By Dr. Efren N. Padilla
I have always hoped that within my lifetime, our beloved country would rise to the economic level of Singapore, South Korea, Taiwan, or Japan. These neighbors have served as my economic models, offering valuable lessons on how to create better opportunities for our people.
As both a professor and a practitioner of my discipline, both here and abroad, I nurtured that hope. I was constantly inspired by how Filipinos excel in various professions overseas, reinforcing my belief that we are just as capable as any other group of people—especially in societies that uphold meritocracy.
I experienced this firsthand in academia, where retention, promotion, and tenure are strictly quantified. If you fail retention after four years, you are dismissed. If retained but not promoted, you retire without ever achieving full professor status or tenure.
I often wondered whether my hope and faith in meritocracy made me too demanding in my expectations—or perhaps overly idealistic, even in my pro bono work.
Unfortunately, my hope for our country has hit a ceiling.
It was shaken when Vietnam—once economically behind us—suddenly surged ahead in gross domestic product growth and manufacturing competitiveness.
For instance, Vietnam has surpassed the Philippines in GDP, adjusted for Purchasing Power Parity. According to the International Monetary Fund’s October 2024 estimates, Vietnam stands at $17,350, while the Philippines lags at $12,910.
Fueled by strategic industrial policies, strong foreign direct investment, and a booming manufacturing sector, Vietnam has become a global production hub. Major companies like Samsung, Intel, Apple, Foxconn, and LG have established factories there, driving exports and job creation.
In contrast, our economy remains overly reliant on the BPO sector, and OFW remittances, with weak manufacturing output, and limited export diversification.
Burdened by the proliferation of unmeritorious and unqualified leaderships, infrastructure deficits, costly and unreliable electricity, and bureaucratic and policy inconsistencies, the Philippines continues to trail behind its regional peers.
Yet, nothing has shaken my hope as much as the collapse of our public education system. It pains me to admit that year after year, we are graduating functionally-illiterate students.
I once asked my gardener’s Grade 3 grandson what his favorite subject was. Without hesitation, he replied, “Math.” Amused, I quizzed him: “What’s 3 + 3?” ”Six,” he answered instantly. “2 + 2?” ”Four.” “1 + 1?” ”Two.” But when I asked, “What’s 1 × 1?” he fell silent, unable to respond.
I suspect that private schools fare no better than public ones. I’ve heard enough horror stories from students about so-called “Jurassic” administrators and faculty members who remain in denial—boasting about anecdotes of excellence while ignoring glaring issues: low or zero passing rates in licensure board and Bar exams, teacher absenteeism, normalization of teaching overloads, grade inflation, and an over-abundance of Dean’s Listers and University Honors without objective and reliable competency assessments in Writing, Math, English Proficiency, or Critical Thinking.
At my former University in California, students had to pass Writing and Math skills tests in their junior or senior year; otherwise, they couldn’t graduate.
To assess our high school students’ competencies, we can look at the Programme for International Student Assessment administered by the Organisation for Economic Co-operation & Development. PISA evaluates the skills of 15-year-olds worldwide in Reading, Science, and Mathematics—focusing on real-world problem-solving, rather than rote memorization.
How did the Philippines fare?
In the 2018 PISA, we ranked last in Reading, and second to last in Science and Mathematics among 79 economies.
In the 2022 assessment, our performance remained largely unchanged, with average scores of 355 in Mathematics, 347 in Reading, and 356 in Science—far below the OECD averages of 472, 476, and 485, respectively. Among 81 countries, we ranked sixth to last in Reading and Mathematics, and third to last in Science.
Instead of addressing this crisis with urgency and comprehensive reforms to bridge the five-to six-year learning gap between our students and their global peers, our Department of Education and related institutions remain distracted—if not outright demoralized—by endless political maneuvering and infighting among powerful families vying for dominance.
Given the current state of affairs, it seems unlikely that a far-reaching educational reform will happen anytime soon. If it does, it will be a Herculean task.
Now that our struggling economy mirrors that of Laos or Cambodia, how can we even hope to match Vietnam, Indonesia, or Malaysia—let alone aspire to the heights of Singapore, South Korea, Japan, or Taiwan?
I find myself at a loss for words—and worse, I am losing hope.
Lately, to ease my hopelessness, I’ve been listening to one of my favorite Beatles songs, In my Life.
Maybe it’s a bittersweet reflection on my own time under the sun. Maybe not. Either way, I find comfort in singing along, and letting it play:
There are places I’ll remember/All my life, though some have changed/Some forever, not for better/Some have gone, and some remain.
All these places had their moments/With lovers and friends I still can recall/Some are dead and some are living/In my life, I’ve loved them all.
But of all these friends and lovers/There is no one compares with you/And these mem’ries lose their meaning/When I think of love as something new.
Tho’ I know I’ll never lose affection/For people and things that went before/I know I’ll often stop and think about them/In my life I love you more/In my life I love you more.
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Author’s email: [email protected]
