A gathering of the chiefs

The standard advice a local lawyer gives to a client who is under pressure from media practitioners, waiting in ambush to grab a piece of information that is of public interest but yet, in the mind of counsel, legally unripe for revelation, is to say, “I will disclose at the proper forum.”

The use of “forum” modified by the nebulous “proper” enables one to conveniently invoke an aura of legalism and at the same time effectively avoid the suspicious of having something to hide.  In effect, the dodging reply is taken to mean no more than “wait for me to testify in court.”

That use does not do justice to the noble historical lineage of the word “Forum.”  “Forum,” among the literates, used to exclusively refer to the Roman public square or market place. There male citizens hied (as well as hide) away from their mothers and/or wives, in order to absorb the warmth of the Italian sun shining from above augmented by the ministrations of slaves (male and/or female in accordance with one’s personal predilections), and to engage one another on matters of great civic importance, not just legal gobbledygook. The “forum” was a place for openness and truth, not the current use that considers it a venue for lawyerly display of amateurish drama.

Today, May 21, “forum” recovers its former glory. To begin at The Makati Shangri-la Hotel, Metro Manila, is the World Economic Forum on East Asia Meeting that will be attended by more than 600 consisting of several heads of state and leaders of government, captains of industry in the region, and members of the academe, entrepreneurs, and plain  (albeit comely) housewives. The conference will last up to the 23^rd; deferring, and not just limiting, one’s trips to the area during those 3 days is strongly recommended.

Google readily reveals the sites where one can find most of the information about the event; 3 features, however, caught my attention.

First, is that the format of the meeting is deliberately interactive. Repeatedly, it is stressed that “speeches are strongly discouraged and all participants are invited to contribute to a constructive, lively debate.” The sessions are thus not meant to be elocution or oratorical contests; they are opportunities for participants to arrive, through mutual exchange of ideas, at consensus of what actions to take. Hence, the forum is not receptive to Cicero who convinces his audience that he speaks very well; it is intended for Pericles who moves people to march.

Second, is that the theme, “Leveraging Growth For Equitable Progress,” suggests, in my view, a message of calculated boldness.  The term “leveraging” calls to mind a technique of recent years where an entity would, in a hostile scenario, purchase another by putting at risk very little of its own capital and financing the rest of the price with a lot of debt, in the ratio usually of 10% to 90% respectively.

The debt is routinely secured by the mortgage of the assets of the acquired company.  Indeed, although “leveraging” can be seen as no more than an variation of the well-meaning advice of some personal financial planners for their clients to acquire some assets using OPM (other people’s money), e.g. “buy your residence by paying with your own money only the down payment and using a bank long term loan to finance the rest”, it is seen by many as savagely predatory. Leveraging’s defining characteristic is that it is mostly the prey’s own assets that are being used to catch prey itself.

But in the genteel world of physics, the lever, with its fulcrums and pulleys, is a most admired device that is so constructed that a person using minimal energy at designated points is able to perform maximum work.  Connecting the foot pedals by means of a chain to the wheels of a bicycle is a most familiar and welcome lever.

It is this sense, no doubt, that the meeting organizers meant to stress in their use of the word “leveraging” in the Forum’s theme.  Indeed, the finite growth that East Asia is able to generate needs, as the list of objectives of the meeting indicates, be multiplied many times over, as well as over and over through the years in order to achieve a specific type of progress for the region, a progress that unifies the area’s peoples both in land and water and in cyber space. 

The intent of the Forum is to ensure an atmosphere of free exchange of views and opinions.  Hence, my third observation:  a caution is directed to the reporting press that the so-called Chatham House Rule applies.

For non-media practitioners, the Chatham House Rule is a prohibition against publicly revealing the identity or affiliation of any speaker in the event.  The guarantee of anonymity is expected to free the speakers of fear of any reprisal, from their home governments or countrymen or associates, or social media inhabitants, thereby making them very open to expressing their views.

“Chatham House” is actually the name of the building where the British Institute of International Affairs is based.  Actually, the British Institute of International Affairs is one of two institutes that were formed by British and American delegates who attended the Paris Peace Conference organized by Lionel Curtis in 1919.  The brits formed BIIA; their American counterpart organized the Council on Foreign Relations that is based in New York. 

Both BIIA and CFR, however, are think tanks that seek to put together the best minds on the subject of international relations to avoid war and promote peace.  To encourage them to talk, they are assured their names, if they so wish, are kept secret.

The speakers themselves, of course, are free to relate, if they so desire, what they themselves said. Most do not; and those who do, I am sure, are most those who intend to eventually seek a high public office.  For this reason, I am not betting that, by dinner’s end, Vice President Jojemar Binay would not put his foot in his mouth and disclose to the media what he had to say at the Philippine Welcome Reception tonight.

I do bet however that the Philippine delegation will put its best foot forward to show the rest of the world where we are now.  My best wishes and most ardent encouragement. – Rappler.com

Reynaldo “Gerry” Geronimo is a partner at the Romulo, Mabanta, Buenaventura Sayoc & De los Angeles law office.  He is known as The Trust Guru and maintains a website, www.thetrustguru.com.

The Philippines is hosting the World Economic Forum on East Asia from May 21 to 23. For updates about, visit Rappler’s microsite.