Highest priority: Job creation

Just a few days ago, Col. Victor Corpus was on the offensive as he brandished documents alleging that Senator Panfilo Lacson had secret, mind-boggling bank accounts in the United States, Canada and Hong Kong. After Lacson delivered a privileged speech denying Corpus’ charges, the head of the Intelligence Service of the Armed Forces of the Philippines is now on the defensive – and Corpus has to rebut the points raised by Lacson.

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In his speech before his peers in the Senate, Lacson claimed that the alleged depository bank in Hong Kong has denied the existence of such an account. He also pointed out that the account numbers presented in Corpus’ report exceeded by four digits those in Hong Kong and by six digits those in the US. Finally, Lacson said that the owner of his alleged house in California has come forward to claim the property.

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The onus is now on Corpus to prove his case against Lacson. And the ISAFP chief has vowed to do just that, when the Senate Blue Ribbon Committee begins its probe into what looks like another sensational episode in the political life of our nation. Abangan.

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To get out of the economic morass the Philippines is now in, the top order of the day, as pointed out by the Economic Intelligence Unit (EIU), headed by Peter Wallace, is to create jobs. Obviously, this is a sine qua non for our country’s economic resurrection.

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Let me use Wallace’s own words, as contained in his EIU report on the Philippines, on the need for job creation. He said:

Addressing poverty directly isn’t the answer. Poverty is an outcome from other factors. It’s the old saw: Give a man a fish and he has a meal; teach him how to fish, and he’s fed for life.

Give the poor a job, and they are no longer poor. The focus should be on job creation. Providing the environment that will attract investment. And this, as we have said a hundred times, must address what businessmen most complain about.

Number 1 is always the inadequate infrastructure. President Fidel Ramos understood this – look at what he did for power. And more. Lack of funds cannot be an excuse, the money must be redirected – and the theft stopped.

Corruption is Number 2. And corruption reduces the amount available to build by anywhere from 20 percent to 50 percent. Corruption occurs in two areas – "commissions" from the contractors and substandard construction. You pay more for a lesser product.

Number 3 is to simplify, and speed bureaucracy. And provide a stable, generally predictable business environment.

Do these three and watch the economy grow. Watch businessmen invest in businesses. Watch poverty disappear. Fixing this isn’t rocket science. Getting politicians to understand it does require a rocket though. Too often, they are the problem.

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In the summary of the EIU report on whether the Philippines has a chance of economic resurrection, the following factors were listed down as the major culprit behind the country’s sluggish growth:

1. Politics

2. Uncontrolled population growth

3. Weak educational system

4. Corruption

5. Inadequate infrastructure

6. An agricultural system that has not improved in 25 years

7. An inadequate focus on job creation

8. A judiciary in need of major improvement

9. Security.

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After a thorough, no-holds-barred discussion of these factors, some of which I took up in previous Jaywalker columns, Wallace arrived at this conclusion in answering the question on whether the Philippines has a chance:

Is this too harsh on the Philippines? I don’t think so. The numbers say it all: The Philippines is behind. I know it can do better – but it must really change its culture. Develop a sense of national pride and doing things for society, not for the individual.

President Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo has the unique opportunity to effect the change. A possible nine years of continuity to address the underlying causes of Philippine failure to develop like its neighbors. To do better than its neighbors. At worst, three years to get it started. But I venture to suggest that getting these eight started will help capture the next six if properly explained.

But for it to succeed, it must be supported by the people. However, the government has always done a lousy job at explaining its position, its policies, its ideas and ideals. The messages must be brought into a format and style the masses can identify with. Comic books, stories, anecdotes, brief movies, etc. is what will work. Press releases, academic reports won’t.

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Last July 24, Gerardo A. Borromeo led two Philippine youth baseball teams, made up of some 38 players, coaches and parents, that went to Saipan, in the Commonwealth of Northern Marianas, to participate in the 2001 Asia-Pacific Little League Championships. They were pleasantly shocked to find out that the Philippine Consulate in Saipan, headed by Consul General Julia C. Heidemann, is a Philippine agency we Filipinos can be proud of.

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Even before the teams left for Saipan, Consul General Heidemann was already calling from Saipan, offering to provide whatever assistance the Filipinos might need in Saipan. And when the teams reached Saipan, Philippine consulate officials, together with representatives of the Philippine community, met them and treated them like long-lost kabayans. "I have to say that this is one consulate where the word kabayan is well known, and lived out to the fullest!" said Borromeo.

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Borromeo noticed how united the Filipino community was, in Saipan. And they have retained their love of country, showing it in the way they treated and cheered for the Pinoy Little Leaguers who participated in the baseball championships. By the way, the Filipino community in the Marianas numbers some 25,000 out of the island’s total population of 60,000.

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Borromeo went out of his way to recount to me their happy experience in Saipan. "I hope our day will be brightened by the knowledge that in foreign lands, we have excellent people in our embassies and consulates. People who make us proud to be Filipinos," he said.

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PULSEBEAT: I erred in a previous column where I said that 2,300 documented Filipino workers leave for overseas jobs every month. The word "month" should have read "day." Yes, there are 2,300 documented Filipinos who leave the Philippines everyday to get jobs in foreign lands… Dr. E.J. Saguil wrote to suggest that we follow the example of Ireland, which tried its best to discourage its talented people from leaving their homeland. That was how Ireland prospered, Saguil said.

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Thoughts For Today:

There are friends whom you see everyday,
talk to and laugh with,
yet the friendship just ends there.
But there are those whom you rarely see,
talk to and laugh with,
yet the friendship lives forever.

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If God has made you a giver,
your hands are born open,
and so is your heart.
There may be times
when your hands are empty,
but your heart is always full.

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My e-mail addresses: <[email protected]> and <[email protected]>