The establishment of the Center for Research and Communication (CRC) can best be appreciated against a background of the country’s increasing economic growth and its concomitant advancing literacy in the sixties. The exigencies of a developing economy like the Philippines called for the harnessing of economists in the public sector. Postwar policies were characterized by a central control of the economy, particularly in the macroeconomic field, when the government decided to achieve higher levels of productivity, incomes and employment, and adopted import and exchange controls to produce internal and external stability of the currency. Given these developments, many of us who had taken up a graduate degree in economics here and abroad were conscripted by government planning agencies. Accordingly, my first job was as an economist in the Research Department of the Central Bank; later I became Director General of the Congressional Economic Planning Office. I recall that about that time, Dr. Jesus “Jess” Estanislao, the first head of CRC, and Dr. Placido “Cidito” Mapa, its chairman to this day, did their stint with the public sector as economists in the Program Implementation Agency and the Presidential Economic Staff.
It was also about that time, the middle of the sixties, that economic reporting began to flourish. When I joined Manila Bulletin, economic reporting was unheard of and the only concession that the daily gave to business was a couple of pink pages containing shipping schedules. With the permission of the publisher, I converted the pages into a business section. The other dailies had no business section at all. The so-called business editors at that time struggled to understand the economic policy pronouncements of the government and economic initiatives emanating from the business sector.
Around that time also, I became a cooperator of Opus Dei. I was introduced to the Work by Drs. Bernie Villegas and Jess Estanislao who, like Dr. Cidito Mapa and I, were members of the board of the Philippine Economic Society. In our various conversations, we all agreed that there was a need to promote economic literacy in the country. The starting point was to enhance the understanding of business writers on the basic principles of economics.
We also agreed that there was a need to bring down to the level of the laymen the esoteric economic terms that promote the economics of the firm (microeconomics) as well as the economics of the nation (macroeconomics). This idea gave rise to the industry studies and the forecasting activities conducted by CRC. As an aside, my economics professor used to tell the class that if one cannot explain economic terms, in all probability it was not economics. With this in mind, we began to write articles in the newspapers in pursuit of our desire to make the dismal science more understandable to the public.
Undergirding this initiative was the apostolic dimension, the raison d’être for any initiative of the faithful of Opus Dei. It was recalled that the Founder said that to attract vocations, it was necessary to catch them like fish: by the head. This was to say that to attract intellectuals, they should be offered stuff that catered to their intellectual curiosity. Economic education/analysis was an attractive draw.
With a fence around the idea of institutionalizing the concept of a research center, it was decided to put up a small office—an address, so to speak. I volunteered my office for the purpose. This was in 1967. At that time I was occupying two offices in the same building, which was owned by my brother-in-law. The building was located at the corner of Josefa Llanes Escoda and Colorado Streets in Malate. For a few weeks, it became the staging ground for the establishment of what is now the Center for Research and Communication. When a critical mass of economic professors and students were assembled, it was time to break out of this limited space.
The original CRC was established in 1968 at 1607 Jorge Bocobo, Malate, which was a few blocks from my office. By a stroke of luck, the mansion was owned by the prominent Villarama family from Bulacan. The family was close to ours because the father, who was a doctor at the Philippine General Hospital (and later became Secretary of Health), delivered me and my siblings. The mansion had many rooms, which easily converted into classrooms.
To give it a semblance of a think tank, the economists in the group, which included myself, were requested to lend their textbooks to establish a school library and reference center. Moreover, the founding economists in the group were requested to teach, though just part time, since we were all already gainfully employed. A credible research center was, therefore, established not too far from UP and Ateneo in midtown Manila.
I recall that two undertakings were launched simultaneously. One was a master’s degree in industrial economics for full-time students and, the other, lectures on economic topics for business reporters. Since I was at the time the president of the Business and Economics Reporters of the Philippines (BERAP) while I was business editor of the Manila Bulletin, it was not difficult to persuade my colleagues to attend the lectures.
A number of incidents or anecdotes from this period come to mind. A few economic reporters tend to be cocky sometimes. One of these 90-day wonders had his comeuppance while attending a lecture by Dr. Mapa. The talk was about monetary policy, and this person insisted that the monetary authorities devalue the currency then, without giving any statistical data or compelling economic arguments for doing so. Getting irritated as the discussion overextended and led to nowhere, the Harvard economist who was then head of the Presidential Economic Staff turned his back to the class, scribbled a lengthy algebraic equation to show that the economy did not exhibit any fundamental disequilibrium to justify any currency depreciation at the time. The rest of the lecture was met with deathly silence.
Within a short time, it was discovered that the logistics were getting low (not even enough to pay the rent!), and there was a dire need for a quick infusion of cash. After some brainstorming, someone suggested to approach the Development Bank of the Philippines, which was headed by Chairman Leo Virata, himself an economist. Moreover, it was discovered that in its board of directors was Executive Secretary Alex Melchor, who was well connected with the Palace and who was a friend of CRC. With the help of Chairman Virata, many businessmen (mostly clients of DBP) responded to the invitation to attend a dinner at the Manila Hilton, at the then-princely cost of PhP250, to listen to President Ferdinand Marcos, the honored guest of the affair.
What marred an otherwise successful fundraising venture was a noisy demonstration staged by student activists outside the hotel. Fortunately, the President, with studied aplomb, ignored the demonstrators, who were quickly dispersed by the Metrocom (a unit of the Philippine Constabulary).
It seemed, however, that the take from the affair was hardly enough to cover the ambitious program of the Center. Fortunately, CRC was introduced to the Hanns Seidel Foundation, a German Christian Democratic political foundation that bought the idea of a development think tank that was anchored on the Christian social doctrine of the church, which was also espoused by the foundation. Anticipating a visit from officials of the German foundation members, the incipient research organization was given the red alert with the marching orders to present a credible research-looking center. No one was exempted from the chore. In fact, I recall that the day before the arrival of the visitors, I saw faculty members on their knees as they assiduously polished the bulbs of the big chandelier, which was the centerpiece of the drawing room.
Developments moved fast after that with Franz Joseph Strauss, Prime Minister of Bavaria, laying the cornerstone of the main building of the University in Pasig, whose land was donated by the Ortigas family.
Today, CRC has been absorbed by the University of Asia and the Pacific (UA&P) while retaining its unique identity. For us who witnessed the birth pains that accompanied its establishment, the institution of CRC will linger on in our memory.
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Dr. Jose V. Romero, Jr. is a member of the Board of Trustees of UA&P and is a professor of political economy in the University. He served as Philippine Ambassador to the Republic of Italy.
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