What Should the Philippines Do?
There was an article that has been going around Facebook that 50 years from now, the Philippines is predicted to be one of the rising or “surging” countries to watch out for. It is a bold prediction to say the least because on the pace that we are going, the government has no plans of improving the living conditions of the regular Filipino citizen nor it has plans to match the standards of our Asian counterparts. The battle cry of all political parties that were running last 2010 elections was that change was going to come. Change will happen. Yes, CHANGE did happen but not for the better I am afraid. From 2010-2012, the following incidents we wish would never have happened or had a better hold of:
- The Hong Kong Tourist Massacre and Hostage Crisis
- NAIA 1 branded as the worst airport in the world
- PAGASA giving wrong weather updates
- Response time of the Emergency Action Team to calamity hit provinces
- Filipinos being used as drug mule going to China.
There are more things I would like to list down here but they would give away by political inclinations and I would want to reserve that for another time. For now, here are some ideas that I think might help the country, if we would want to fulfill the prediction that in 50 years from now the Philippines would be a country to watch out for.
Keep on spending the money, not hoard it. The current government has mentioned that they have been under spending the budget given to them this year. Whether it is a good thing or not, the economic movement of the country has been very still. We need the money to inject projects to the system. Build roads, build infrastructures, repair buildings, add pipelines, and invest on equipment. Of course, proper auditing of the funds is expected on this part but the point is that if there is a lot of money going through the system, it will make people spend which will make producers make more products and the cycle goes on. Being able to spend less than your budget is a great thing for individuals or a company but if you are government spending less is not the straight forward.
Improving the international image should be on the top focus. We already have a reputation for a revolting airport. We also have a reputation for being one of the most corrupt in the world. There are a lot of things this country that can offer to the world aside from our Overseas Foreign Workers, we just need the rest of the world to know that. The tag line It’s More Fun in the Philippines is a good slogan to start, even though it was borrowed. What we saw was a wave of people contributing to the slogan and making an effort in posting pictures on why it is more fun in the Philippines. There should be a continuous and collective effort to not only makes the Philippines known just a tourist destination but a country that people can invest in. Here, we need to make it easy for foreign investors to come and invest here. Instead, we have the reputation of being corrupt and not taking care of foreign investors. (The issue of NAIA 3 comes into mind) We need to start small and take care of these investors, because if they receive good returns on their money or they have the security of being taken cared for, I am sure there will be more money that will be injected to the country. We just need to fix our image and reputation in the international business community.
Keep on moving forward, do not look back anymore. The current state of the government is to punish people of the previous government for their “corrupt” conducts and bring them to court. I do believe in the justice system but if it takes over the economical progress of the entire country, then the priorities should change. Instead of punishing those who have made past mistakes, let us learn from them and move forward. People are so focused on demonizing people who are connected to the previous administration that the growth, welfare, and stability of the county are not being monitored. This should not be the case. We are always be forever stuck if we keep on doing so. We have to start planning for the future and take solid and definitive actions to reach the future goal. We can never do that by looking at our back at the past and rehash already dead memories.
Despite the current state of the country right now, the Filipinos have hope in a better future. I do not wish to wait for 50 years to see the Philippines take it rightful place as one of the top countries in the world. We know we deserve better than this and hopefully the current government can see that and will take action in doing so. There is hope, especially for a country that has been on rock bottom.