The Philippines’ Lessons from India

Both countries have their own unique strengths and weaknesses in different areas. For
example, the Philippines is a tiny island nation of 100M people, but India is one of the largest
countries in the world with the second largest population, over a billion. India has more than 6
times the number of people in it than in the Philippines. A population affects how well a country
performs. The purchasing power per citizen is fairly similar; the sheer number of Indians boosts
their GDP to the point that they have seven times the economy of the Philippines ($2.2 Trillion
compared to $300 Billion). That implies that for most markets India is significantly more
rewarding and significantly contrasted with the Philippines. It's the explanation you have of
Amazon India, however not Amazon Philippines, why most technology corporations are
concentrating on the Indian market yet not the Philippines, and why Japan is hoping to make
India its greatest exchanging accomplice, not the Philippines.

But there are things that the Philippines can learn from India. One of these is the cultural
preservation that India is known for, they have schemes and missions aiming at the renewal,
adaptive reuse, heritage conservation, and the restoration and preservation of historic old
places, sites, and cities. Unlike in the Philippines wherein historical heritage was treated poorly
(being sold to private owners, redevelopment of land for commercial purposes, etc). The
dividends are not just the preservation of our past, but also by way of tourism and all its
attendant economic benefits. In terms of economy, India was leading to a path of the good
economy until this present govt disrupted it for the time being, but we still have managed to get
placed in the largest top 7 economies of the world. The Philippines, on the other hand, has to go
a long way to emerge as a trillion-dollar economy. India’s union government is more focused on
long terms economic goals like developing its oil and gas infrastructure and its agriculture. It will
give that country a huge advantage in its exporting performance as it will give them a lot of
opportunities to develop business ties to other countries, and it will also lessen the country’s
imports of goods. If the Philippine government were to start thinking about having these long
term goals, it will hugely benefit the country. The Philippines’ common goods will be sold at a
lower price if this ever happens.

In terms of religion, both countries have different beliefs and practices. However, in India
religion is a way of life. It is an integral part of the entire Indian culture and permeates every
aspect of life. But India is a secular state, people of many religions freely live in the country. In
the Philippines majorly are catholic Christians, there are some issues regarding practices of
other religions, for example, Muslims are being frowned upon. If the country can be a little more
open-minded on accepted practices of other religions, it will help to create a better environment
for everyone.

Next thing is the Family culture, in India everything revolves around family. But it limits
only to parents and blood siblings. With passing time and when adults , everyone sort of starts
their independent life without being dependent on anyone. While in the Philippines , the family
drama extends not only to parents, but also to cousins, uncles and even distant relatives. So
much that if you are the sole earning member of the family, you have an obligation to support
and feed the entire clan. If the Philippine practice these cultures, it will help young Filipinos to be
more independent and be creative in terms of living their life while retaining a healthy
relationship with their parents. Because, in the early years of their adulthood, they will
experience what the world can give and can learn how to adjust to it with a ‘little’ help from their
parents.

As to access in education, Indian parents strive and can go to any end to make their
children go to the best college and get the best education. There are cases where they would
sell the last bit of property to make their children get the best of education as they know that is
their gateway to long term happiness. Rich or poor, everyone can get a proper education or at
least tries to do that. That's why India is composed of a large middle-class income group which
leads to a comfortable life. Also, their government plays a big role by giving almost free
education to anyone, and most of their school institutions are also being held by them. The
Philippines on the other hand, education is limited to only the rich and who can afford it. The
poor income group lets the kids complete only up to high school and then they have to fend for
themselves or do odd jobs quitting schools and colleges. This only adds to their already poor
strata and lack of employability. Also, most philippine education institutions are being held by
private owners and not the government, there are few public institutions, but it has its limitation
on the number of students it can cater to. These are some important things that the Philippines
can learn from India.

If there is a thing that the Philippines can unlearn from India. It is the rapid increase of its
population, the current population of India is 1,378,455,853 as of Thursday, May 21, 2020,
based on Worldometer elaboration of the latest United Nations data. India's population is
equivalent to 17.7% of the total world population. India is the second-most populous country in
the world after China. Population growth and economic development are contributing to many
serious environmental problems in India. These include pressure on land, forests, habitat
destruction and loss of biodiversity, changing consumption patterns, rising demand for energy,
air pollution, global warming, and climate change and water scarcity and water pollution. The
Philippines is already experiencing these problems if the country will experience a population
explosion it will only bring the country’s economy down.

This only shows that there is no such thing as a “perfect country” but the Philippines can
learn a thing or two from the culture and economic hardship that India has faced. We can keep
on developing and improving our country as well as our lifestyle for the betterment of our
country in the future.