Tuesday, March 30, 2010

My Report to DILG and KOICA after KOICA Training

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.
[3] Hangeul (the Korean alphabet) was developed by group of scholars commissioned by King Sejong the Great in 1443.  It is composed of 10 vowels and 14 consonants.
[4] Numerical exercise given by Prof. Moon M. Jae of Yonsie University during the Lecture on Advancing Good Governance in Local Governments at LOGODI, March 15, 2010.
[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.

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