Winning brains back to the Philippines
09/26/08
By Federico M. Macaranas

AFTER posting its highest growth rate in more than three decades in 2007, the Philippine economy is poised to slow down in 2008 on account of external factors whose domestic impact its managers cannot fully tame. This should be less of a problem for those who are more long-term oriented and less swayed by medium-term political goals. After all, given the past economic reforms in banking and finance (capital adequacy ratios of commercial banks and the expanded value-added tax) among others, it is these long-term factors that really matter for sustained growth.

Yet short-term gains from the much-vaunted outsourcing bonanza that could result from the US slowdown, as corporations cut down costs, should be taken with much caution. Even the call for greater financial integration in the region espoused by the ADB should be tempered with a focus on the production of real goods and services — lest the economy be trapped forever in its low-level growth.

More fundamental than these financial factors is the need for the Philippines to align its economic growth with the path taken by dynamic Asia-Pacific countries and the developed world — a path that is based on innovation=2 0and technology. But more productive raw materials or chemicals, machinery or equipment, processing or marketing ideas do not grow out of trees. They come from people, educated men and women — be they peasants tutored in appropriate technologies rooted in indigenous practices or PhD’s able to translate scholarly learning into commercial ventures.

Short or even bereft of a science and technology culture, the Philippines must now seriously harness its human resources spread around the world to boost its productive capacity in real goods and services. Services in this case includes an appropriately risk-managed banking and finance system that should respond to the needs of smaller enterprises to generate more jobs relative to capital, and bring about an increase in employment numbers.

This is the time to win back more brains to return. Successive Philippine administrations attempted to to do this after the big brain drain in the 1970s and later in the 1990s. But this time around, it is not only the government that must act; the private sector must do its share in permanently harnessing Filipino overseas talents – not through permanent return but through permanent connections, not through remittances alone but transfer of technology and market information.

These are the very areas that the private sector can concentrate its efforts on — but there must be appropriate government policies, both national and local, to attract these overseas resources to come home to roost. Here is where a new public private partnership (PPP) must come in.

The Philippines’ Balik Scientist (returnee scientist) program should be redesigned to enable the private sector to be its immediate and direct beneficiary in the current priority areas namely: alternative energy, biotechnology, information and communication technology, pharmaceutical, and environment, and even areas outside these government-identified R&D interests. Many agriculturists and fisheries experts, industry specialists, etc. are needed by the country, as special scholarships set up for these fields attest. These areas include biofuels, coco-chemicals, business process outsourcing, herbal medicine, marine remediation and afforestation.

The Philippine private sector should be enticed to identify talented Filipinos abroad so that they can partner with them to develop new process technologies or new products. For example, Filipino food scientists abroad can be tapped to help raise farm productivity. Rather than simply market the Balik Scientist Program through the typical academic routes, wouldn’t it be better to try matching available private sector R&D funds with overseas Filipinos who are expert in their fields? This means a call for pro-active public-private partnerships, starting with the development of an inventory of Filipino human resources designed like a talent bank for specific industries.

This proposed overseas Filipino talent bank should be a roster that is frequently updated by a public-private group. It can serve as a potential skilled supply base of R&D partners that can be tapped by young entrepreneurs, established firms, cooperatives, etc., in the Philippines. It can be a national roster that can be developed from professional organizations, alumni chapters, hometown associations, etc. based abroad. This talent bank should contain information on the special skills of these expatriate Filipinos, whose homing instincts could be fanned by attractive professional and commercial prospects in their home country — similar to how Taiwan, Korea, India, China and other countries succeeded in attracting their own nationals to their science parks to incubate new products.

Such a human resource talent bank will truly engage the Philippines in planning an innovation and technology-based strategy. After all, are we not in a networking age in the creative knowledge era? Knowing where its talents are at any time could truly be one of the wisest investments the Philippines can make as it reaches the fork of low vs. high growth possibilities — most recently documented by the study of De La Salle University economist Dr. Michael Alba, in his book on the long-term decline of Philippine competitiveness published by the AIM Policy Center (December 2007).

(Editor’s note: Author clarifies that Mike Alba is the author of an article in a book published by AIM Policy Center. He is one of several contributors. DLSU did not publish the book).

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Gerry Barranda M.D. Says:
September 27th, 2008 at 7:54 pm

Poch…. ….
Congrats, Great post !
Thank you for continuing the efforts on ” Nation Building “.

Truly the triad of a coherent world-class Public, Private and Academe Partnership (PPAP) as championed by the New York STAC (Science& Technology Advisory Council) = as embodied in  RSVP = Research Science Villages and Parks), put forth in the late 1980’s is long overdue.

Without a doubt, it needs to be brought Front and Center, if RP is to effectively pursue it’s place in this highly competitive global economy.

RSVP, modeled after the number one “think tank ” in the world , The Research Triangle Park of North Carolina also known as “The Planned Silicon Valley” was proposed even before there was Bangalore, India, which is well recognized to have played a major role in not only making India Technologically competitive but also in significantly alleviating poverty in this nation whose population is far greater than RP.

A fully developed RSVP would have served as a nucleus then and now for not only “winning brains back to RP, but also serve as great infrastructure for overall nation building”, as did the The Research Triangle Park, = ” The Planned Silicon Valley ” that delivered the State of North Carolina from a backward State, producing mainly tobacco, cotton, furniture etc, to its current level as the # 4 State in the USA, sought for by Industry worldwide.

The Triangle has more PHD’s per capita, even greater than that of Boston, a beacon of education.. The overall educational system and education of the North Carolinians have been greatly enhanced by this Triad (PPAP) as well.

More power to you.
God Bless and God Save the Philippines !!!

Gerry Barranda, M.D.
Former Co-Chair STAC (Science & Technology Advisory Council) New York
Principal Proponent = RSVP
UNDP -TOKTEN CONSULTANT 1989, 1990
Alumnus, University of North Carolina, Chapel Hill

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(Poster's Note: This e-mail was forwarded by Fr. Erno Diaz and arrived in the inboxes of Joy Puyat-Magnaye, Chris Reyes and Cecilia Reyes)

From: Chris Reyes
Sent: Wednesday, February 25, 2009 1:22 AM
To: Cecilia Reyes; Paco Sandejas, Joy Puyat
Subject: Re: Fwd: " WINNING BRAINS BACK TO THE PHILIPPINES "
 
Hi Joy,

What a wonderful article. I remember seeing something similar on the Philippine Daily Inquirer website a few months back.

I would also propose that an extension to the Balik Scientist Program  be made. One of the growing trends I have heard of is the number of senior citizens and retirees going into the peace corps.  Well, one concept that I would like to see explored is if it would be possible for the Philippine government to encourage many of the folks who were in the exodus of the late 60's and 70's to come back to the Philippines. As most  of these folks are of retirement age they may be looking for their "second career".  I would hope that many of these career folks could come back to the Philippines and serve as educators, advisors, entrepreneurs, scientists, or in some other capacity. With their wealth of professional experience, it could be a good resource to improve the capabilities of the Philippines.  While the Balik Scientist Program does exist, I remain doubtful that many people know of the program, how to participate, and what opportunities exist. Furthermore,  I don't know if it would allow some of the retirees to serve as educators in the non-targeted priority areas.

I know that many Filipinos abroad have considered retiring in the Philippines. The cost of living is considerably lower, the quality of life can be higher, and it is possible for people to be with or reconnect with friends and family. I think, from a market perspective, it may be difficutl for the Philippines to compete with what is being offered abroad. Retirees, though, may be in a position to work on their legacy in lieu of monetary rewards.

At this time, is there a way to see what opportunities exist in the Philippines to work on? I know Paco's BGN database has quite a few people registered as resources but how do we get the two together? Do people looking for resources know how to find them, and do people that want to give back know how to offer help? Personally, I know I don't.

Chris

**********

On Wed, 2/25/09, Cecilia Reyes wrote:

Hi, Chris
 
My name is Cecille and I am a friend of Joy. I happen to be married to another Reyes whose father’s origin is Ilocos.  I know there are too many Reyeses all over the Philippines, even in my own hometown of Batangas.
 
Anyway, to answer your question about information on retirement, you may wish to check the web site of the Philippine Retirement Authority. A few years back, someone sent me the link to their latest brochure/magazine, and I believe I read some useful information there.
 
The Balik Scientist Program, on the other hand, is being managed by the Dept. of Science and Technology. I am not familiar myself with the guidelines for that program, but their web site may be able to give that kind of information.
 
On another matter, I like the issues you raised about the need for something like the India Health Card in the Philippines.  I know that sometimes we tend to get excited about new ideas and always think it may be something useful for our compatriots, but in the end, it may not be the right approach. I am glad you raised those issues and I will share with you whatever information I can get from someone  based in the Philippines who would be in a better position to answer your concerns.
 
All the best,
Cecille

**********

From: Joy Puyat
Sent: Wednesday, February 25, 2009 10:26 PM
To: Federico Macaranas
Cc: Erno Diaz, Paco SA Sandejas, Vicky Garchitorena, Ding Bagasao, Chris Reyes, Cecilia Reyes
Subject: " WINNING BRAINS BACK TO THE PHILIPPINES "

Dear Dr. Macaranas,
 
Please see below reactions from Chris Reyes (member of the Brain Gain Network based in CA) and Cecilia Reyes (now with UNDP/New York but you used to work together at DFA I believe) regarding your article of 9/26/08 which was forwarded to me by Rev. Fr. Erno Diaz the other day.  Perhaps you have updated information on some of the questions raised.
 
I am also copying Paco Sandejas of BGN, Vicky Garchitorena of AFI and Ding Bagasao of ERCOF in case they have additional info/perspectives on this topic.
 
With best wishes,
Judith Puyat-Magnaye (Joy)