RP seeking development-friendly democracy
RP seeking development-friendly democracy
The Philippines may have finally found that freedom is not a
deterrent to development. Johanna Son of Inter Press Service
reports.
MANILA (IPS): For a long time, the Philippines has stood apart
from its authoritarian neighbors, diagnosed as a country where
rowdy democracy sapped economic health.
Singapore Senior Minister Lee Kuan Yew last year made the
famous pronouncement that U.S.-style democracy in the Philippines
had created "undisciplined and disorderly conditions" to block
development.
Many agreed. The Philippines regained its freedom in a 1986
popular uprising but what good was this, they asked, because
hungry Filipinos cannot eat freedom. In contrast, East Asia's
newly industrializing countries that put economic progress ahead
of political rights have surged ahead.
But as the `Sick Man of Asia' starts rebuilding its economic
muscle, Filipinos are finding a sympathetic audience tuned to
their assertion that democracy and development do mix.
Filipino officials have been repeating this thesis like a
mantra in promotion trips abroad, determined to turn what has
often been called a burden into ad advantage.
"This I have always believed: we can develop as a working
democracy -- and not in spite of it," says President Fidel Ramos,
who put the Philippines' democratic foot forward when he went on
a five-country swing through western Europe in September.
At the annual meetings of the International Monetary Fund
(IMF) and World Bank in Madrid last month, Finance Secretary
Roberto de Ocampo noted that it had become fashionable in Asia
"to think that the only key to economic success is strong and
authoritarian government rather than an elected one". But he
added: "We are determined to prove that there is yet another way
that miracles in Asia can happen. Keep watch."
The Philippines' assertion that democracy can be the takeoff
point for economic growth is not entirely new, the country being
one of Asia's oldest democracies that had its political culture
shaped by colonization by Spain and then the United States.
But the theme has become more compelling at a time when the
once-moribund economy is projected to grow by 4.5 to five percent
this year. Renewed international confidence has also fueled
foreign investments and the stock market.
Indeed, when IMF managing director Michel Camdessus visited
Manila recently, he said the international community was "looking
forward to a Philippine success story, showing the world that a
buoyant economy and a vibrant democracy can go hand in hand".
Even Singapore's Lee has given Manila a pat on the back,
telling Ramos at a conference in Singapore in October that the
Philippines is "back on the right track".
Analysts maintain that democracy was never really in danger of
losing out to authoritarianism, though its concrete benefits may
take time to emerge. Building a country that is democratic and
growing may be harder, but its benefits are also much greater.
Julius Caesar Parrenas of the Manila-based Center for Research
and Communication (CRC) says the much-vaunted stability of
authoritarian regimes tends to be temporary. South-east Asia's
strongman governments also find their lack of democratic systems
a weakness that Western governments constantly harp on, he adds.
"Our neighbors have been stable because of the State's control
over their lives," says Parrenas. "But stability ends where the
question of succession begins."
Nobody worried about succession in Indonesia in the 1980s. But
today, uncertainty is rife about what happens when the 73-year-
old president bows out when his sixth five-year term ends in
1998. Says Parrenas: "You don't know whether the one who will
succeed Soeharto can control more than 100 million people as
well."
He says this can be bad for business since sudden political
upheavals or unrest in a labor sector tightly reined in by
Jakarta could wipe out millions of dollars in investments.
The economist notes that while the Philippine political
process may be slower, "people are now willing to play according
to the rules of the game. Once the rules are accepted, things
become more stable".
Democratic set-ups are also bound to be more stable in the
long-term because authoritarian ones are open to pressure on
issues such as human rights and labor rights. Parrenas says such
views cannot easily be dismissed. He notes, "Today, trade and
investment relations depend on other governments' attitude toward
you."
For instance, the United States has tried to link China's
human rights record to trade privileges. And during bilateral
talks with Indonesian President Soeharto in Jakarta, U.S.
President Bill Clinton raised the issue of Indonesia's own
records, including labor rights.
Trading partners cannot use these issues against democratic
countries, say analysts. A choice between democratic and
authoritarian systems may no longer really exist anyway. Split-
second communication and satellite systems mean that strongman
government that try to keep information out of national borders
are fighting a long battle.
De Ocampo says the Philippines aims to "make haste slowly" in
its bid to become a tiger economy by the year 2000, hoping to
achieve growth that addresses equity and sustains the environment
as well. He observers: "Tigers may use their strength to prey on
the weak and dragons may breathe fire that can burn forests."
Parrenas is likewise upbeat over the economic potential that a
democratic Philippines holds. When Hong Kong-based firms think
about where to go after the territory reverts to China in 1997,
they may just consider the Philippines, he suggests.
Hong Kong businessmen should logically prefer Singapore, but
find the regimented life there "not conducive to creativity," he
adds. "A few years ago the Philippines was not an option for
there businessmen. If we do our homework and nurture our economy,
we could be a viable alternative."
Can intangibles matter in the race to attract investments? At
a recent seminar on East Asia, Parrenas remarked: "You can chew
gum in the Philippines, unlike in certain other countries."