RX to "Competing with Japan 1"

Reactions to “Competing with Japan”

More Reactions to “Elvis Who?”

More Reactions to “Concerts on DVD”

On Suretsky’s “Filipino Inferiority Complex”

On Gawad Kalinga

Observations

Tony, You are absolutely right that there is no basis for comparison between Japan and the Philippines. Susmaryosef! Ang layo naman! It is not putting our country down but we are really far away from Japan whether the period was the early or mid 20th century (1960s) - and most especially now!

I distinctly remember when my eldest brother and older sister went to Japan in 1964. They rhapsodized about the Bullet Train in Tokyo and the progress of Japan. Indeed, in less than two decades after World War II, Japan had become a resurgent industrial power and was able to host the Tokyo Olympics. Just look at the Philippines, we have no hosted any Olympics even 50 years after the last world war. In contrast, South Korea hosted the successful Seoul Olympics in the 90s.

Anyway, before I forget, I wish to reiterate what I mentioned to you before, about publishing a book on selected articles that you have written over the past 20 years. The nice part about it is that you can have different chapters on the various topics of your articles. It will be a useful book to enlighten and guide future leaders. I would be more than happy to help. Cheers!

Rick B. Ramos, (by email), Santa Rosa, Laguna, Sept. 01, 2007

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Thanks a lot. all the while..... it’s an eye opener. Thanks again.

Enrique T. Dominguez, (by email), Abu Dhabi, UAE, Sept. 01, 2007
Relationship Manager. Portfolio Risk Management-
Abu Dhabi Commercial Bank

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Dear Tony:

Touche, Tony, for this--another illuminating and masterful essay.

Mariano Patalinjug, (by email), Yonkers, NY, Sept. 01, 2007

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You are absolutely right. Our politicians do lots of talking and no actions. Our religious leadership surrender our country to the mercy of God.

Roy Querol, (by email), Sept. 01, 2007

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Thank you for the history lesson. I really appreciate it.

Twenof@aol.com, Sept. 04, 2007

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And that is the debate that we are not having- what is our strategic
economic policy? Our senators make press releases (such as Pangilinan's
recent "Growth is not sustainable." Pray tell, how has he used Senate funds
to study AND answer the question: What will make our growth sustainable? Is
the Arroyo government headed towards the right path? If not, how can we do
better?

What ails the Philippines is not only greed; it is also laziness to study
and THINK well!

Grace Abella-Zata, (by email), Sept. 04, 2007

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Dear Mr. Abaya,

The Philippines competing with Japan is like Japan competing with the U.S. How many years will pass before Japan can send a man to the moon after 1969?

Lionel Tierra, (by email), Sacramento, CA, Sept. 05, 2007

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Tony -- forwarded your article to Dr Nelson at the University of Maryland. Here are his comments. Regards

Johnny Mercado, (by email), Sept 05, 2007

Philippine Daily Inquirer

----- Original Message -----

From: Robert Nelson

To: Juan Mercado

Cc: Ernie Pernia ; raul fabella ; Noel De Dios

Sent: Wednesday, September 05, 2007 11:05 PM

Subject: Re: Competing with Japan?

Johnny,

Thanks for sending the piece by Antonio Abaya. The author conveniently ignores many important things:

1.The major Japanese successes mentioned by Abaya in the early twentieth century are all military. I never said the Philippines challenged Japan then in terms of military capacity. I said it increasingly challenged Japan economically until the 1930s. Military and economic success are not the same. The former Soviet Union, for example, was a military colussus after World War II but a second rank country economically whose citizens suffered greatly from the commitment of large parts of the economy to military purposes and national prestige (much like Japan had earlier done).

(It is Nelson who conveniently forgets that the military successes on the scale achieved by Japan in 1894-95 and 1904-05 could not have been possible without economic muscles (steel industry, shipbuilding industry, munitions industry, armaments industry, chemical industry, tool and die industry, and a network of manufacturing industries that made uniforms, helmets, backpacks, medical kits, field rations, binoculars, bayonets, tents, etc) plus a high degree of social organization….none of which existed in the Philippines of 1902, or the 1930s. He says “(the Philippines) increasingly challenged Japan economically until the 1930s.” Pray, tell, where were the Philippines’ steel, shipbuilding, munitions, armaments, chemical, tool and die industries, and ancillary industries in the decades leading to the 1930s. ACA)

2.Even in military terms, the Philippines had done better than any other Asian country, other than Japan, by the early twentieth century. From 1898 to 1903, it was the first Asian country to wage an all out anti-colonial war. Even though ultimately defeated, it had still achieved some important military successes for a time against a country as rich and powerful as the United States (a much more powerful adversary than the decrepit imperial Russia)

(Although Gen. Emilio Aguinaldo did score some significant victories against the decrepit Spanish empire, he did not “achieve any important military successes against the rich and powerful United States.” Tirad Pass was a moral, not a military, victory, and Balangiga was a one-shot guerilla strike that did not affect the final outcome the way the Tet Offensive in Vietnam in 1968 did. ACA) .

3. Japan's much greater military power in the early twentieth century, relative to the Philippines, reflected superior armaments but also significantly its much larger population. The population of Japan in 1900 was 44 million, while the Philippines had 7 million.

(In 1894-95 and 1904-05, Japan was in conflict with China and Russia, both of which had populations much bigger than Japan’s. Japan was not in conflict, or in competition, with the Philippines. ACA)

4. Because of its large population, the industrial production of Japan was also much larger (about 10 times larger) in 1900. But economic success is not measured by total production -- rather it is measured by income per capita. India today has a far higher total national income than Switzerland or Norway. Would Abaya then say that India is more economically advanced than Switzerland or Norway?

(I never said any such thing. Per capita income is only one measure of economic success, but it is not the only one. Is Nelson saying that Brunei (pci $23,000) is more economically successful than China (pci PPP $11,300? ACA)

5. The level of economic advancement is therefore best measured by income per capita. In 1902, the income per capita (in 1990 prices) was $1,129 in Japan, and $673 in the Philippines. Is Abaya really suggesting that a nation like Japan with an income per capita then of $1,129 in today's prices had already successfully "industrialized."

(By any yardstick of common sense, a country that in 1902 was already producing its own steel, ships, armaments, munitions, chemicals, tools and dies, engines, vehicles, etc can be considered “industrialized” even if its pci is said to be only $1,129. ACA)

6. By 1930, the income per capita of the Philippines (again in 1990 prices) had risen rapidly to $1,382 (and thus by then was significantly above the earlier Japanese level of 1902). Japanese income per capita meanwhile had risen to $1,850 in 1930. Neither country by contemporary standards was very well developed but the Philippines had been growing more rapidly for the previous 30 years (again, in terms of income per capita).

(These dollar numbers are really meaningless. There were no working exchange rates in 1902. Neither Japan nor the Philippines paid their wages nor conducted their trade in US dollars. Extrapolations are of limited value and can lead to conclusions that, for example, the Philippine pci grew from $1,382 in 1930 (according to Nelson) to $1,463 in 2006 (according to President Arroyo), or a growth of only 5.86% over 76 years, or an average of 0.77% a year, which is patently absurd. ACA)

7. The Philippines income per capita in 1930 was thus only $482 below the income per capita of Japan. Given the huge commitments being made by Japan to armaments at that time, the money available to the average Filipino for consumptive purposes in 1930 and over next decade might well have exceeded the Japanese level per person.

(Wages paid for work in armaments industries are still wages, and workers spend them for food, housing, transport, fuel etc as other workers in other industries do. Armaments workers do not spend their wages to buy guns and bullets.

(It is also foolish to estimate Philippine wages in 1930 at an exchange rate of two pesos to one dollar, as Nelson apparently does. This was an arbitrary exchange rate and did not reflect the true strength or weakness of the Philippine economy then. A friend of mine who was an insurance clerk in the 1950s was paid P150 or $75 a month, which is a long way from $1,382 a year.

(One peso could not have been made to equal one dollar. That would have given the colony parity with the colonizing power. More likely, the 2:1 exchange rate was decided on to give American carpetbaggers who wanted out more dollars for their pesos, than they would get in a free float. Or to allow American firms in Manila to send dollar profits to the home office using relatively few pesos. ACA)

8.Educationally, in the first half of the twentieth century the Philippines and Japan were both far ahead of other Asian nations in spreading mass education throughout the country. Large numbers of Filipinos were attending higher education as well, a tradition still seen in the exceptionally large percentage of Filipinos today who have a college degree.

(I have always acknowledged that the US colonial government gave Filipinos a high literacy rate through the public school system, which the European powers did not establish in their colonies. In the article under discussion, I wrote: “In the 1960s….we were coasting along on our advantage in literacy, a legacy of the public school system bequeathed by American colonial rule….”

(High literacy is a pre-requisite for industrialization. That we did not use this advantage to industrialize – as our neighbors later did - can be blamed on ignorance or stupidity on the part of Philippine political leaders (who were/are mostly lawyers, not engineers, scientists or economists), rather than on a diabolical conspiracy of the Philippine oligarchic elite to keep political power for themselves and to leave the broad mass of Filipinos poor and powerless. ACA)

9.Public health improvements were spreading rapidly in the Philippines. The Philippine population increased by 127 percent from 1900 to 1940, while the Japanese population increased by 65 percent over the same period.

(Ditto for public health. The Americans built a public health system here that was superior to anything the Europeans set up in their colonies. No wonder the Philippine population increased dramatically between 1900 and 1940. The slower growth rate of the Japanese population may be attributed to a higher rate of urbanization in Japan due to industrialization. In general, urban homes are smaller than rural homes, forcing urban dwellers to have fewer children. ACA)

10. The Japanese economy in the 1920s and 1930s had a few technically advanced sectors, especially those that contributed to military power and strength. However, much of the Japanese economic remained primitive. Just last week I was reading Ruth Benedict's classic The Chrysanthemum and the Sword, written in 1946. As she reports, "in the nineteen-thirties no less than 53 percent of all persons industrially employed in Japan were working in this way in shops and homes having less than five workers" -- conditions she describes as those of "home sweatshops."

(Still, Japan in the 1930s was strong enough - economically, culturally and militarily - to invade China, to grab China’s vast industrial heartland Manchuria (which the Japanese renamed Manchukuo), to build the third largest navy in the world, after the US and the British, to develop and mass-produce some of the best aircraft in the world at that time, to have a Nobel Prize winner in physics, and to win gold medals in the 1936 Berlin Olympics Did the Philippines reach even 1/100^th of this level of development in 1930, or ever, to be able to “contend with Japan for the leadership of Asia?” ACA)

Hope this information is helpful

Bob (Nelson)

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More Reactions to “Elvis Who?” (Aug. 21, 2007)

Tony Abaya: On Elvis, while I like some of the Elvis songs, many of them are adaptations of African American music. He was banned for his "gyrations" in Jacksonville, Florida. So, not all Americans accepted him. He is popular and made tons of monies. "Graceland" is a proof of it. He also had a good business manager. He also also remembered for his songs in the movies. And now, as he would sing, Tony A, "Don't be Cruel". My mother-in-law, remembers one of his songs as "Rocking the Jail.", heh...heh... heh Need a favor, por pabor: "what is the name of the F Sionil's novel on Artemio Ricarte, Vibora?

Max Fabella, (by email), Florida, Sept. 02, 2007

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Dear Mr. Abaya, When it comes to music and singers, I would think it is to each his own. Some like classical music, some folk songs, rhythm and blues, modern beats, rock and roll, and just rap (which to some is just plain crap).

I wonder why no one even mentioned Philippine kundimans of composers Francisco Santiago, Felipe M. de Leon, Nicanor Abelardo, J. Buencamino, Velarde (Dahil Sa Iyo, probably the most internationally known Filipino melody) and others?

I guess it is because our past two generations grew up in a pseudo-western culture. By the way, what is our cultural heritage? After the first American G.I. handed us our first chewing gum during the liberation of Manila, "ang kano" na lang ang naging bida sa buhay nating lahat, di ba?

Lionel Tierra, (by email), Sacramento, CA, Sept. 03, 2007

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Alright! Alright! Elvis wasn't really the man in town!!! In his teen years, he wasn't that hot! He only blossomed in those years because white is superior/supreme and they needed somebody to represent their white race. Elvis was no match with the "rock 'n
roll " and blues BLACK artists like Chuck Berry, Buddy Holly, Muddy Waters, Little Richard, etc etc. Even The Beatles, Rolling Stones and Eric Clapton (and other
big shots) copied these "rock 'n roll " and bluesBLACK artists. They worshipped artists like Jimmy Hendrix! If you listen to Elvis' voice, he sang like a funny ngo-ngo.

LF, tatski007@yahoo.com, Sept 06, 2007

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More Reaction to “Concerts on DVD” (July 24, 2007)

Dear Tony, There are about 6,200 women composers dating as far back as 15th or 16th century. If you are interested, KAPRALOVA SOCIETY.ORG has a database of some 600 women composers. Some works could be obtained or listened to on an MIDI file on your computer Rutgers University in New Jersey has some of Clara Wieck Schumann's works and many more.

Dr. Nestor P. Baylan, (by email), New York City, Sept. 03, 2007

(Again, you missed the point. The point was: between Hildegaard of Bingen in the 12th century and Lili Boulanger in the 20^th century, there were hardly any women composers who created anything of lasting significance. Can you honestly say that you personally enjoy, or actually own LPs/CDs/DVDs of, the compositions of those 6,200 or 650 women composers? If not, then they have no lasting significance for you either, no matter how many they were. ACA)

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On Barth Suretsky: Filipino Inferiority Complex

Dear Tony, Here’s something I wrote about the Suretsky article sometime ago. There have been many more opinions. After going over the piece and comments, I have my own reactions:

1. I don't know Suretsky, so why should he excite me? But since he's circulated in cyberspace, I suppose he should be disposed of.

2. His FINDINGS are correct: crime, dirt, people who should leave this country if they don't like it here, and all those seamy things you find here and in many countries, including the "dreamland" United States and many "high tradition" countries in Europe. But his CONCLUSIONS are faulty. Yes, he's spent 20 years here. I know some people who were born here and have lived for over 70 years, whose conclusions in this regard are still balmy. Maybe it's a matter of attitude.

3. For my part, and I know that many share this feeling, I'm pretty proud of being a Filipino, and I'm happy to live in the Philippines. The last one who officially challenged my citizenship got it between the eyes from my father, and my grandfather from the grave. I've had at least one chance to move out, but fortunately the impelling reason for moving out was shanghied to Hawaii. Even when impelled I painfully hesitated. It must have been my upbringing, and my parents', and their parents' parents' upbringing. My grandfather lost a leg fighting the American invaders. My father lost his health and died from it, trying to make a go for this country. I have exerted my own efforts.

4. What we know of the past isn't bad. We should all try to know more. But we didn't do too badly when we showed the Spaniards that we didn't need to be "discovered". The Americans followed, blowing bugles "to save the Filipino savages". But only after treachery, and subsequent massacres. The Filipinos were going by the books: they acted in trust, particularly at levels of state. If that induces a sense of inferiority, we must be talking of gunship diplomacy, the Crusades, the Yellow Horde. Going for peace doesn't seem to cut any ice in Suretsky's context.

5. I'll tell you one thing: listening to and reading Dr. Felipe Lando Jocano helps. Also helps: thinking about the bad deals we have gotten from the Spaniards, the Americans, the Japanese, Marcos, and -- going for it -- the present administration. For me there is not only no inferiority complex, there is pride. One must be hopelessly blind not to see that pride in the Philippine War of Independence, and more recently in the Philippine Revolution against Dictatorship.

6. So you see why I really couldn't care what Suretsky and his unthinking ilk think they think.

Manuel Q. Lim, (by email), June 26, 2007

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Observations

Tocayo, As I wrote you once before, the idea I endorsed to you about your writings
being printed and distributed to our youth is still something to consider.

But now with your feedback reactions by readers from all over, it is as
if you already have a FORUM where everyone shares his or her comments to be
read by everyone interested.

In effect, when I view your feedback reactions, I can see you HOLDING COURT
and with conviction, answering or refuting statements or at times
ridiculing impertinent feedbackers. Good. I also see "grandstanders" among
them who also want to be IN on the Abaya bandwagon and be read.

Mabuhay, Tony. I am truly proud of you, with your erudition and above all...courage Your friend from Loyola,

Tony (Joaquin), (by email), Daly City CA, Sept. 03, 2007

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On Gawad Kalinga

Hi! In the intramural battle within the local Couples for Christ movement, Jose Ma. Montelibano is clearly on the side of Tony Meloto and his Gawad Kalinga. So am I. I also believe there are many thousands of others who are rallying behind Mr. Meloto. Vote Tony Meloto for President in 2007!

Just a thought: Do you know that the medium-term target of GK is to build 100,000 homes for the poor? According to Mr. Montelibano GK has so far erected 24,000 units. For FY2007 there is at least P20 billion pesos in "pork barrel" hidden in the fiscal budget by my own reckoning. Now, if half of that "pork" were channeled by our politicians through GK in behalf of taxpayers, at least 130,000 housing units can be constructed for the poor annually all over the Philippines! I won't mind if these GK villages were named after Congressmen and Senators in bailiwicks favored by them. Yours,

Ben Sanchez, (by email), Sept. 02, 2007

The Good, The Crab, And The Ugly
GLIMPSES [Balita-USA]

By Jose Ma. Montelibano

It is not just the spirit of bayanihan that is well entrenched in Filipinos but also the dreaded crab mentality. I believe that these are two ends of one spectrum, the celebratory practice of helping one another and the pulling down of those who succeed by those who fear being left behind. Both are so much a part of the Filipino that he is like Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde.

The recognition of bayanihan as the highest expression of Filipino behavior drove Gawad Kalinga to adopt it as its premier community value. Banking on the awesome power of a deep-seated Filipino spirit, Gawad Kalinga braved the odds and embarked on a vision and mission of dismantling poverty, corruption and violence. Introducing the movement as a simple program of community development, Gawad Kalinga focused on returning dignity as a birthright of the poor by re-engineering his physical and social environment.

When Tony Meloto and a few of his young wards in the Couples For Christ (CFC) community ventured into the largest relocation site of the Philippines called Bagong Silang in Caloocan City, there was no grand plan to initiate a movement called Gawad Kalinga. There was, however, a grand spirit that invited them to cross the line of fear and reach out to young troubled gang members there. The success of CFC in transforming young lives among teenagers in the CFC community emboldened Tony to penetrate one of the most dangerous urban jungles of Metro Manila.

Staging youth camps which mixed young CFC members and gang members of Bagong Silang, Tony was able to witness instant changes on both sides. It took great faith in their mission and trust in their leader to motivate CFC youth to go to Bagong Silang and mingle with gang members over a weekend of immersion. They must have inwardly cringed with trepidation when they saw the types and amounts of weaponry that the Bagong Silang gang members temporarily surrendered before joining the youth camps. But they believed, and believed strongly enough to conquer fear and begin the process of building relationships with strangers from another world.

In that same spirit of healing the divisions between rich and poor, between the peaceful and the troubled, between supported and the neglected, the initial reach out program evolved so naturally to helping not just the affected young gang members but also their families. A decent house was built in place of a demolished shanty, and later more decent and brightly houses were built in clusters as if to develop a new support system – courtesy of generous individuals who provided the first resources to back up a radical experience.

From that first foray into dangerous territory almost 12 years ago, an outreach program has blossomed to the most effective, massive and widely admired community development program and a noble movement for nation building. Gawad Kalinga was awarded the prestigious Ramon Magsaysay Award after two years and more than 600 interviews, and so was its public face and moving spirit – Tony Meloto. After receiving the Ramon Magsaysay Award, Tony Meloto was honored by the 1 ^st Haydee Yorac Award and a stream of several other awards that must have made him the most awarded Filipino within a short period.

More about 1,200 communities and 24,000 homes later, Gawad Kalinga is firmly entrenched as a bearer of hope and a radical approach to nation building. It is blessed by the trust and generosity of the largest local and global corporations operating in the Philippines. It is also recognized, admired and awarded with congressional resolutions thanking Gawad Kalinga for its work as well as active partnerships with governors and mayors.

But by a bizarre twist of fate, Gawad Kalinga's integrity is smeared by a televised remark of a former elder of CFC and now an incorporator of a splinter group who want to set up their own renewal community. His insinuation that Gawad Kalinga may have some problem accounting for the money that it receives to build houses has upset the workers and volunteers of Gawad Kalinga, including corporate partners who have must have done a due diligence check on Gawad Kalinga before giving not just their funds but their corporate name as well.

In the 1^st town development summit held by Gawad Kalinga last weekend, Fil-Am Robert Sanchez, CEO of a $500 million IT company, told more than 100 governors and mayors that he is part of a group of successful second generation Fil-Ams who have banded together to advocate for Gawad Kalinga. Before they committed themselves and their resources to Gawad kalinga, they instructed their lawyers to research on Gawad Kalinga and perform due diligence on the organization. In his own words, Robert said, "Gawad Kalinga has no corruption, Gawad Kalinga has no arrogance."

As if to emphasize his trust and admiration of Gawad Kalinga, Robert then told the LGUs in the audience that he would arrange the funding of 100 GK villages within one year's time if 100 governors or mayors would counterpart with land and site development. Notwithstanding the efforts to erode the credibility of Gawad Kalinga by those seen as simply jealous, Robert gave a $5 million pledge and also shared the information that there will be more Fil-Ams committed to build a motherland that they can be proud of, to lift the poor from poverty and provide new hope and opportunities for them.

Perhaps, it was too much to expect that even the most transparent and participatory effort to help the poor and build our nation would find Filipinos inflicted with a crab mentality, eager to pull down the successful so their misery will find company. The bayanihan spirit which fuels the Gawad Kalinga movement is countered by its negative counterpart – the destructive crab mentality.

Fortunately, caring, sacrifice and determination has built for Gawad Kalinga an ocean of goodwill. Partners from business, government, the academe, civic organizations, and the thousands of poor families who have been helped and the millions more who wish for Gawad Kalinga to reach them one day have given their assurances of continued trust. Many of them have offered to help in any way they can. Its fruits bless the labor of love of the tens of thousands who support Gawad Kalinga. Good, after all, may truly be more powerful than evil.

As for the crabs, well, their ugliness can always be transformed. All they need is to be properly steamed to turn from green to red.***

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(Forwarded to Tapatt by Aurora Pijuan)

Is Gawad Kalinga too good to last?
DEMAND AND SUPPLY By Boo Chanco
August 31, 2007

Two weeks ago, I received an e-mail that gave me information about the internal problems of Gawad Kalinga and Couples for Christ stalwarts. The e-mail detailed the split in the leadership and left open the question of how the Catholic Church hierarchy regards Gawad Kalinga in view of the split.

I went against my instincts as a journalist and decided not to write about it when I received that email. This is the kind of bad news I wish would just go away. Also, I felt bad enough to be the first to write a column about the simmering problems of GK and CFC leaders last February. That column, the e-mail writer pointed out, caused Tony Meloto to resign his positions in the Church ministries. But even then, I only wrote about it at that time, out of a journalistic obligation to present a reader reaction to a column that lauded the Gawad Kalinga and Meloto.

I guess the story of the leadership crisis is too good to ignore for long. Vic Agustin wrote two columns in the Standard over the past week on the subject and Ces Drilon had a report aired on it last Tuesday evening on ANC. Newsbreak had a story on it too in its website. What I find sad is the impression it leaves that we Pinoys can’t stand a successful venture. Soon enough, crab mentality sets in and the venture becomes too good to last.

As I piece together the details of the sad and sordid mess, it appears that the crisis apparently started with some disagreements between Frank Padilla (the CFC founder) and Tony Meloto, dramatized by their resignation from the CFC Council early February of this year. Padilla is now leading a splinter group which he calls CFC FFFL (Foundation for Family and Life).

As is typical with many Filipino groups, the problem eventually involves an election. Apparently, Padilla wanted to get back to the CFC council through its regular elections scheduled last June. When it was apparent that he couldn’t get back his position, he tried to have the election postponed. But the elections pushed through and a new council was elected with supporters of Meloto winning the contest.

A number of bishops, supposedly at Padilla’s prodding, threatened to cut off CFC from their diocese, recognizing only the new FFFL. Meloto’s group was accused of turning non-Catholic. Among others, Meloto was criticized for taking in monetary support from corporations that advocated artificial family planning methods and for working with non Catholics, like the Mormons and the Muslims.

There were also allegations of misuse of funds from both sides. Meloto was asked to account for donations received with the suggestion that not enough houses have been built. On the other hand, Padilla was asked to account for the P50 million in assistance provided by the Department of Health (DOH) to promote natural family planning methods. There are also questions on the handling of tithes given to CFC by its members.

In his interview by Ces Drilon, Meloto said he had asked SGV to audit all funds donated to Gawad Kalinga. Meloto also said he was embarrassed to even have to answer that question in a public interview since trust is the essential element behind Gawad Kalinga’s success

.

If the Catholic Bishops eventually side with Padilla, what happens to Gawad Kalinga? While GK now has an internal capacity to raise funds and is organized to operate on its own, the split could affect the supply of dedicated volunteers from the CFC. CFC members constitute the backbone of GK volunteers and many of them are there because of the Church backing. So that even if the newly elected CFC officers support Meloto, it is not certain they will be able to keep their members once the Bishops withdraw support.

But Gawad Kalinga is too good an idea to give up just because it became too successful. It is one of the rare instances when the Catholic Church is identified with a popular project that addresses poverty and the right of every human being to a life with dignity. GK gives the Catholic Church in the Philippines an unusual relevance in addressing a temporal need of its flock.

I can’t help smirking when I read one of the accusations of Padilla that Meloto has strayed from the spiritual ministry of CFC and had become too temporal. GK under Meloto had been accused by Padilla of not strictly advocating the Church’s Pro-Life doctrine and is compromising with donors who advocate artificial contraception.

Meloto denied the accusation in his interview with Ces Drilon. But even if he is guilty as charged, I can’t see what the problem is. For evangelization to be significant in the lives of our poor, it has to be more than spiritual. Would the Church rather have the poor reproduce like rats and live with vermin in the streets, without any human dignity so long as its so-called Pro-life doctrine is upheld? Shouldn’t there be a Church supported program here on earth to house in dignity all those people reproducing themselves to Armageddon? How can anything be pro-life if it ignores the quality of our people’s lives?

Meloto’s GK addresses that problem with this very novel housing experiment that proved more than viable. I know too that one of the things GK insists on before they even break ground is the matter of spiritual and values formation among the beneficiaries. There is a “caretaker team” for each proposed village that introduces value-formation seminars at the early part of any project. After the houses are built, the team would continue to assist the beneficiaries in education (usually a school built on-site, like those Meralco Sibol schools), employment (livelihood projects), and health, among others.

This makes Gawad Kalinga unique. Much depends on the dedication of the volunteers in the caretaker teams. GK does not build and leave. Follow through after the homes are turned over is very important and that is perhaps the primary reason for its success.

Raising the money and building the houses are the easy parts of the GK experience.

Gawad Kalinga has now built some 1,200 communities all over the country, or about 22,000 homes for impoverished families nationwide, including Muslim-dominated provinces in Mindanao . I remember Datu Toto Paglas telling me that when GK built houses in his province, many in his Muslim rebel constituency were so touched by the gesture of Christians building homes for poor Muslim families they became predisposed to think of the potentials of living in peace.

The current program of GK aims to benefit 700,000 families by building 7,000 communities by the end of 2010. It is too good to be allowed to wither in the face of a decision by the Catholic Bishops to withdraw support. If the Catholic Church would no longer have it, civil society should adopt it and give it even more fire. A withdrawal of Church support may even be the best thing that could happen to GK because of the opportunity that will create for every segment of society to now call it its own.

The Church’s loss, if it withdraws, is the nation’s gain. The League of Corporate Foundations, Philippine Business for Social Progress as well as non-business NGOs should adopt GK as its mass housing project. GK should become a non sectarian effort, the Filipino version of Habitat for Humanity. More important, we have to prove to ourselves that we are able to sustain a good idea and protect it from dying or falling victim to the usual crab mentality for which many leaders in Pinoy communities here and abroad are known for.

We have to separate the personalities from the project. Tony Meloto may have won awards for leading GK but GK is not Tony Meloto. GK is the Filipino who is ready to share of himself to house a fellow Filipino and give him the opportunity to live in dignity that every human being deserves. If the Catholic bishops and the Padilla group cannot see this, we will have to show them.

Here’s hoping that Gawad Kalinga will survive this leadership crisis, one way or another. It is too good an idea to lose, specially because there is still so much work to be done.*****

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To my friends in Gawad Kalinga,

In my long career as Economist, both in the private business sector, as a government official and in the UN system worldwide, I have always stressed that economic success for the individual and the country at large does not depend on economic resources but on the values people live by. For example, Japan had very little natural resources to start with but it has the second largest economy next only to the United States. On the other hand, Israel made the desert bloom.

It is an undisputed fact that economic success is due not to bountiful natural resources and capital that we can harness. Success for a nation depends on human behavior.

Let me give you an example. While attending a UN meeting, an Austrian economist learning that I was from the Philippines confronted me with this statement: "I don't understand you Filipinos. Man for man, a Filipino is just as good as the Japanese. But when three Japanese get together, they have the strength of ten men. However, when you place ten Filipinos together, they have the strength of less than three!" The man was clearly referring to our "crab" mentality – the lack of a spirit of cooperativeness.

This may account for the fact that in the 1950's the Philippines was next only to Japan in terms of economic performance; now, it is among Asia's tail-enders. In terms of the UN's Human Development Index, Indonesia has already surpassed the Philippines. In a couple of years, Vietnam will overtake us at the rate our economy is crawling.

GK is paving the way to make Filipinos to bind themselves more strongly through cooperating with one another. That is why I hail your work. But a cooperative spirit is but one of at least a dozen "modernizing" values that will spur a healthy future for an individual and – if practiced widely– advance the nation as a whole.

I call these values "Modernizing Ideals" because we need to get rid of traditional Filipino habits and attitudes that have proven inimical to our society. The story below illustrates one of these values – scrupulous honesty. I'll give you the complete set in a forthcoming email. Perhaps you can make use of these email messages in your Child and Youth Development Programs.

Conrado Sanchez, Jr, (by email), Sept. 04, 2007

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