Shared prosperity and our Dream Philippines (Part II)

By Kevin Colleran On Dec 26, 2022

(Second of two parts)

In the first part of this article which was published on Dec. 19, 2022 (https://business.inquirer.net/378465/shared-prosperity-and-our-dream-philippines), we wrote about the twin evils of inequality and exclusion that led to poverty, hunger and many other dehumanizing ills of society all over the world. The disturbing facts about these two evils had led global institutions—like the World Bank, the United Nations (17 SDGs), Corporate America, Philippines Inc. and even the Pope—to propose possible solutions. In the United States and the Philippines, major corporations, and business and professional associations and their leaders had banded together to issue statements and commitments that shifted the purpose of businesses from the interest of just the stockholders to include all other stakeholders, in other words, from traditional capitalism to stakeholder capitalism. The key: shared prosperity.

Why shared prosperity?

There is a bigger stake than just the success of corporate Philippines and shared prosperity. This is about country and nationhood. This is about our Dream Philippines. Business can play a major role in building the Philippines of our dreams but the rest of society need to help in nation-building as well.

The ravages of COVID has forced our economy to backpedal. Politically, there is a disconnect between the governors and the people governed. Political dynasties continue to be in control. The quality of public governance is erratic. We have weakened and divided institutions (in the executive, legislative and judicial branches), many of which are tainted with corruption.

And we continue to be a divided, confused people. We have a widening gap between the rich and the poor. We struggle in addressing the problems in education. We are raising malnourished and stunted kids. We have difficulty in dealing with crime, drugs, illegal gambling, peace and order, not to mention a culture of violence. And we ignore the needs of the poor and God’s other creations.

We need to rebuild our nation but that journey requires not only hope, love, perseverance and stamina. It needs, among others, a clear vision, a servant leadership mindset, a strong sense of country, a culture of good governance and responsible citizenship.

The Dream Philippines projectIn February of this year, former Secretary of Finance Jesus Estanislao gathered almost 100 convenors, sectoral representatives and volunteers from many sectors of society to a convocation to craft a country road map for the future. It was called the Dream Philippines 2046 project. The core purpose is the transformation of the Philippines and the comprehensive development of the Filipino, by the Filipino and for the Filipino. The hope is that the road map will help the country achieve higher productivity and competitiveness, higher and sustainable growth, and greater equity and inclusiveness. The strategic metrics are: to be top 20 percent in the World Competitiveness Index, attain 8 to 10 percent annual gross domestic product growth and maintain a GINI coefficient (a measure of inequality) of 30 percent or lower.

After five months of monthly meetings, the convenors produced the Country Governance Charter (statements of national values, mission and vision), the eight strategic facets of nation-building, 28 strategic objectives in a strategy map, and the beginnings of a country performance scorecard of more than 140 initiatives and measures.

The governance charter for the Philippines

The proposed values for Dream Philippines are already in the law of the land (RA 8491) and are as follows: makadiyos (pro-God), makabansa (pro-country), makatao (pro-human dignity and love for the family) and makakalikasan (pro-environment).

For the mission statement, the convenors decided to adopt the preamble of the current Constitution which states: “We, the Filipino people, imploring the aid of Almighty God, seek to build a just and humane society, establish a government that shall promote the common good, conserve and develop our patrimony, secure the blessings of independence and democracy under the rule of law, and secure a regime of truth and justice, love and freedom, equality and peace.”

For the country vision, the convenors developed vision statements for the years 2028, 2034, 2040 and 2046.

Vision 2028 focuses on socio-economic recovery from the ravages of COVID-19 and the building of a solid platform for good governance and responsible citizenship.

Vision 2034 emphasizes climate or environmental justice.

Vision 2040 is adopted from the government’s AmBisyon Natin 2040’s aspiration of the Filipino for his country.

Vision 2046 expresses the Filipino’s aspiration for himself as defined in the AmBisyon 2040 vision statement.

The country strategy map

There were eight facets identified, namely: moral-spiritual, socio-cultural, political, human resources, natural resources, physical, technological-digital and economic-financial facets.

A total of 28 strategic objectives were developed and adopted in the plenary: (1) a virtues-based society, (2) deep spiritual, ethical and moral foundation, (3) human rights, religious freedom and spirit of enterprise, (4) deep sense of patriotism, (5) strong family institution enjoying good quality of life, (6) preservation of rich cultural heritage, (7) strengthened, integrated and harmonized, political institutions, (8) mature electoral process and civic consciousness, (9) stable national peace and security, (10) universal health care, (11) continuing education for all, (12) peaceful, safe and secure communities, (13) promotion of STEM (science, technology engineering and mathematics) and dual vocational training with strong values components, (14) protection, conservation and judicious development of marine resources, (15) responsible development of mountain and mineral resources, (16) greater attention to food security and sustainability, (17) quality and efficient transport infrastructure, (18) water adequacy and security, (19) energy sufficiency and security, (20) environmentally sensitive waste management, (21) access to technology for all, (22) knowledge-driven, competitive digital ecosystem, (23) global-standard ICT infrastructure, (24) competitiveness and ease of doing business, (25) a production and maintenance mindset, (26) strong economic fundamentals, (27) development finance, especially for micro, small and medium enterprises, and (28) focused fiscal and monetary policies.

PH performance scorecard

The Dream Philippines project has a five-person steering committee chaired by Dr. Estanislao. There is also an Eminent Persons Group (EPG) composed of eight members, each of whom will be assigned one strategic facet to work on. Each of the EPG members will organize task forces to work on each of the 28 strategic objectives and fully develop the initiatives, measures, baselines and targets for 2028, 2034, 2040 and 2046. Their outputs will be consolidated, integrated and organized to produce the Country Performance Scorecard. Target completion date is June 2023.

Conclusion

We dream of a beautiful and prosperous Philippines—a country where there is enough for everyone, where no Filipino is left behind in poverty, where every Filipino family is healthy and enjoys a life of comfort, where every child has a future.

We dream of a country that can bring out the best in the Filipino people—one that can make the Filipino truly great and respected in the eyes of the world.

But for us to attain this dream, we need an effective and efficient government that delivers, ethical and servant leaders who serve, sustainable businesses that share their prosperity, civil society that manifest and promote the interests and will of the citizenry, and responsible citizens who get involved.

This is our Dream Philippines and today I sound the call to action—yes, we are warriors and advocates of good governance but more than this and more importantly, we are committed to build our Dream Philippines. And we pledge to keep these commitments while urging others to join us—however long it may take. Here in the Philippines. One Filipino at a time.

The author is co-chair for Social/Shared Prosperity of the MAP Committee on ESG. He is also vice chair of Center for Excellence in Governance. Feedback at [email protected] and [email protected]