|
Listening
to SGV founder Washington Sycip can be
likened to a class in business, politics, history,
education, values and meritocracy, among others. As a
giant in Philippine business, the 86-year-old Sycip
provides valuable and relevant opinion in every important
issue in the country in a very enlightening and
interesting manner. Being a former academician, Sycip can
also explain the issues in a very simple, but substantial,
manner.
In a one-on-one interview with the
BusinessMirror, Sycip gives his views on the current
Philippine realities. Sycip points out why the only
Catholic country in Asia has lagged behind its neighbors
in terms of development. He zeroes in on the failure of
the Philippines to control its population growth, which
later on became detrimental to the country’s growth.
Filipinos, particularly the youth, can
learn valuable lessons, especially in terms of the values
he espoused and consistently maintained. For instance, he
made a rule that his three children will not work with SGV.
Sycip’s enthusiasm to make a difference in
society is indeed inspiring, considering that an ordinary
mortal of his age can just relax and retire. But he does
the opposite, because he says he is inspired by a Kennedy
maxim, “Ask what not your country can do for you. But ask
what can you do for your country.”
Describe your life when you were studying in the
public-school system?
My father, who was then the chairman of
China Bank, insisted all of his children go to public
schools, instead of ethnic Chinese schools or expensive
Catholic schools. He said we need to know the people here.
So we all went to Burgos Elementary School in Santa Mesa
and V. Mapa High School on Mendiola.
And we didn’t go to school in his car,
because he didn’t want us to feel we are better off than
the other children. Instead, we took the Meralco trolley
bus and small buses. Sometimes we would walk to
Mapa High School
from the Rotonda on the water pipe as a shortcut to
Mapa High School.
Aside from humility and simplicity, what other values did
your father teach you?
He taught us the value of saving. On our
birthdays, he told us that he made a deposit in our
savings account, instead of spending money on a party. I
also learned the value of meritocracy from my father. He
told me if you work for me and you’re good and I promote
you, they will accuse me of nepotism. That embarrasses me.
And if you’re not good, that also embarrasses me. So, he
told all of us children that he will give us the best
education so we can make a decent living on our own. I
have applied the same principle with my children.
When I started the firm, I was still
single. In trying to attract the best students to the
firm, I told them that if I get married and have children
I will not allow them to work in the firm, so it will be a
complete meritocracy. I have kept my word. None of my
children are involved with SGV.
What values have you learned during your stay in the US
armed forces?
When I was at the graduate school at
Columbia
University
I met people coming from the upper-income and
well-educated groups. When you are in the military, you
meet people from all walks of life. And you find that a
butcher’s son may be more honest, may be more helpful, may
be more sincere than someone from a rich family. You learn
a lot of things. You also enrich your vocabulary with
words that, at that time, were not spoken in polite
society!
I had a very good job offer in America
after the war. My father didn’t comment on this job
opportunity. He just told me: “Look son, there’s a lot of
work to be done here.” So, I realized you have certain
obligations to a country that was devastated from the war.
So I stayed here and started a one-man office.
How did SGV come about?
In 1946 three British firms dominated the
practice. They were from the prewar days and firmly
established. How was I able to beat them? At that time,
the British firms had partners who were mostly Caucasians.
But I thought any bright Filipino would also want to be a
partner. The key is to spend more on training, so that the
bright people can show what they can do. Promotions and
admission into partnership should be based on the merit of
the individual. You should not set a policy where your
son, who may still be in high school or college, will
succeed you.
Education is one of your major advocacies. Can you give an
update of your activities in this sector?
First of all, at the graduate-school level
we started the Asian Institute of Management in the late
1960s. Quite frankly, I now realize that more important
than graduate school for the nation is basic education,
meaning Grades One to Six in the public schools,
especially when we consider the government’s declining
per-capita spending on education.
I met this inspiring lady, Nene Guevara of
Synergeia. And I guess I’m spending more time with that
movement and committing more resources there than anything
else. What she is doing in improving education is very,
very remarkable.
I was shocked to learn the figures of the
very high dropout rates in the Philippines. For the nation
as a whole, out of 10 who enter Grade One, only around
seven finish Grade Six. We’re not even talking about high
school. The dropout rates in Grades One and Two are very
high. That means the person is illiterate and is
handicapped for life!
The approach of Nene Guevara, aside from
improving the teaching, is to work with the community. You
just don’t give money. You don’t solve poverty by giving
money. You have to work with the community so that they
realize the importance of education for the future of
their family and their children.
In three Muslim communities, Nene Guevara
told me that from three out of 10 finishing Grade Six,
they were able to increase this to eight out of 10. It’s
encouraging to know that the US government has given a
grant to Synergeia for the Muslim areas.
And I think why former Lipa mayor and now
Batangas Gov. Vilma Santos is popular is partly because
she has actively worked with Synergeia to improve
education in Batangas.
One of the biggest problems of the country is the rapid
population growth. Please give your thoughts.
About a year ago, at a small dinner, I was
seated between a cardinal and another prominent member of
the Catholic Church from
Rome. In discussing the problems of the
Philippines, I mentioned that not long ago our population
was about the same as Thailand; now we are 25 million
more. Families in economic category A have less children
than those in the bottom E group. I asked these two
learned member of the Church: Do you think the rich have
less sex than the poor? If not, they must be using pills,
contraceptives or condoms. While the Church is receiving
financial contributions from this group that are violating
the teachings of the Church, it has become very difficult
for the poor to even receive information on family
planning. The government and politicians do not want to
antagonize the Church as it actively campaigns against
those who advocate a pragmatic family-planning program for
the poor.
With uncontrolled population growth, our
per-capita spending on education now is a one-sixth that
of Thailand and one-tenth that of Malaysia.
Furthermore, the idea of democracy has
been distorted, too. Many who are at the bottom of the
economic pyramid sell their votes. Our political system
hasn’t worked.
For poor nation like the Philippines, I
measure the success of a government by its ability to
reduce poverty. We have clearly failed, especially if we
see what our neighbors have been able to accomplish.
Taiwan,
Singapore, Malaysia and South Korea took a different
approach from the Western mode in pursuing development. In
your view, what can the Philippines learn from the
experiences of these countries?
All these countries emphasized economic
freedom ahead of political freedom. Taiwan had martial law
during the period of growth. Income level rose to $4,000
to $5,000. Then democracy came naturally. At that time,
people are educated and not hungry and they don’t sell
their votes.
South Korea grew under a military
dictatorship during the period of Park Chung Hee. When
income levels grew, democracy came.
Up to now, Singapore has no freedom of
media as defined by the West. But everyone agrees it is a
great success with income levels near that of the richest
countries. Singapore is now relaxing gradually, and you
can see it.
The same thing is happening in Hong Kong.
They are relaxing gradually. The main thing is that they
have been able to solve poverty.
Vietnam has adopted the Asian
model—economic freedom first. They’re moving fast. We’re
importing rice from Vietnam and it is now a larger coffee
grower than us. I had an office in
Saigon during the Vietnam War and witnessed how North Vietnamese,
without Russian and Chinese troops, were able to win over
the South with 500,000 American soldiers. Western ideas
may not always be successful in
Asia.
You must have economic freedom. If you
don’t have economic freedom, there will be no economic
progress. Mao Zedong unified China but it was
Deng Zhao Ping who said to make money is “glorious” and
released the energy of the people.
The Prime Minister of Ireland, also a
Catholic country, told me that when the different
political parties agreed on common economic goals,
investments from abroad increased and many young people
who had migrated to the US and the United Kingdom returned
to Ireland. We should pursue national unity with
transparency in the government’s economic projects. You
cannot expect the opposition to follow without
transparency.
You are still optimistic on the Philippines. Why?
Yes, because I believe in the competence
of the Filipino people. I meet many, many people all over
the country who are good and capable people and want to
see the country prosper. What we need is unity.
Is this what keeps your adrenaline going?
Absolutely. There are so many things you
can do in your immediate area where you can help hundreds
of thousands of people. So, do what you can.
Based on
that call, it seems you got inspired by the inaugural
speech of President John F. Kennedy.
Exactly. Do not ask what your country can
do for you but ask what you can do for your country.
Synergeia and Gawad Kalinga are doing the same thing by
going ahead to help the community. Nene Guevara and Tony
Meloto have been successful in getting the people to help
themselves to get out of poverty. Dr. [Jaime Aristotle]
Alip of CARD [Center for Agriculture and Rural
Development] is doing the same thing by spreading
microfinance in many parts of the country.
Did your Chinese heritage help you a lot in your
development?
Probably, one thing was learning to be
frugal. I think one of the best features of my Chinese
heritage is that my father taught me to be thrifty and not
to be just blowing your money away. I think we have too
many people who know how to spend and who follow the
American system of buying on installment. In the Chinese
setting, you don’t buy a refrigerator on an installment
basis. You save money first, then you buy.
How about the Confucian values?
I guess, for most ethnic Chinese here,
working hard is essential. Of course, sometimes you forget
that there are other things in life! When I graduated from
[the University of] Santo Tomas summa cum laude in
accountancy, the dean who was an American told me we were
going to have a graduation party at The Manila Hotel.
Since I had topped the class, he told me I will have to
start the dance. But I told him I didn’t know how to
dance. That probably was my failure. He had to ask two of
my classmates to quickly teach me how to dance—which they
did!
Now that you are retired from the firm, how’s your regular
routine?
My schedule is now worst than ever. When I
retired from the firm 11 years ago, so many major
companies here and abroad asked me to be on their boards.
I am here in the office by quarter to 7 every morning.
My schedule requires me to be in meetings
abroad, too. I credit my assistant, Sylvia Sanchez, for
her efficiency in managing my appointments. I call her
every day when I am overseas to be sure all e-mails are
answered promptly. n |
