GAMSAHAMNIDA[1], KOREA!
Filipino Experience in the
Dynamic Land of the Morning Calm
by Marlon Flavier Tagorda[2]
2010 7th of
March, 0455 Korea Local Time when OZ 704 touched down at the Incheon
International Airport, a uniform greeting has been uttered by all airport
personnel that I have met – “Annyeong
Haseyo!” A very usual yet so
distinct salutation to anyone crafted more than five centuries ago[3]
during the Joseon Dynasty. With this
effortless greeting, it embodies how Koreans value politeness. “Mabuhay!”,
“Magandang Umaga!”, “Magandang Araw!”, “Magandang Tanghali!”, “Magandang
Hapon!”, “Magandang Gabi!” – These are the Filipino equivalent of the Annyeong
Haseyo phrase; too complicated to foreign-speaking individuals visiting the
Philippines. Yet in Korea, it
encompasses in just one simple five-syllable phrase.
Though living in an apparent well-off society,
Koreans are very simple. They exactly know
their “Number 9”[4]
where to focus their attention without being bothered by any other
hindrances. Koreans are purposeful to
follow planned timetable; they are very resolute to every minute of an
hour. Should there be any adjustments in
the prepared programme, they consider side commentaries with utmost
cautious.
In my 21-day stay in Korea, I have noticed but one
thing – they are very strict with schedule.
All is set to be followed; side-trips may be taken into account but on
lighter weight of consideration. The
only “side” Koreans have en mass is
the side dish – kimchi – regular kimchi, white kimchi, water kimchi,
roll kimchi... up to more than 160th
power of kimchi variaties[5].
Kimchi
This fermented vegetable dish was used to substitute fresh vegetable
during winter months. Due to advance
technology today, however, Koreans have solved this vegetable-shortage even
during cold season. Normally, housewives
still prepare kimchi to complement
main course they serve to their families.
Hence, it has been part of the conventional Korean table setting.
Quoting George
Defteros in his article[6]:
A study
by Seoul National University clamied that chickens infected with avian flu
recovered when eating food containing the same bacteria found in kimchi.
It was even believed that kimchi prevented the spread of SARS in 2003. Last year the Korea Food Research Institute
(government run) found that the bacteria in kimchi
does boost immunity to the virus in chicken.
On the other hand, the high concentration of nitrates and salt in
fermented foods could be a factor in gastric cancer being the most common
cancer among Koreans (World Journal of Gastroenterology, ISSN 1007-9327). In 2008 Korea’s first astronaut took a multi-million
dollar bacteria-free version of kimchi with
her, though there were fears that it would put off the non-Korean astronauts
with its pungency. Luckily researchers
at the Institute were able to reduce the smell by half according to tests.
Korea Remembers the Help it
Received
In the mid-20th
century, Korea has been so down and devastated brought about by wars among
nations. Gaining independence from
Japanese occupation has not ended its sufferings when internally, Korea was in
a Cold War with the North Koreans. To
regain its composure, South Korean has received bountiful assistance from then
big and industrialized nations that include the Philippines. Soon enough, with strong national leadership,
South Korea has emerged victorious in their pursuit of developing its
economy. Evident of this world-renowned
reputation is the association/membership of Korea to the OECD. This 2010, Korea holds sponsorship with the
G20 Summit – of which Korea is a proud and deserving member.
Korea never forgets
the aid it has received before. In
return therefore, Korea through the KOICA has extended assistance –
infrastructure, human resources training, etc. – to countries that have helped
their country during their dark days.
Utang na Loob (debt of gratitude) is a Filipino value that is also
common among Koreans. Should Korea did
not know how to repay back the assistance they had gained before, Korea may
have just been a country of booming economy isolated from the rest of the
world. International allies have brought
Korea more opportunity to elevate their economy far ahead than others. Indeed:
“Korea remembers the help it received.
It knows partnership is a real need.
Every one of us has been helped in our lives, and every one of us
deserves to be helped when we are too fragile, too sick, too hungry, or too
poor to solve problem on our own. And
Korea knows that.”[7]
Beacon of Success
KOICA is making a
better world not only to Koreans but also to its partner countries. This is evident with the trainings it provide
to individuals and groups who wishes to experience how Korea transformed into a
beacon of success.
The Local Government
Officials Development Institute (LOGODI) provided the training module. The subsequent discussions show the training
proper.
KOICA Orientation
The orientation by KOICA
was held on March 8 at the International Cooperation Center’s (ICC) Conference
Hall where for the first time, the 19 global mix of participants have
introduced themselves. After concise
briefing on the works of KOICA and ICC facilities, Prof. Jang Yong-Won
presented Basic Korean Language. Too
basic yet the most essential phrases were taught. Its significance was very relevant that words
discussed were utilized by the 19 participants until the time they bid farewell
to each other on the 27th of March.
Green Growth Vision
This was discussed by
Ms. Kim Ji-youn stressing that in the last 60 years, Korea was working with
economic growth. After successfully
meeting and even surpassing its fiscal goals, Korea for the next 60 years is
going back to the basics, i.e., a vision for environment-friendly policies –
the Green Growth Vision.
Green Growth is more
than an environmental policy, it is a new paradigm of progress and it desires
to change people’s behaviour and way of thinking. There was the Miracle of Han River in their
pursuit with economic growth. Now that
Korea is for Green Growth, the national government drafted and approved
policies such as the Basic Act on Low Carbon Green Growth. Guided by the Act, each Ministry works on
both mid- and long-term agenda to visualize the vision.
Inherent value of
Koreans is to share their experiences with the world. It is the spirit of partnership and
solidarity that is needed to achieve Green Growth in Asia and the rest of the
world for an ultimate global green growth.
The presentation was ended with a very inspiring quote, “Green Growth is
not an option, it is the only choice.”
Korean Economic Development at a Glance
Presented masterly by
Kyung Hee University Professor Sung Keuk-je, the participants were finally
opened to the enormous success Korea has achieved with the figures, photos, graphs
and international citations Prof. Sung has presented.
Since resources are
limited, Koreans put no limit on their imagination on how to accelerate from
almost nothing in the ‘60s to a $20,045 GDP, the 13th largest in the
world in 2007. The transformation did
not happen overnight. It was a long and
winding road among Koreans. With alleged
dictatorship of then President Park Chung-Hee, Korea was morphed from a timid and
unproductive person to tireless work-oriented individual surpassing working
hours of the G7 and New Economies.
Needless to say, Korea rush hours start at midnight.
Territorial Development Strategies in Korea
Anyang University
Professor Lee Jeong-sik presented the topic.
He emphasized limited land use yet strategically benefited by properly
administering this constraint. With the
loan Pres. Park administration had in the 1960s, Korea has taken-off to
industrialization. That brave move has
undeniably brought development for the country.
Korean Local Administration and Financial Management
Chung-Ang University
Professor Hwang Yun-won presented the topic with the past and present
experiences of Korea from World War and Cold War to fiscal policies that have
brought immense recognition to the country.
Similarly, Korea has
tiers of local governments – the provinces (do),
cities (si, gun, gu) and
administrative districts (eup, myeon,
dong). With the initiatives of these
local governments, they have managed to have control over their governments and
revenues. Since their government is
decentralized, alike with the Philippines, Korea faces problem on relying with
the central government.
Remedies presented
were grants-centered intergovernmental transfers system, proactive local
borrowings, quality assurance evaluation system, effective monitoring mechanism
in local transfers distribution, restructuring local tax system, activate
Public-Private Partnership (PPP) and Citizen Participation, and lastly, regional
cooperative governance system.
Rural Development and New Village Movement in Korea
Konkuk University
Professor Kim Kung-joo has presented similar discussion with the World Bank
Institute to enable transferability of the Saemaul
Undong (New Village Movement).
With the remains of
the World War II, Koreans were hard up to stand and move forward. Good thing Pres. Park has institutionalize
the Saemaul Undong (SMU) that gave
village/rural people the chance to advance their lives, both economically and
morally. SMU system was taught among the
rural people. The national government
initially provide resources (specifically 300 sacks of cement per village) to
the people for reconstruction. Some
improved their houses, others concreted roads, etc. SMU provide an avenue for the village people
to be productive. With resources, the
people volunteered for infrastructure works with mind-set that the project is
for their own benefit.
Advancing Good Governance in Local Governments
Underwood Distinguished
Professor of Yonsei University Professor Moon M. Jae presented good governance
in local governments in Korea. Global
issues and problems on governance exist in almost all of governments. He emphasized importance of democracy to
achieve good governance, that for a government to shape its future, it needs to
develop and implement an agreed vision and policy priorities together with the
citizens and stakeholders.
Essential to note in
the discussion was the IMD’s Competitiveness Yearbook 2009 that showed both the
roadmap and scoreboard. The World
Competitiveness Scoreboard presents the 2009 overall ranking for the 57
economies covered by the WCY.
Philippines slipped three (3) notches down from 2008’s 40th
rank to 2009’s 43rd place.
This means that out of 57 countries, Philippines ranked 43rd
in terms of the government and economic competitiveness. Should the ranking be higher, it means the
state is better off in producing output needed by its citizens. Therefore, the Philippines is weak to provide
essential services to the people.
Regional Development Policy
Gyeonggi Research
Institute Researcher Dr. Hwang Kum-hoe presented the Regional Development
Policy of Gyeonggi Province. To take
advantage of the present demographic area of the province, there was a
rearrangement region that was divided to several zoning area. This was to prevent over-concentration of
population and industry and to disperse selective land use functions for
balanced national development.
Effective Leadership for Government Organization
Hanyang University
Professor Shim Won-shul presented a global perspective on leadership. Subjectivity of Korean case was transformed
into universal applicability. The
presentation was done in the most concise and unique way that a single slide
explains everything. The conclusive
technique to effect high performance is neither on the leadership skills alone
of the management nor with the innate and acquired skills of the
employees. High performance is in the
fusion of behavior and action. This
means that employees’ bahavior should be penetrating cause by the shaping of
the management. With this astronomical
result, management encourages action from the employees. With this, performance is expectedly at the
highest level.
Another important
element in the leadership discussion was self-efficacy which was defined as
one’s belief that he or she can successfully finish a specific task. At the end, Prof. Shim suggested three ways
to improve self-efficacy among children, to wit:
1.) let them continue to experience small successes;
2.) verbal persuasion; and
3.) show successful case/people with similar
background but do not compare.
Human Resource Management of Korean Public Sector
Ewha Womans University
Professor Lee Geun-joo presented Korea’s government structure, its human
resources and composition. Aside from
the presentation of Korea’s case, goals of the discussion were to share each
country’s experiences and discuss transferability of different systems.
IT Revolution and E-Government in Korea
Korea Information
Society Development Institute Senior Researcher Jeong Kuk-hwan presented the
initiative of Korea to bravely engage in e-government that essentially brought
success and global recognition. Apart
from these citations, important element in the success was the response of the
citizens to efficiently utilize the system.
Study Visit
Several ministries,
agencies, cities and commissions were the venue of different study visits. Study visits were the practical and visual
experience of what were discussed in the lecture rooms. Two of the most memorable and essential
visits were The Cradle of Saemaul Undong
Pohang Munseong Village and the Korean Institute for Gender Equality Promotion
and Education (KIGEPE)
Field Trip
Apart from the study
visits, the participants were given the multiple chances to tour around
Korea. Various experiences were shared
by Korea and inspired the participants with the success of the cities and
industries in Korea. Moreso, traditional
experiences were felt such as tea-preparation, Korean art and even Korean
national costume.
Recommendations
Experiencing Korea in
21 days has opened my mind to panoramic view of greatness. Should the Philippines has accelerated in its
persistence to advance the economy in the ‘70s and ‘80s, Philippines may have
been a G20 or even a G8 member now. But
sad to note that there were some who have permitted the country to fall into
pieces.
Filipinos then were
just contented with “good” when in fact, Filipinos could be “great”. The following are very simple recommendations
yet sometimes these are being overlooked to be the remedy to bearish Philippine
trend.
1.
Investment. One famous Filipino saying
goes “magsuksok nang may madukot”. When translated, it could simply mean “save
to have something in the future”. In
economics, savings differ from investment.
In accounting, savings are asset and investment is outright
expense. Logically, investment is
expense but with futuristic outlook, investment becomes asset.
a. Education. Korea had scarce resources then and the
Philippines has sufficient resources that later became interchangeable. In order therefore to manage resources,
Filipinos should invest in sharpening the minds and skills of the people. Government leaders should allow heavy
allocation of budget to education sector.
b. Long-term. Philippines was noted to have very less
apparent and even propensity to invest for long-term utilization. In economics, investment accumulates
capital. Should there be still no
investment, Philippines’ future is shaky since there would be no capital to
accumulate.
2.
Ecological Rehabilitation. Even
without the issue of climate change, Filipinos should be dead serious with
rehabilitating the ecology by doing nothing but a single deed – plant a
tree. For the last two or three years,
Korea has stopped planting trees on April 5th (the nation’s
tree-planting day) not because of lack of interest but because they have
covered all possible land area and there could be nowhere to plant any tree
anymore. This scene I envy the most
since we Filipinos always had tree-planting events in our annual
activities. But why then are we still
experiencing catastrophic tragedy such as Ondoy
and Pepeng[8]. In unity with the environment, we should
revitalize green revolution and offer what our mother nature deserves.
3.
Decentralization. The Philippine has a
decentralize form of governance. But why
still it cannot alleviate poverty as other decentralized nations had
achieved? Blame could be pointed to no
one but to everyone. Ideals are great
but each one fails to do its part.
a. Top-Down Style. Decentralization should be
top-down in style. The masses act in
consonance with the acts of those at the top.
Blatant good governance from the top executives will certainly be
mirrored down to the lowest sectors
b. Split-Free Central Agencies. Under Arroyo administration, there was a
motion to split central government agencies as to demographic location. National Tobacco Administration for instance
will have its central office at the Northern Philippines where tobacco is their
major product. Korea in their attempt to
split central agencies was advised by the Germans not to break the offices. Clearly, splitting may cause migration
(employees), troubled education (employees’ children), population density
issues, bullish housing rate, etc.
c. Local Governments
Self-Reliance on Central Governments. Almost all
local governments of the Philippines are reliant on central government as to
source of income to fund their own local administration. Strengthening opportunities to create more
income within the local governments may shorten the dependency rate to the
central government. Should industrial taxes
be paid to the local government where the industry is located, local income may
increase.
4.
Transferability of Saemaul Undong
System. As a movement for national development to
escape from absolute poverty, spiritual reformation, local community development
overcoming splits and conflicts among social classes, Saemaul Undong (SMU) is the easiest yet the best road to drive
through development.
In
the province of Ilocos Sur, a much related program was conceptualized in 2006
and tagged as “Joint Community Services” or the JCS Program. JCS is a pool of professional and technical
persons, public officials and volunteers caters to health, education,
environmental, livelihood and other needs of the poor and indigent that
eventually aspire to achieve Sapasap a
Balligi (absolute victory).
[1] “Thank You” in Korean language.
[2]
One of the two Filipinos among 19 global mix of participants for the
International Program on Local Legislation sponsored by the Korea International
Cooperation Agency (KOICA) held at KOICA and Local Government Officials
Development Institute (LOGODI), Korea last 7 – 27 March 2010. Mr. Tagorda is an Administrative Assistant II
of the Sangguniang Panlalawigan of Ilocos Sur.
[5] travelguide
KOREA. 2010. Korea Travel Organization. Page 63
[6]
Share Your Story with George “Kimchi”. Flik. March 2010. Page 14
[7] Columbia University Prof. Jeffrey Sachs at
ODA International Conference, March 2007, Seoul. As cited at Making a Better
World Together. Page 6.
[8] Two super typhoons that struck the
Philippines last August – September 2009 that has damaged properties, crops and
even took away lives of the people of Metro Manila, Central and North
Philippines.
