EDITORIAL - We must get our act together

There is special urgency as national leaders meet today for the Socio-Economic Summit. The nation’s major export markets are in recession, and no one knows how long the global slowdown will last. Osama bin Laden has not been caught and his al-Qaeda terrorist network remains intact, further fueling uncertainty and depressing markets. Unemployment is rising everywhere.

Apart from these global problems, however, the Philippines must grapple with home-grown ones that have left the country at the tailend of economic development in this part of the world. Long before terrorists attacked the World Trade Center and the Pentagon, the Philippines has been grappling with religious extremism that has set back development in Mindanao and tarred the country’s image abroad. Meanwhile, in Metro Manila, residents worry about ransom kidnappings, carjackings and general lawlessness.

Basic services are a mess, from education to health care. Infrastructure is woefully inadequate. Metro Manila, the nation’s premier region, is plagued with urban blight: air pollution, garbage, slums. Residents must spend a fortune on safe drinking water. In the 21st century, there are still several areas in the capital that must rely on village water pumps. The traffic has to be the worst in Asia; our neighbors such as Thailand fixed their traffic problems after the 1997 financial crisis. There are road excavations everywhere. All our roads are substandard, disintegrating after one heavy downpour – the result of haphazard work and government personnel more interested in lining their pockets than in rendering quality public service.

Corruption is rampant in the bureaucracy. And we are saddled with inward-looking public officials who are incapable of even recognizing the challenges posed by globalization. The two major national preoccupations are politics and show business, and it shows in the kind of nation that has emerged. Leaders in neighboring countries often cite the Philippines as an example of a dysfunctional democracy.

These problems cannot be addressed in just one summit. But national leaders must start mapping out a plan to get the nation out of this rut. We need to start getting our act together.