and Hong Kong. At least we’re ahead of Indonesia and China.

Growth is widely uneven in our dynamic region, and there are yawning income disparities within several states including the Philippines. Globalization, which gives full rein to the dog-eat-dog nature of the free market, has been good to certain sectors but brutal on others, widening the wealth gap and leaving behind multitudes from the benefits of growth.

* * * A scion of one of the nation’s wealthiest clans said Pinoys would just have to become more competitive to thrive in a globalized environment.

This goes without saying. But in our country, it is easier accomplished by those who are, as Orwell put it, more equal than others – members of the .001 percent who are born to wealth and power. In enabling environments, there is reasonable certainty that people can succeed on their own merit, with passion, dedication, hard work and (we can’t discount it) innate capability. In contrast, in our culture, a guaranteed ticket to success, which can trump all those other virtues, is the right surname.

Elsewhere in the world, that kind of entitlement to advancement in life has fueled public discontent deep enough to trigger bloody revolutions. Royal families were executed; the luckier ones were turned into glorified tourism props, but they got to keep much of their obscenely enormous inherited wealth. Wide income gaps and discontent over social injustice made communism attractive for a while in several countries, and continue to fuel our homegrown communist insurgency.

President Duterte did not say anything new when he called for “prosperity for all” in his prepared speech on globalization before CEOs of the 21-member Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation (APEC) forum in Vietnam.

Promoting inclusive growth has long been one of the objectives of APEC since its first leaders’ summit was held in the US in 1993. Making growth inclusive has been a mantra in our country since we began registering sustained economic growth under Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo.

But inclusion has always been elusive. There are many reasons for this, among which is that many aspects of life in this archipelago are designed to be exclusive, from gated subdivisions to keep out the great unwashed to laws that exempt those in power and rules that favor the elite.

In Da Nang, Duterte asked the APEC CEOs to be part of the solution, by giving small entrepreneurs a chance to be part of their growth and development. This is easier said than done in our culture, but perhaps Filipino entrepreneurs can have better chances in other countries.

Reactions to Duterte’s rambling response to the lone question asked in the Q & A seemed divided along partisan lines. But there appears to be general agreement that the prepared speech was good, with people hoping that he will pursue his plan of pushing for inclusive growth in the Pacific Rim.

Duterte specifically called for greater market access and opportunities opened by the CEOs to micro, small and medium enterprises in their supply chains. He urged the CEOs “to create inclusive business models that provide opportunities to those at the bottom of the pyramid.” He wants MSMEs drawn into the digital economy so they can expand.

“APEC will only be relevant,” he said, “if prosperity is shared by all.”

* * * Not being part of the Philippines’ .001 percent, there are people hoping Duterte will be able to achieve more than his predecessors in at least laying the groundwork for genuine shared prosperity or inclusive growth.

Speaking of supply chains, several big businesses are in fact moving in the opposite direction, setting up enterprises that feed their core operations, and even openly competing directly with MSMEs.

Duterte might want to look into the full implementation of recently enacted anti-trust legislation, which could end up like many of our laws: brazenly ignored by big business and political interests.

He can sit down with some genuinely “micro” entrepreneurs – especially those with no connections whatsoever to the rich and powerful – and find out how tough it can be to get a tiny business going in this country.

Inclusive growth might yet go beyond APECASEAN rhetoric.