Davos’ world elite and the Philippines

The presence of US President Donald Trump, known for his protectionist “America First” pronouncements, at the World Economic Forum annual meeting in Davos, Switzerland was a jarring reminder of how fragile words like inclusiveness, liberalization and environment protection are.

Notwithstanding the boos and hisses that Trump received during his 15 minutes on stage, his rhetoric of transnational cooperation and tax cuts for businesses that wanted to invest in America held the attention and ears of many of the world’s powerful and pragmatic CEOs.

Not even the dollar’s nosedive from US Treasury Secretary Steve Mnuchin’s comment that a weak greenback would be “good” for America mattered given the undisputed reality that the United States was back in the running, still not in tip-top shape, but in fighting form.

At this yearly meeting that purports to “improve the State of the World,” strong populist leaders like Trump are winning the war against the loftier goals of poverty alleviation, social equality and world trade without barriers.

This shouldn’t be surprising when people are fed up with talk about a better world while continuing to grope for relief from pay checks that are not enough to provide the most basic needs of a family: decent shelter, enough food and proper education for the children.

Sounds similar?

Did Trump’s swoop on Davos sound familiar?

The Philippines too, has its own less eloquent version of Davos and Trump, one that was unmasked even before the last US presidential election. Yes, our own President Rodrigo Duterte, with all his cussing, bully-talk, and media bashing, had made our taipans and elite business executives bend their principles on human rights, social ethics and morality.

And oh, please, don’t blame the trolls.

Like Trump, Duterte seemed to be the answer to what many Filipino businessmen had craved for since Ferdinand Marcos ascended into power, when Cory Aquino took over, until Fidel V. Ramos, Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo and Benigno Aquino III’s time.

Going on into the 20th month of his presidency, Duterte seems to be undistracted in delivering what he had promised, and in the process, gaining much more support from businessmen to his brash and autocratic style of leadership.

Business first

But this is not just what the WEF in Davos also mirrored. The top 1,500 business leaders representative of the top 1,000 corporations in the world have turned their attention back to their respective business agenda with an urgency to seize the best opportunities that would boost their bottom lines during this period when the world economy seems to be truly recovering.

Meanwhile, for our top 1,000 companies, “business first” means keeping the momentum of growth that the Philippine economy has been relishing over the last two decades. For them, the most appealing formula that enticed their support to Duterte was the promise of roads, bridges, ports, better telecommunications, and reliable and less expensive power supply.

So far, Duterte’s hand-picked economic team has been delivering. And those bureaucrats that had experienced problems in meeting their mandates were quickly replaced. This was what business expected – and in this respect, there was little disappointment.

Unorthodox leadership

Duterte, like Trump, is an unorthodox leader who dares to think outside what has become an accepted norm. In an era when free trade agreements were being inked between developed and developing nations, Trump raised the specter of economic protectionism.

The US President dared to challenge the existence of the North Atlantic Treaty Organization, withdrawn substantial monetary support to the United Nations, renounced the Paris Climate Agreement, and reneged on key multilateral trade agreements.

Duterte, on the other hand, has pushed away the hand of erstwhile allies across the Pacific Ocean like the United States and the European Union, and has instead turned to hitherto unimagined economic partners like China, Russia and more recently, India.

These are all measured moves whose aim is to get the best bang for the buck. The US is cutting back on “unnecessarily” expenses and what it perceives are “unfair” trade agreements; the Philippines is shopping for the best source of funds to finance its excursion into a golden age of infrastructure building.

Downside and differences

The downside of “business first,” even if it is just for this catching-up period, is the sidelining of many issues that had been highlighted at Davos during the last decades: the environment, human rights, equity distribution, and a world without borders.

For example, coal is now back on the US agenda for power companies looking for the most economically feasible source of electricity; on the other hand, renewables are no longer on the drawing board.

It’s about the same scenario for the Philippines. While our Department of Energy continues with its program on renewable energy, it has accepted the contribution and importance that coal-fired power generation will play in the country’s future energy mix.

Yet, unlike Trump, who has had a heftier track record in business, Duterte does not meddle too much in understanding the principles of pricing and financial viability analysis – including buzz words like “inclusiveness” and “sustainability.”

Perhaps our President has a firmer gut feel of why poverty must be brought into the equation, having seen this up close in his role as mayor of Davao City.

Perhaps he truly realizes that caring for more than 50 percent of the underprivileged population is not just about getting enough votes election after every election, but is also about bringing a ray of sunshine into the daily grind of his countrymen who receive less than minimum wage.

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Should you wish to share any insights, write me at Link Edge, 25th Floor, 139 Corporate Center, Valero Street, Salcedo Village, 1227 Makati City. Or e-mail me at [email protected]. For a compilation of previous articles, visit www.BizlinksPhilippines.net.