The ‘Arangkada Philippines 2010: A Business Perspective’ from the JFC (Joint Foreign Chambers) represents our best chance to get on the right path after decades of missteps? Reports the Manila Bulletin (Dec 2nd): “[It] contains measures on how to realize the projected $75-billion foreign direct investments and 10 million jobs in the next 10 years from seven priority industries.
“Arangkada Philippines 2010” contains the consolidated 471 recommendations of the JFC from Filipino and foreign businessmen for building a more competitive economy, driven by ethical and sustainable practices, reform by reform, leading to high growth and millions of new jobs . . . The JFC conducted in late 2009 and early 2010 a series of Focus Group Discussions to identify implementable solutions to the challenges to propel each sector forward. Some 300 private sector experts from the Philippine and foreign business communities participated and put forward nearly 300 recommendations to accelerate the growth of these sectors.”
Mayor Bloomberg’s piece in the December 6th issue of Time magazine – talking about ‘Ground Zero: out of the ashes’ – could be an inspiration: “Never before have so many moving parts been required to fit together . . . Never before have so many . . . been involved in a single project. And never before have so many citizens felt such a deep personal connection . . . and taken such an active role in planning its future . . . [It] has not been smooth or quick as anyone would have liked. But today, the progress . . . is unmistakable – and that’s incredibly heartening . . . [It] is an affirmation of [our] sprit – of our faith in our future and in our freedoms . . . [The people behind it] recognize . . . that [what they are working on] symbolizes the openness and opportunity that have always defined [us]. . . And most important, they are helping . . . fulfill . . . our . . . principles and values.”
We have had decades of missteps – and as Bloomberg talks about Ground Zero, ‘sprit, principles and values’ matter especially in a mammoth undertaking. And we would not want to be defined by parochialism, hierarchy and condescension?
Has our instinct of parochialism and hierarchy blindsided us – that while we sincerely believe we care we are in fact patronizing to the poor? Translation: poverty is only a subset (a modern math concept we teach grade school kids) of a deficient economic engine – it can serve the purposes of a few and thus it has its champions while unsurprisingly perpetuating a charade? Says an ex-NEDA chief: ‘[Given] the development track that the Philippine economy has treaded in the past 40 to 50 years, there is now no more room for resorting to old and tried and tested policies that only make matters worse.’
Bottom line: unless the few who are perhaps unwitting active participants of our pretension take on the spirit – and embrace the requisite principles and values – that will put us on the right path, ‘Arangkada’ could join the countless derisory efforts we’ve had in the past?
CSR, CCT and OFWs are subsets of a GDP that in its entirety is unmistakably underdeveloped, i.e., at a measly 10% of developed economies per capita GDP. They would only become robust and impactful if they are subsets of a GDP that is plainly well-developed. (Or as President Ramos succinctly puts it ‘the pie is too small’.) And a developed economy is driven by investment and innovation, thus highly competitive. But investment and innovation are outside our psyche and why our ‘taipans’ became the pillars of the economy – not Filipino ‘old families’?
The good news is ‘Arangkada Philippines 2010’ is in front of us – and so let’s not be the horse that is brought to water but cannot be made to drink?
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