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I WAS fixated in my seat while listening to the speakers of the
recently concluded 2008 National Conference on the State of
Philippine Competitiveness when I suddenly had the feeling that
something was wrong.
I’m not sure what it was. Perhaps it was my
“sixth sense” I’ve developed after years of doing a hobby
called objective fault-finding routine that could translate to
becoming toxic-humor written pieces.
Or perhaps it was the fact that the conference
started more than one-hour late. Then I wonder how come we’re bold
enough to talk about “competitiveness” when we could not even
change the Filipino concept of time?
Whatever ticked me off; I knew that we as a
nation had a serious problem. And so I did not waste time. Moving
swiftly but without panic, I spent my time waiting as I read the
handouts given by the organizer.
Reading is one of the four recommended methods
by experts for killing time in a situation like that. The other
three are (1) exchange business cards with those around you, (2)
check the exhibits of the organizers and their sponsors, (3) drink
Nescafé and then ask the temps manning the booth, “What’s the
name of your employment agency?”
As you can imagine, I opted for reading the
handouts to get a head start of what would be the focus of the
discussion, until I drifted to a 15-page handout titled
“Filipinnovation: The Philippine National Innovation Strategy.”
It went further with a sub-title, “Unleashing
the innovative spirit of Filipinos for global competitiveness.”
And so what is “Filipinnovation?” Simply
put, it “is innovation by the Filipino for the Philippines and the
global community.”
My seatmate who appeared to be an expatriate
from the Middle East— judging from his size, physique, and of
course, queer body odor—elicited a muffled laughter as he scanned
his copy of the handouts. I knew as an experienced management
professional that he was trying to be a sarcastic fool.
I was tempted to punch him in the face, but
somehow I knew he was right. He could be mockingly echoing James
Fallows’ “Damaged Culture” theory on the occasion when the
country is celebrating its competitiveness ranking which improved
from the previous record of 45th to 40th.
So we know that the Philippines has a long way
to go before reaching the standards of its Southeast Asian neighbors
like Singapore (2), Malaysia (19), and Thailand (27)—assuming they
will stand still.
We know we have foreigners all over the country,
including Port Irene where they could poke their long white noses
into car smuggling. They can create noises in their attempt to
protect their legitimate businesses too, which means that the
government is not doing enough.
This also means that columnists like me would
have to do the manly thing that men have had to do as long as men
have been brave enough— to write a critical column.
So I kept a copy of the “Filipinnovation”
handout, waited for about two weeks to reflect on it—when I was
able, thanks to my experience in procrastination and my natural
analytical sense to go over motherhood statements.
Still I can’t make sense out of it because it
was nothing but a replication multiplied 198 times of what I’ve
read in other “national competitiveness” documents. It’s like
a cramped, dark and mysterious road map with hundreds of rocky roads
littered with dead cats.
And so I came briskly to the conclusion that we
could probably start all over again by initiating instead a basic,
no-nonsense, but revolutionized campaign for punctuality every where
and every time. Or move to implement a national campaign for 5S good
housekeeping.
I think I’ve said this piece for only 368,000
times in the past. The friendly critic of all columnists—Jerry
Quibilan could attest to this. So come on, Philippines! This is your
chance to make a difference at least by showing up on time!
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Rey Elbo is a business consultant
specializing in human resources and total quality management as a
fused specialty. Reader’s feedback may be sent to kairoshq@info.com.ph
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