NOT DICKENS
"Manila is the woman I had to marry but Cebu is the one I really love."
So spoke one of the directors of Washington SyCip Policy Forum during a briefing on the state of Philippine competitiveness in Marriott Hotel last Nov. 19. He explained that the economic and career opportunities in the nation's capital region kept many highly educated professionals like him from working in the provinces much as they want to settle in Cebu, for example.
Hmm, the same could be said for our countrymen who found greener pastures abroad.
The same speaker informed us that in a survey conducted early this year on global competitiveness among 46 countries, the Philippines ranked number one in skilled labor, number two in terms of competent senior managers, and landed in the top 10 for people flexibility and adaptability (no. 7), managers' international experience and management (no. 8), and qualified engineers (no. 8). The pendulum swings to the other end as we find ourselves in the bottom ten in terms of brain drain (no. 41), productivity (no. 43), and in investments in research and development (no. 44).
This survey merely confirms what we knew all along -- bilib sila sa Pinoy. Too bad that all these skills and talents -- this brain drain -- is benefiting other places, instead of our own. Government doesn't seem to mind exporting its people as number one resource in exchange for the billions of dollars remitted back home. See? "We appreciate your brains and talents, but we prefer cash," that sort of thing.
Many of our leaders like to think they are being pragmatic in putting hardware (cash, industry and infrastructure) ahead of software (education, health, skills and talents) towards achieving national development. No wonder some are complaining that global competitiveness in developing economies has been equated with cheap labor, and no wonder why many of our best minds are leaving the country.
It would be nice if a huge portion of their remittances will go to the opening up of business and employment opportunities that will make it unnecessary for Filipinos to leave home. But when we look at where the Philippines stands in this survey in terms of quality of life and human development index, the scenario is bleak. We stand second to the last in medical assistance and among the lowest 10 in pupil-teacher ratio, public expenditure on education, and youth unemployment, among other things.
Figures aside this is best depicted by the long practice of affluent Filipinos to seek medical care or send their children to school abroad. Dr. Jose "Ting" Tiongco laments that "68 percent of all the doctors and 88 percent of all the nurses are exported abroad … but here in the Philippines 62 percent of the Filipinos die without seeing a doctor or a nurse."
One friend recently migrated to Canada and the reasons she and her husband stated in their application were to give the best education possible to their two daughters. "It should be enough reason because Canada has the best public school system in the world," she tells us. True enough, their application was approved within three months and they didn't even have to undergo an interview in Manila.
"Manila is the woman I had to marry but Cebu is the one I really love."
How many of Cebu's residents can say the same thing about their hometowns? Most people I meet here are from other places as well: Iligan, Ozamis, Bukidnon, or some towns in Negros Oriental, Leyte and Bohol. Many came to Cebu to study, and after obtaining their college diplomas realized that the only work opportunities back home would be to start or join the family business if there was one, work in government if one had connections, or teach.
We like to imagine that life in the small cities and towns is more romantic. That quality of life is better with the stress-free work; abundant fresh fruits, vegetables, and seafoods; low crime rate and hardly any traffic; and that it is altogether more peaceful and tranquil.
So why is the wave of rural to urban migration still growing? It is harder to earn a living in the rural areas now with the harvests from the farms and seas diminishing, unless one resorts to non-environment friendly practices such as the slash and burn system of clearing land, excessive use of pesticides, and dynamite and cyanide fishing. In terms of the low crime rate could it be that these were unreported as small communities hardly have a free, vigilant and competitive local media? Since most such communities are usually run by a few political and business family dynasties violence and crime do occur especially during elections.
Is Cebu the one I had to marry, and Surigao the one I really love? Let me put it this way, Surigao is the childhood sweetheart whose physical beauty still takes my breath away, but in pursuing a career I have outgrown her. Cebu is the live-in partner I have been with for 12 years. Despite the pressure of family and friends, we have avoided discussing marriage and commitment. We seem to be growing apart and I don't see myself growing old with her. Because you see, she wants to be like or better than Manila -- a lady I had a brief affair with in the past, a lady who was cold, uncaring and indifferent.
November 26, 1998