Why the Philippines Failed to Industrialize: Education Without Industry
The Philippines didn't fail from lack of talent—it lacked a national coalition linking education to industry. Written by Glenn Junsay Pansensoy · Economy · 19 min read The Philippines did not fail to industrialize because Filipinos lack talent, discipline, or ambition. It failed because, unlike Japan, Korea, Indonesia, and later Vietnam, it did not build a durable national coalition capable of using the state to transform agriculture, manufacturing, education, infrastructure, and technology into a coherent development project. The Philippines had schools, engineers, entrepreneurs, workers, and even periods of industrial growth. What it lacked was the sustained political economy required to turn those assets into a self-reinforcing industrial society. When Japan and South Korea sent students to Europe and the United States to study engineering, science, administration, and industrial organization, they did not merely produce graduates. They created institutions...