ROBERT SEARS, former president of the American Chamber of Commerce of the Philippines (AmCham), can speak the local language. Living in the Philippines since 1981, he is also one of the few expatriates who have admirably grown to have a clear understanding and appreciation of the country.
Sears was the president of Merrill Lynch Philippines Inc. in the country for nine years, but he is more known as one of the people who steered AmCham to new heights as its former president and holder of various key positions within the chamber for 25 years and counting.
Sears’s work with the chamber has been felt all the way to Malacañang, as can be seen from photos with former Philippine presidents whom he has also befriended over the years.
“Oh, I guess I have been very lucky to meet all those presidents. I have a picture will all the presidents starting with President Marcos, except one,” Sears said, adding that it is only President Aquino who is missing.
“That is something that, you know, I am looking forward to,” he said.
Traffic mess
We often hear comments that the heavy traffic in Metro Manila is being caused by the record jump in car sales or the lack of discipline on the road. But no one seems to consider the fuel price at the gas stations as a factor.
“That is one reason we have too much traffic. Gas prices are too low. Before, when companies send their vehicles out, they plan their travel every week, now they go out every day,” Sears said.
With prices of gasoline hovering at the P40 level per liter, more cars are on the road as compared to five years back, when fuel pump prices were at the P60 range.
Sears said that there was less traffic in 1981, while noting that cars on the road started to increase during the administration of former President Fidel V. Ramos after he opened the economy.
“He broke up the monopoly on the telecommunication industry and car manufacturing, so we can blame the traffic on FVR,” Sears wryly noted.
Since the public seems to blame President Aquino on the current road mess, Sears looks longingly at Ramos’s time, when he eased the energy problems of the country.
“No power is more expensive than expensive power, right? And I remember he took care of the problem. It worked very well,” Sears said. “Then this administration came in and they were slow to start. Now they are playing catch-up.”
All about the economy
Sears rightfully noted that despite the economic gains, Vietnam and Indonesia still have bigger a share of foreign direct investments (FDI) in the region as compared to the country.
“It is a shame because it creates jobs and creates greater wealth,” Sears said.
He remembered that, when the telecommunications industry was opened up by Ramos, there was a scramble for competition and the number of local players grew bigger and faster than they were before.
“I do not understand why the Philippine elite do not want to open up the rest of the economy,” Sears wishfully said, adding that the country should open the market to professionals, as well.
“Open up the economic provisions of the Constitution. Land ownership, it is not the most important, but corporations, you know, why do they have to be tenants,” Sears said.
He still maintains the Philippines has fantastic potential, but the country is not using its people and resources properly.
Sears was referring to the mining industry, which remains closed to foreigners although the Philippines is reputedly one of the most mineralized countries in the world.
“Now they want to put more restrictions,” Sears said, adding that foreign investments in the industry are going where it is easiest to do business.
Sears explained that if the country opens its mining industry and still maintains the proper restrictions like in other countries, it can create tens of thousands of jobs.
He said that when he first came to the country 34 years ago, the country was more restrictive then of FDI.
“It has gotten a bit easier, but again, everything is relative. The rest of Asean have been moving or reforming faster than we have. We will remain the laggards. Reform is the key word,” Sears said.
Sears added that he cannot predict the future with regards to the next administration’s economic policies, but hopes that they would see FDI benefits to the country in providing better lives to everyone.
He also said the next president of the country should continue with some of the good works that was done by the current administration.
“If the projects are good and viable, they will continue even if he is no longer in charge. I am hoping the next president will honor them. I think now, the anticorruption benchmark is higher than it used to be,” Sears said.
Sears has high hopes for the Asean integration, where he believes the Philippines can take advantage of the situation and then down the line also join the Trans-Pacific Partnership.
“That means we need to reform further and faster than we have to. Better to do it now than later. There is never an easy time. The protectionists, they are always going to be there, always going to argue. We just had to go do what is right for the Philippine economy,” Sears said.
Call of duty
Sears still remains part of the AmCham board. He is also one of the key persons responsible in the creation of the Joint Foreign Chambers Arangkada project, which aims to bring increased FDI into the country.
But before his Merrill Lynch posting and life in the Philippines, Sears had a colorful time as a teenager and an admirable career as a member of the United States (US) Air Force.
Recalling moments in his life, Sears said he was a war baby born during the waning days of World War II. He said his father was a second lieutenant in the army assigned in Europe and in charge of artillery.
He enrolled at the American School in Logano, Switzerland, and went to Colby Collegein Maine, the 12th oldest independent liberal arts college in the US.
In Italy during his teen, Sears said he grew up fat eating pasta twice a day while drinking plenty of Chianti red wine.
“Life is that good. I went skiing in the mountains. Food is good. Europe is like the United States, it is established, highly cosmopolitan,” Sears said.
Following his graduation, Sears joined the US Air Force and was eventually assigned in Vietnam, at the Bien Hoa Air Base, south of Saigon.
“For one year, we wake up every morning with rockets falling. I take command to protect everyone, that’s one of my job,” he reminisce.
In one hairy moment, Sears recalled there was an intense rocket attack at their base. Everyone went for the safety of their bunkers, except his group, which immediately took over the command post.
“I was probably 25 years old. We were in this big tent. I was a disaster control officer supervising the bunker so that if there is any kind of emergency, we coordinated our response from the command post. My sergeant and I, we had a good bunker program. Nobody died the year that I was there,” Sears said.
Sears recalled vividly one photograph of his assignment in Vietnam, showing one of his fellow soldiers, trying to pull out of the ground an unexploded rocket in a nearby hangar, which somehow got embedded in the concrete.
“That guy was there trying to pull out the unexploded bomb without fear that it might explode. He was not thinking about it. He was protecting the aircraft. It was a good thing for anybody to do that. That was dedication,” Sears said.
Sears earned a bronze medal after his tour of duty in Vietnam ended. Immediately after, he joined Merril Lynch in Italy. It was a job he got due in part of his ability to speak fluent Italian and French, with a smattering of German on the side.
Image credits: Jimbo Albano