Tasyo Catch-Up Strategy

Tinanong ni Crisostomo Ibarra si Pilosopong Tasyo kung dapat na nga bang mag-aklas ang mga Pilipino laban sa mga Kastila. Sabi ni Pilosopong Tasyo, "Wag muna. Hindi sapat ang ating kakayahan. Kapag lumaban tayo ngayon, maraming mamatay."

Ang tanong ngayon, dapat na bang makipag-sabayan ang mga Filipino companies sa global market? Sabi namin dito sa Tasyo, "Wag muna. Dapat natin palakasin ang ating lokal na industriya at mga lokal na teknoprenur dahil ito ang magsusuporta sa ng lalaban sa global na pamilihan."

We cannot yet develop high-technology companies producing high-techlogy products that could compete in the global economy. Although there are islands of technical and scientific excellence, the technological and economic environment could not support and sustain one company rising above a depressed economy. A concerted effort by the government, academe and industry would not be enough. Money is just one of the problems. Other problems includes:

• Lack of support industries
• Lack of local market
• Technological inferiority of Philippine industries

To enable technology catch-up, we can't start with high-tech products immediately; we need to pass through intermediate stages that will prepare us for the big fights ahead.

The Turtle vs. the Rabbit

In the story of the turtle vs the rabbit, the turtle was able to beat the rabbit through perseverance in maintaining a steady pace. The rabbit lost because he procrastinate.

In the race for economic development the Philippines is a Turtle compared to other countries. Our problem is, perseverance would not be enough against the bigger, faster, stronger and more aggressive Rabbits. Could the Philippine Turtle win? Never. Not unless we understand the concept of Acceleration.

Acceleration is defined in Physics as the rate of change of velocity over time. Given two objects, Object A and B. Even if Object A is farther ahead and much faster than Object B, if Object B is accelerating faster, Object B will eventually overtake Object A. It is our idea for our Catch-up Strategy. It is now about immediately running as fast as the opponent, rather a process of 'Accelerating' faster.

In terms of economic development, it is about producing more enterprises, producing more products, producing more services, producing more profits in an ever shorter time frame. The Tasyo Strategy is not about Speed rather it about Acceleration. We are now moving slowly. But that is ok. We are way behind in technology and infrastructure. But that's ok. We just have to concentrate on how to move faster. The set of strategy we are proposing might seem counter-intuitive because if has some components that is arguably a step backwards. But the reason for this is to enable acceleration. By using overqualified resources, we can move faster. We could build better products faster and build companies to manufacture and market them. This will build momentum for our economic growth and it will drive our goal to accelerate faster, catch-up and leave them behind.