One of the things that has long puzzled many is why the Philippines has not done far better than it has economically. Despite some real advantages--a strategic location, abundant natural resources, and a large English-speaking workforce--it has been a laggard in development terms. Some reasons cited are sociopolitical--colonial mentality, fatalism, and so forth. Lee Kuan Yew famously noted that the country suffers from "too much democracy," i.e., there are far more pundits than men and women of action. However, the bugaboo most often mentioned is the Philippines' long record of political corruption. And, nobody signifies this corruption more in the eyes of many than the Marcos family. Yet, governance issues remain well-entrenched long after the Marcos era. For instance, see this chart from the World Bank Governance Indicators showing how the country has gone backward on every single governance indicator from 1998 (bottom bar) to 2005 (top bar):
Bloomberg columnist William Pesek offers a wary op-ed on the seeming indifference of Filipinos to Imelda Marcos trying to reestablish a foothold in Philippine society. While doing so, he also offers commentary on the evolution of the country's economic fortunes. One thing that still puzzles me is that while China is also widely noted for its corruption, it has done much better than the Philippines in economic terms. Are there beneficial, tolerable, and detrimental forms of corruption? It sounds like a good topic to research. Anyway, to the article:The Marcoses' return to public consciousness reflects bungled efforts to prosecute them on corruption charges. Twenty- one years after President Marcos was unseated in a coup, the government claims to have recovered only $1.7 billion from the family and its associates.
Reflecting the life-is-stranger-than-fiction dynamic that often courses through Manila, the Marcos family is escaping justice even though officials say they have vast amounts of evidence. Imelda Marcos once faced more than 900 civil and criminal cases. Now, she's increasingly breathing easily.
With each passing year, there seems to be less urgency to make the Marcos family accountable, and that's a shame. The Philippines, where half of the population lives on less than $2 a day, could use those billions of dollars. It sure would help President Gloria Arroyo plug a budget deficit that may swell to 100 billion pesos ($2.2 billion) this year.
Instead, the Marcoses are back on the society pages and one senses little outrage in the Philippines. Late last year, the family launched ``The Imelda Connection'' of jewelry. Court victories have emboldened the family to step up its fight to regain some assets from the government -- and to argue that President Marcos did more good than harm to the nation.
Ask the average Filipino about all this, and many will roll their eyes. ``The Marcos family is part of our history and part of our culture, but it doesn't mean anything to me,'' says Jose Calapre, 29, an accountant at a Manila-based insurance company. ``I just view them as celebrities.''
The interest of Talking Heads lead singer David Byrne shows the extent to which Imelda Marcos is, for better or worse, a global icon. Earlier this year, he collaborated with Fatboy Slim on a musical production about her life titled ``Here Lies Love'' -- the words she intends to have on her gravestone.
Ferdinand Marcos died in exile in Hawaii almost two decades ago, yet all too much of the political and financial system he created between 1965 and 1986 remains to perpetuate poverty in Asia's 14th-biggest economy.
In the early 1960s, the Philippines was destined to be the Japan of Southeast Asia. Then Marcos drove the nation into the poverty that even today means more than 10 percent of the population must work overseas, often doing menial tasks, to support families at home.
If Imelda Marcos really does find beauty in garbage, she should pop by one of Manila's shantytowns where many Filipinos dig through reeking trash dumps in search of salvageable junk and even food. Politicians claiming to work to help the nation's poor rarely visit these places.
The Philippines has huge potential. It's a thriving democracy and Arroyo is making progress in stabilizing things. The economy grew 6.9 percent in the first quarter and Arroyo is pledging to increase tax receipts and balance the budget.
The private sector is moving forward, too. Call centers and other back-office services are now among the biggest growth areas. Kelly Lim-Bate, head of research at J.P. Morgan Securities Philippines Inc., expects them to employ 1 million Filipinos directly and an additional 2 million indirectly in white-collar jobs by 2010.
Yet two decades after Marcos, Transparency International still puts the Philippines on par with Rwanda and Honduras in its Corruption Perceptions Index. That explains why even as the Philippines grows faster, the benefits remain concentrated among the political elite.
In Asia, ``the capture of political, economic and legal institutions by an elite group which then bends the rules of the game for their own benefit is resulting in growing disparities within and among countries,'' says Ifzal Ali, chief economist at the Manila-based Asian Development Bank. ``Basically, the democratic process has been hijacked to serve the interests of a very few.''
The nostalgic lens through which the Philippine media often view Imelda Marcos dovetails with a lack of political will to address and bury the past once and for all. The economy hasn't yet had a cathartic break with the mismanagement and corruption of the past. It needs that to truly move forward.
