Friday, 21 January, as part of the annual National Architecture Conference sponsored by the University Santo Tomas, I am in Manila to give a presentation. This university is one of the oldest in Asia and was founded by the Augustinians in 1611. The theme for this year’s conference is, Global Green Concepts and will bring attention to sustainable building practices in a tropical climate.

It is my first visit to the Philippines. The Spanish rule of three hundred years followed by fifty years of United States governance is evident; many people understand English, street names are in Spanish and a remarkable amount of churches. One of the places we visit is Intramuros, a 16th century Spanish colony. A guide tells us that the people were divided between the haves and the have nots. Those with shoes lived inside the fort, and those without shoes lived outside in the morass. The difference between rich and poor is still an issue in modern day Manila. We visit the Cultural Centre built in 1969 and the International Convention Centre built in 1976 commissioned by Imelda Marcos. The guide apologetically explains that she invested heavily in arts and culture. These buildings do not only exude power, but also the spirit of international modern architecture: sculptural, brutalist concrete buildings of that time.

After the presentation, we are invited to dinner in the Makati business district. Once there, we are confronted with the luxury of a typical, Asian city: the restaurant is located in a high-end retail shopping mall. The restaurant owner, is also an architect and a professor at the University, sketches the situation.

As in many countries, people here are migrating to the city. Manila currently has a population of 11 million and 13 mayors. Most of the land is owned by a small number of families. Population growth is steadily continuing, ‘no birth control’. The population in Makati at night is 1,4 million, and during the  day 4,2 million people work here. Manila has only two metro lines for the entire city. Proudly, he tells us about the unique export product of the Philippines: ‘people’. Actually, this is just a brain drain.

Education is number one for the government and its population. As a father or mother, you go to work abroad to pay for your children’s education – who are taken care of the family left behind. The result is a well-educated, bilingual population that because of its hospitable nature are beloved throughout the world. Seven of the 90 million Philipinos work abroad. If they were to go on strike, the whole world would stand still, says our host with a smile. But everyone comes back! In the end, no one wants to die alone, you want to be with your family. In the short term, he expects structural changes. The educated Philipinos are beginning to work on their own knowledge economy. For example, international call centres here outnumber those in India. Hospitals are being established following the example set by Singapore, where they focus on the treatment of cancer, heart and vascular diseases and stem cell research. All of this with excellent amenities as if on vacation in a fine hotel.

Urban planning remains a huge problem. Just as in Hong Kong, high rise residential towers with apartments of 40m2 for a middle class family are springing out of the ground. Adequate investment in public transportation, roads, the environment and infrastructure has not happened yet. Thinking about Global Green Concepts should be applied on a broad scale, I exclaim. An enterprising Netherlands could contribute immensely. But, it is especially clear that in the Philippines, you can find all of the resources for a successful knowledge economy: language, education, healthcare and international exchange. This is the new world trade.

Francine Houben
The Financial Daily (Het Financieele Dagblad)
21 February 2011