《111-1 GHRM528 Course Speech》Dr. Elaine Borazon on “Soft Power and Economic Development of the Philippines”

November 10th 
Writer: Du Lin Wen

On the 10th of November 2022, the Organizational Politics class instructed by Dr. Ryan Brading, under the Global Human Resource Management English MBA program, invited Dr. Elaine Borazon from the International Graduate Program for Education and Human Development as a guest speaker to talk about her insight as a Filipino on “Soft power and economic development of Philippines.”

To warm up the class with the topic, Professor Elaine begins by sharing basic geographical knowledge of the Philippines. She demonstrates the country's beauty and the islands' relative location. Followed by the images of the nation, she gradually discloses the historical impacts of Spanish colonialism. The government structure, religion, education, and economy still suffers from problems inherited from the Spanish rulers. For instance, irresponsible political culture and corruption meddling in the church. Apart from the Spanish influence, the Philippines was also occupied by the United States. The culture and language of the US profoundly affected the education system and speaking English has become a trend in the country. 

Dr. Elaine points out that the economy of the Philippines is still in poor condition. Moreover, some problems bring about continuity of poverty, including the rapid growth of the population, the gap between the rich and poor, which interferes with economic expansion, recurrent shocks and disasters in the environment as well as from nature, and most serious of all, the corruption. 

To explicate the political corruption in the Philippines one can understand it on different levels. The first level is the core of the government. The country has a long history of corruption in the government. Due to the framework’s failure in competition among the political parties, personalities and patronage dominate the party environment. In the second level, patronage and cronyism are so prevalent that they also happen in the subsidiary bureaus of the government. In addition, some political elites and business sponsors sabotage fairness in elections and hinder good governance. The third level is corruption in the petty or administrative bureaucracy. Low salaries and complex regulations are the usual norms for civil servants. 

Globalization in the Philippines has effectively impacted the county after the power of the United States. Education has been pushed forward, exporting helps the growth of GDP within the country and even more, international companies have joined the economy. Brands like IKEA, Samsung, and Apple have become essential businesses in Filipinos’ lives. However, while the growth mainly emphasizes agriculture, the lower class still lacks job opportunities.

At the end of her presentation, the students were well aware of the Philippines’ political environment and gained a comprehensive view of the cause and result of the Filipino economy. It is a great honor to have Professor Elaine give such a fascinating presentation with excellent content to the students. We believe the insights will significantly help the students open their vision from diverse perspectives and think independently of the political issues in organizations.