LOOKING out the window on the 17th floor of his condominium unit, Irish national Brian Lane has a sweeping view of Manila Bay. To the left are the Manila Yacht Club and the Cultural Center of the Philippines. To his right are the coconut trees leading to the United States Embassy compound.
At the end of a hectic day, Lane would gaze at the window and bathe himself in the glow of the famed Manila sunset.
Lane owns Lane Moving, now named Asian Tigers Mobility, a leading provider of international relocation solutions, with 30 offices in 14 Asian countries.
“Nice view. Terrific,” Lane said, while adding that he stopped living in various places around Metro Manila and decided that his Roxas Boulevard condominium is where he would be living permanently.
But there is a downside to this nirvana. Just at the back of his building, along Mabini Street, are some of Manila’s poor communities. They would ask for handouts from foreigners, knock on the doors of cars at day, and many would be sleeping on the pavement at night.
Lane said it is a microcosm of the Philippines, a country richly endowed with the bounty of nature, the privileged living behind gated villages, and the majority having yet to enjoy the much-vaunted inclusive growth the government has been harping on.
And then, there is still the traffic
According to Lane, one part of the problem is that Filipinos now have the spending capacity to own a car.
“More people have money who can afford cars and bikes. Unfortunately, there are no restrictions on people who can buy and operate old cars and trucks,” Lane said.
He said traffic can be eased if only motorists would simply follow traffic rules and regulations.
“You can improve the movement of traffic around Manila by 50 percent without spending one centavo by insisting on people following the traffic rules. The yellow box is a simple example. It was designed by someone in the West, I think in Europe, and it means that at an intersection, you do not enter unless your way out through is clear,” Lane said.
Lane described Filipino drivers as selfish, because when they see a gap on the road they will jump into that space, thereby blocking traffic lanes.
“You have to spend to train these drivers. You have to take some licenses. You cannot allow people doing this. Take some licenses away from them and not allow them to drive. In fact, take their vehicles away,” Lane said.
Lane added that Metro Manila now has the unenviable reputation of being one of the worst cities in Asia for traffic, and that it will only get worse unless the citizens declare that they have had enough.
Moving outside Metro Manila
Lane said traffic in the city is the price we must pay for progress, and that it might be time to start or develop more businesses outside of Metro Manila.
“I would say Manila has changed as much as any other city that I have seen. Unfortunately, it is not all for the best,” Lane said.
He added: “The Philippines has managed to attract a lot more investments. Look at the new buildings. There is tremendous potential still for Manila to grow and keep growing. Although I would much rather see the government and foreign investors look at the provinces and try to grow them, because attracting unemployed people to Manila does not work.”
Lane said the government should develop second- and third-tier cities, which would allow people to stay in their provinces or islands and still earn a decent living.
“We should encourage it. We should give financial incentives to foreign and local investors to spread the wealth away from Manila,” Lane said, while adding as a suggestion that taxes should be raised in Metro Manila and reduced in other parts of the country.
He argued that if the current trend continues, Metro Manila will have a population of 40 million, which is bigger than the population of half the countries in the world.
“That is wrong, because the city is incapable of supporting it. No city should be able to. All the successful countries in the western and northern Europe, they try to keep their cities as small as possible. Disperse policies of investment, where they want to make sure that people can live wherever they happen to be born,” Lane explained.
According to Lane, what is happening in the country is that everyone wants to go to Metro Manila because they think it is where they are going to find jobs.
The legal system and the economy
Lane said the economy could be more robust than it is now, if only our legal system is not outdated.
“The legal system is 19th century, we live in the 21st, and to foreigners it is one of the biggest deterrence,” Lane said.
Lane knows where he speaks. He claims to be a victim of the country’s so-called outdated legal structure.
Lane once entered into a partnership with a very large Filipino shipping family in the 1980s and 1990s. He said they built a vessel that was the best in the Philippines. He also provided his partners one of the most successful formulas for a ferry business.
He said the vessel was damaged because his partner is a political appointee and not a seasoned seaman. When he asked to be paid for the damaged ship, his partners refused, saying that he should seek compensation from the boat’s builders.
“In the end, we ran out of money to fight them because they are so big. In any normal country, with a proper legal system, they would have paid the next day,” Lane said.
Lane said his partners are the kind of people who discourage foreigners from investing in the Philippines, using their political clouts to avoid their responsibilities.
“We say there are wonderful business opportunities. There are some wonderful Filipinos. But you’ve got to watch your back as a foreigner. In the event of any disputes, we are always in a disadvantaged position,” Lane said.
Although he agrees that what is happening in the country is also true somewhere else, he said that it is never an excuse to be wronged here in the country.
Lane said most expatriates here have little political clouts and would never sought to have them, because they believe that it is not the proper way to do business. He said that, in Europe, the merits of the case decide the outcome.
Lane added that only a small group of families that control the Philippine economy are holding back the country’s progress.
“It is plain wrong. It is also stupid, because in the end the country suffers,” Lane said.
He also said there are over 220 countries, with 85 percent of them looking for foreign investments.
“The Philippines need foreign investors and fresh technology, but they are not going to get it if they continue to behave the way they are doing it, exploiting and cheating some foreign investors,” Lane said.
He added: “Cheating is the word. We must not dress it up. It is the reason that there is not far more foreign investments here. I am an active member and involved in most of the foreign chambers. I represent the American Chamber of Commerce of the Philippines, Makati Business Council, European Chamber of Commerce of the Philippines, and most of the biggest chambers. I hear what goes on behind closed doors.”
Continuing, he said: “Most of these people are here to do good business and most are very honorable. Some of them are crooks. Not all foreigners are honorable and honest, unfortunately. We have our share of crooks and people who abuse the system. But the majority of foreign businessmen here enjoy the opportunities, the lifestyle and the amenities, because foreigners here are generally treated with respect than they actually deserve.”
Lane said the legal system in the country is outdated, outmoded, and overprotectionists of the powerful families to the disadvantage of smaller Filipinos and foreigners.
More Filipino than most Filipinos
Lane, who has been in the country for the last 39 years, claims he is more Filipino than most Filipinos around, and would like to devote his remaining years in helping the country move forward.
Lane grew up in Ireland and has since then lived in the United Kingdom, Germany, East Africa and West Africa.
For a time, Lane was a board director with a UK-based company, which allowed him to move between the UK, Belgium and France. However, Lane said he missed the Philippines badly.
“I am a Filipino in all but name. I am a permanent resident. This is my home. This is where I will stay. I missed the lifestyle here. The lifestyle here is very hard to beat as an expat. They more than balance the negatives, including the traffic, corruption humidity.”
He added: “I just wish that in my lifetime, before I go, I see some changes that will give those who come after us a better standard of living and a better opportunity for their children, because the potential is here.” Lane said he finds it criminally offensive that some people have to beg on the streets for money.
“God gave this country so many blessings. We have minerals. You can grow virtually anything here. There is no reason for anybody to be poor and there is absolutely zero reason for anybody to be hungry,” Lane said.
Image credits: Jimbo Albano