Second Look
Building up the local economy through sustainable initiatives is a key issue many Asian countries deal with, and rightfully so because of the opportunities in tourism and other fields brought about by the diverse culture characteristic to the region. The Philippines is no exception to this, and our own initiatives are encapsulated in the phrase pagtangkilik sa sariling atin.
This phrase is usually interpreted as promoting the patronage and purchase of local products, and it is easy to understand why: a stronger local economy and more money in circulation can translate into programs that can improve the welfare of the people. However, is this single way of understanding the phrase sufficient?
If that is so, pagtangkilik sa sariling atin is reduced to a spending initiative. To gauge the effectiveness of such initiatives, let’s take a look at how one works: the Department of Education’s feeding program for malnourished school children. Yes, the program has its merits, but does it solve the root cause of malnourishment in the first place? Take out the feeding program, and it would seem like nothing has changed with regard to addressing malnourishment. This is also the reason why Gawad Kalinga stresses that the house-building phase of its work is only a part of its overall goal—hence the emphasis on the succeeding phases that are concerned with livelihood development.
Bringing this insight back to the issue of building up the local economy, increased spending alone may not be enough to sustain these initiatives. There may be something missing in our understanding of these initiatives, and perhaps we can find solutions by looking at how our Asian neighbors approach this issue.
One significant move other Asian countries have taken to build up their local economies is the protection of their heritage sites. What makes the efforts of these countries successful is that, aside from the economic benefits improved tourism brings, another motivation for the locals to continue protecting their heritage sites is that it is a way of taking pride in and showing appreciation for the skills of their fellow countrymen. This trait of buying into their local values and culture also influences their other efforts; protecting local businesses by limiting foreign exports and keeping local prices competitive are such examples. This, I believe, is what may be lacking in similar Philippine initiatives.
When we look at our country, there are a lot of opportunities to build the local economy, but compared to other Asians, Filipinos show a significant difference in attitude. There’s this hidden inferiority complex Filipinos have in relation to foreigners, which may have stemmed several colonizer’s suppression of Filipino identity throughout history. This translates into us not having as much pride in ourselves as we ought to have—and this trait might hinder us from truly living out pagtangkilik sa sariling atin.
Ultimately, to sustainably build our local economy, it cannot be just about us buying products. It also has to involve us buying into our culture and values and taking pride in what we can do well.
