Bill Clinton tells Pinoys: Get more people to come home

Ex-US president Bill Clinton faced an audience of elite Filipinos Wednesday and implored them to convince their countrymen abroad to return and help out the country. “Create a climate where everybody [participates]. Get more people to come home," he said to a crowd in Manila Hotel that included his former Georgetown classmate Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo. Rapidly growing economies like China, India and Vietnam all benefited from a reverse brain drain, when educated expatriates returned to lend their expertise. The Philippines needs to reorient the mindset of its people through education and access to employment to keep the population from migrating to other places in search of better paying jobs, Clinton said. "Filipinos have done great around the world, and I think that as an economic model, it's really good for individual people and families," he said, referring to the 8.5 million-11 million overseas Filipino workers who transferred more than $19.7 billion to their relatives in the Philippines last year. “But I think you need to try to get more people to come home. We all need certain things to remind us of the big mental and emotional factors that impact a country’s greatness," Clinton said. “You're smart enough to do it, you have a huge population, and you have massive natural resources. I have a feeling that you’re at the dawn of a whole new age of your history here," Clinton added. But the Philippines must “attempt to get everybody in school. Give access to universities and access to [domestic] job markets," he said. Citing the case of Rwanda, a country that made headlines in 1994 after the assassination of its president sparked a genocide that killed 500,000 to one million Tutsis and moderate Hutus, Clinton said the eastern central African country was able to spur its economy by more than three times in nearly a decade. The fact that Rwandan adults offered one day a week to work for free, cleaning the streets, made a big difference in the mindset of the people, Clinton stressed. Don’t worry Filipinos should not worry about why the Philippines has not yet reached its potential, he explained, replying to a question from moderator Maria Ressa of ABS-CBN. "What Filipinos should worry about are the basic ideas of how to get there," said Clinton, the 42nd president of the United States. He noted the tremendous economic growth of China and Singapore, saying he wasn’t surprised because Singapore is a much smaller country than the Philippines, and China is an authoritarian state. The greatest challenge the Philippines faces now is “getting completely out of the overhang of the global financial crisis." By trying to maintain a level of over 7 percent in terms of economic growth for five-six years, the country “can generate enough surplus cash" that, in turn, may be used to create infrastructure development-supported economic growth, he said. The Philippines also needs to focus on educating its population, particularly women, and allowing access to jobs, the former president of world’s economic and military powerhouse said. While the Philippines took longer than China and Singapore to get to this level of development, focusing on “what kind of basic ideas that you want driven home to get where you want to go" may be the key for the country to reach its full potential, he explained. “If Filipinos can do that, there’s no doubt to my mind that you’re going to get there," he said, drawing applause from the audience of around 1,700. Among those in the audience were Vice President Jejomar Binay, former President and Pampanga Rep. Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo, former First Lady and now Ilocos Norte Rep. Imelda Marcos, Sen. Franklin Drilon, Sen. Loren Legarda, Sen. Pia Cayetano, business tycoon Fernando Zobel de Ayala, US Ambassador to the Philippines Harry K. Thomas Jr., Enrique Yap of Manila Bulletin and Manila Hotel, Manila Mayor Alfredo Lim, Sonny Coloma of Malacañang Communications Group, Senator Chiz Escudero, Philippine National Red Cross chairman and former Senator Richard Gordon, actress Donita Rose, TV host Tim Yap, TV host Boy Abunda, and pop idol Gary Valenciano. On presidents At 3 p.m., before going to the Manila Hotel, Clinton dropped by Malacañang and talked to President Aquino for more than an hour. "One thing I like about him is that he's got a lot of energy," he said, sharing his experience of the Philippines’ first bachelor president. “I like people who are excited about their jobs," Clinton said. “I must have asked him about 10 different things and he knew a lot about them." People “need somebody that's smart enough to know what's going on, energetic enough to do something about it, and has the capacity to put in place a system that can answer the 'how' question. I felt good about him after the meeting. Really good." Clinton also had kind words for Aquino’s predecessor. “I like the fact that your former president, Gloria Arroyo, is pushing this corporate social responsibility bill." He did not elaborate. Regarding former President Fidel Ramos, Clinton said, “I love the fact that he's still writing books. You want people in these presidential jobs, no matter what their political differences are, who have a clear idea about how countries need to change and have sustained energy behind it." On his own presidency, Clinton said it made him “a lot more humble," knowing that the world’s more powerful nation was at his command. "You actually get to do things as opposed to talking about them. You realize you're not as smart as you thought you were. Frankly, I think that's a good thing. I think people should use their powers vigorously while in office, but humbly," he said. "If you're running a country, people hire you to win for them. There are some things you just need to take a deep breath and do, and if it works out alright, the country will forget that you did something unpopular. “I didn't worry about the unpopular stuff. I worried about the stuff that was difficult to figure out," he added. Clinton will fly to Japan Thursday for the Asia Pacific Economic Cooperation CEO meeting. — With additional reporting by Pia Faustino/HS, GMANews.TV