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."