Can Hilario G. Davide Jr. Provide Empirical Evidence in His Warning Against Changing Economic Provisions?

I noticed that Facebook users have given Hilario G. Davide Jr. the nickname Hilarious. The 88-year-old guy has grown old but has been opposing the badly needed economic amendments. He was already known to have said during former president, Atty. Rodrigo R. Duterte, that there's absolutely no need to amend it, because it's the best constitution in the world, it's the only constitution that's supposedly this and that. I want to say, "What?!" to that. It's because he spoke like he already read every last constitution in the world. Did he read the American Constitution? Did he read every constitution in ASEAN for a start? Did he read the Singaporean constitution? As a former UN diplomat, it's amazing Davide Jr. said what he said!

Examining Davide Jr.'s latest warning today 

No different than what Davide Jr. said last 2018, it's really no surprise that he's quoted by pages like La Verite, Lupang Hinirang (full FB title is too long), Silent No More PH, and every diehard 1987 Constitution of the Philippines apologist. The most recent update I read from the Inquirer makes me think about how some people grow old but not in wisdom. Sure, I can listen to old people about their experience but not all old people are worth listening to. A wise old person may warn a youth, "Not all old people are wise."

What's Davide Jr.'s usual favorite thing to say. It goes like this:

What our people need today are not amendments to or revision to the Constitution, but the full implementation of its principles and state policies,

For a start, the constitution itself is the system that controls how people will act and how politicians ought to act. It's the very law of the land. If the Constitution has some flaws, shouldn't it be corrected? I don't like Rep. Richard Gomez's comparison to a car. In my case, the best comparison of the Constitution is a school of thought. A school of thought will dictate how teachers and students ought to behave. Teachers are only following orders or doing their jobs. As a classmate of mine said, "The math teacher didn't invent math, she's just doing her job." The problem with treating the Constitution as an inviolate thing would be stupid. Just think if the USA didn't amend the human rights provisions in their constitution. Maybe former president Barack Hussein Obama, an African American, would've never been president at all. African Americans today would still be whipped slaves.

I really feel insulted reading this, not especially since I'm a graduate of business and economics: 

Foreign control 

According to Davide, opening the country’s education system to foreigners could make schools vulnerable to foreign control.

“The proposal [RB6] opens to foreign control and dominance, our basic education, which is the most crucial to the development of our young,” he said.

Citing the 1987 Constitution, Davide said that having foreign leaders in the Philippines’ basic education system would undermine the “noble patriotic and nationalistic virtues,” which are constitutionally mandated to be part of the curricula of all educational institutions. 

He explained that Article 14, Section 3 of the Charter provides for schools to teach patriotism and nationalism, among others, to young Filipinos.

“Can we expect foreigners at the helm or control of the educational system to seriously and healthily obey this state policy on education?” asked Davide.

As for foreign ownership of public utilities and advertising, Davide warned that it would be “extremely dangerous” if the country were to leave Congress the extent of Filipino ownership requirement in businesses in the two sectors.

“The day will not be far when public utilities and advertising industries will be under control or even under the full ownership of aliens,” he said. 

This is where Davide Jr. fails again. Again, if foreigners open schools in the Philippines, has he ever thought that FDIs are still under the control of the local country? Jollibee has now 150+ branches in Vietnam but it's under the latter government's control. He starts to talk about how basic education is the most crucial thing. However, has he even bothered to look into this? 

This data was taken from the Philippine Star. This needs to be taken to his face and how does he intend to improve this standing? He says allowing foreigners to run schools will be bad. However, take a look at the scores of those above the Philippines. The top one is Singapore and even a Communist country like Vietnam is already succeeding. Just this piece of information alone answers what parents may be asking their children all along, "Why are you so stupid?!":

Minimum proficiency 

Based on the PISA test results, only 16% of Filipino students attained at least the basic or baseline level of proficiency in mathematics (labeled in the report as “level 2 proficiency”). 

This means that just about one out of five Filipino students who participated in PISA “can interpret and recognize, without direct instructions, how a simple situation can be represented mathematically.”

This means that 84% of Filipino students who took the test do not have sufficient mathematical skills to “(compare) the total distance across two alternative routes, or converting prices into a different currency” — examples given by PISA of basic math competencies. 

Meanwhile, only 24% or just about one out of four Filipino students who took the PISA exam reached basic reading proficiency.

This means that just 24% of students in the Philippines can, at the very least, "identify the main idea in a text of moderate length" and reflect on the purpose and meaning of what they are reading.

Similarly, just 23% of students in the Philippines reached a basic proficiency in science. This means only one out of four Filipino students in PISA 2022 had the skills to "recognize the correct explanation for familiar scientific phenomenon” and validate conclusions.  

Then Davide Jr. goes on and on to talk about what he calls "noble patriotic and nationalistic virtues". Sadly, decades of Filipino First only caused the nation to fail. It's very easy to make fun of the CoRRECT Movement but can those who make fun of it (or other reform pages) prove their statements? I've read the book From Third World to First and one must wonder, "Has Davide Jr. read it before I did?" Being 88 years old now, I ask that question if he has even read it.

Fortunately, the economist (and supporter of Atty. Maria Leonor Gerona-Robredo) Andrew James Masigan gave this statement not too long ago:

As I have written many times before, the economic provisions of the 1987 Constitution is a poison pill that impeded the development of the country for decades. Borne by a misguided sense of nationalism, the authors of the 1987 Constitution felt that by reserving certain industries exclusively for Filipinos (or Filipino majority), our natural resources would not be plundered by foreigners, nor would our sovereignty be overstepped. How wrong they were.

What these provisions did was deprive us of our fair share of foreign capital coming into the region. With so many industries restricted to foreigners coupled with stiff ownership conditions, investors naturally chose the open economies of Thailand, Singapore and lately, Vietnam rather than the Philippines. The Constitution, in effect, deprived us of valuable forex investments, technology transfer, tax revenues, export earnings and employment opportunities. It is one of the principal reasons why our manufacturing sector has not developed fully.

To illustrate how powerful an open economy can be, Vietnam opened their economy to foreign investors in 1986 and achieved newly industrialized status in just 35 years. From eking a living through subsistence farming, the average Vietnamese is now wealthier than the Filipino. All this was achieved by attracting foreign capital.

The country pays a steep price for our arcane, protectionist constitutional provisions. Let me cite some consequences. Precluding foreign participation in local industries has created monopolies and oligopolies owned by just a handful of families. These families earn scandalous profits even though they are inefficient.

In agriculture, banning foreigners from participating in the farm sector deprived us of new technologies to increase production and improve our logistics chains. So many farmers could have been lifted out of poverty with foreign infusions.

In media, the Philippines lost the opportunity to be Asia’s entertainment and production capital despite our Americanized culture. Since foreign participation in media is prohibited by law, Netflix located its Asian headquarters in Singapore, Disney in Malaysia, MTV in Hong Kong and Paramount Studios in Taiwan. The Philippines lost out.

The biggest consequence, however, is in education. Since foreign learning institutions are not allowed to operate in the Philippines, we deprived ourselves of collaborations and learning transfers that would have uplifted our own educational standards. In contrast, Singapore benefitted immensely from having Yale University, Chicago University and INSEAD on their shores. It helped to advance Singaporean learning standards to a point where Singaporean universities are now counted among the top 50 in the world. The University of the Philippines ranks in the 400-500 range.

There are social consequences too. The lack of foreign participation is the reason why there is a wide gap between the rich and the poor. See, because the Constitution reserves certain industries exclusive for Filipinos, only the super rich have the capital and wherewithal to invest in lucrative but capital intensive business ventures. Our flawed Constitution is the reason why only 40 families control the country. Foreign participation could have democratized business opportunities and wealth. 

I wonder if Davide Jr. is willing to contest those claims made by Masigan? Until now, Davide Jr. hasn't managed to provide the badly needed empirical evidence that FDIs will exploit the country, that allowing foreigners to run schools, and that the Philippines will just become a colony of foreigners. All Davide Jr. does is talk and talk. Old people aren't necessarily relevant or irrelevant. The problem is Davide Jr. can't answer the question, "How can the Philippines rise in the Asian Century?" (read here)

Why I believe Kishore Mahbubani, not Davide Jr., is more qualified to tell Filipinos what to do with economics

Here's a photo from Rappler during 2015. That was during the reign of the late former president Benigno Simeon C. Aquino III. It's a shame that people use Aquino III as an example of why the Philippines should never amend its constitution. Never mind that economic amendments were passed by Aquino III to allow a better inflow of investments. The Rappler article featured the founding dean of the Lee Kuan Yew School of Public Policy (LKYSPP) of the National University of Singapore. Both he and Davide Jr. were former UN ambassadors of their respective countries. 

Mahbubani even told Rappler the following, and I wonder why Atty. Teodoro A. Casiño is still so against constitutional reform:

This is absolutely not unique to Singapore. If there’s one country that will definitely succeed with meritocracy, pragmatism and honesty, that’s the Philippines. I say this because Filipinos are among the most talented people in the world today,

Mahbubani already gave three words that Davide Jr. needs to hear. The Philippines must be meritocratic, pragmatic, and honest. Sure, the 1987 Constitution of the Philippines has its advantages and provisions for human rights, but I do feel it's missed a lot of stuff. One can think how the constitutional rights of people have been violated in this way. The Chiong Sisters Case really had the Cebu 7 suspects unable to defend themselves. Even more, it was already proven that Francisco Juan G. Larrañaga was in Manila yet he was still convicted. Until now, the Chiong Sisters Case's real perpetrators still remain missing as the body of the other sister. 

We need to talk about meritocracy, something that hardly happens in the Philippines in action. Political dynasties need not to be a problem. However, people tend to ride on a famous family member than show their merits. Mahbubani said these things:

• "The most important thing about meritocracy is your destiny is not determined at birth. Right now, if you’re born in Makati, you know you’ll succeed, and if you’re born in the slums in Manila, your chances of success are very low. But you can change that. You can decide that someone born in the slums should be given equal opportunity."
• "That’s what meritocracy is about. We just assume everyone should be given the chance to prove they are good, and if you give them the chance, you will have tremendous reservoirs of brain power in the Philippines you can exploit,"

This is the problem with the presidential system. It really depends on popularity and name-roll call. I find it funny when some people, a significant minority, cried when Mrs. Robredo lost to President Ferdinand R. Marcos Jr. They need to ask, "Does the 1987 Constitution or the presidential system go by meritocracy?" I even want to joke right now if Marcos Jr. and Mrs. Robredo were campaigning as president, they both went to the arcade to dance at the Dance Revo machine, the victory would go to the one with the highest points. If Marcos Jr. scored the highest, Mrs. Robredo must concede, and vice-versa. In the presidential system, it's all about dancing. 

Since I'm talking about business and economics, not about politics here, here's something as to why FDI should be welcome:

5. Learn: Innovate and keep changing 

On Singapore’s 50th year, it has gone beyond the third-world to first-world cliché. The old principles and economic model are increasingly seen to be outdated, and public policy experts warn against elitism and inequality as a consequence.  

This is where they say Singapore can also learn a lesson from its past: bold leadership.

“Success creates this aversion to change, an aversion to risk,” said Kenneth Paul Tan, vice dean at the Lee Kuan Yew School. 

“One good lesson is no matter how successful one has been through the years, the willingness and ability to keep surveying their circumstances, and keep learning from other people must still be there. There might still be better ways to do things,” he said. 

“Country envy” then does not have to be depressing. After all, the diplomat-academic in Mahbubani said it did Singapore well to learn from the world.

“No society in human history has been as successful in improving its living standards so quickly and so comprehensively. As a result of that, Singapore has learned all the best practices from the rest of the world. Singapore is in some ways one of the best copycat countries.” 

He added: “Whatever Singapore has copied from the other countries, we invite other countries to copy from Singapore.”

Singapore learned from the world before it taught others. It even taught its neighboring ASEAN countries, which included Communist Vietnam. Even Communist China learned from Singapore. Just reading the part where Vietnam and China learned from Singapore was more than entertaining. Even more, Mahbubani is still involved in geopolitics, something I doubt Davide Jr. even knows. 

Mahbubani's advice is far better. The empirical evidence is Singapore's rise from third world to first. Mahbubani grew up in poverty before becoming a distinguished fellow. None of the Indian armpit jokes are going to discredit him. Those who use insults are pretty much losers. The real winners would not only ignore insults but choose to win and lose fairly. The real winners would present evidence. 

In short, I don't care if the advice is from a Filipino or a foreigner. What's important is that it helps Filipinos. Mahbubani's advice is what Filipino needs. Davide Jr. can talk all he wants but evidence speaks louder than words.