Politicians come & go, businessmen are here to stay

When Danding Cojuangco asked me to join him to a small dinner with some of the country’s powerful and influential businessmen last Thursday evening, I thought perhaps he was going to be more candid about his plans for 2004. But Wash Sycip, who organized the dinner and who has known Danding for many years, made his intention very clear: Wash brought together all these businessmen – so-called "high-stakeholders" of the country – to discuss the state of the country’s economy, where it is going, and where it must go if we want the Philippines to prosper. Obviously, ECJ was delighted to attend this dinner because it gave him a bird’s eye view (not necessarily Babe’s eye view) of the economic condition, and a first-hand feel of the pulse of the business community. In short, it was his opportunity to find out from this closely-knit group the real issues plaguing the country. But from the very start, Danding made it clear that he was really undecided and not very enthusiastic about running. For all the years I have known ECJ, I have never seen him agonize so much about this one, and like the Japanese envoy, actually have sleepless nights just thinking about it. He said he was reluctant not because he cannot hack the job, but because he felt very strongly that people on top may not be ready to make sacrifices and drastic changes in their lifestyle. He emphasized that he was only there to share his views and to listen.

I am really glad that there are businessmen who think country. As the discussions went on, I could really see that it was not only ECJ who was agonizing, but every one of us seemed to be struggling for answers. Everyone agreed that most of these problems are not reflective of the present dispensation. Decades of neglect have caused these problems to pile up and remain unsolved to this very day.

Population is one of the root causes why the country has not progressed. As Peter Wallace and I maintained, with an average three-percent GNP growth over the past 10 years and 2.5 percent population growth rate, it doesn’t take a genius to figure out why the Philippines has not progressed at all. There is no doubt that in 10 years, the country’s population will hit 100 million. You can just imagine the kind of poverty this will breed. Education will suffer the most because when that time comes, 70-percent of the population will not have the money to support their children’s education. If the education of the majority suffers (it’s already suffering right now), then it’s very likely that the greater number of people will not have the ability to choose the right candidate. What would then happen? The majority would vote for a leader because of popularity and not quality of leadership. In fact, I kidded Gabby Lopez (although deep inside I was serious) that when we reach a hundred million, it would only be ABS-CBN that would decide the outcome of elections, and its chosen TV personality. As a matter of fact, recent surveys are already beginning to show that.

Dick Romulo aptly pointed out that we need to change the way politics is today. Both Endika Aboitiz and George Drysdale agreed. As I have said in the past, 2004 is a critical time and we need to save the country from this plague of Ps. It’s the last chance for people of power and influence, like the businessmen who were in the room, to make drastic changes. Filipino-style politics has always been a major obstacle of growth. In fact, graft and corruption has become so "normal" in society that it is now "accepted" as part of Filipino culture rather than a crime. This is also one of the reasons why the country has to deal with the recurring problem of budget deficit. Today, the country is reeling from an external debt of $55 billion and an internal debt of $53 billion – a staggering total of almost a hundred billion dollars.

Tony Garcia was more straightforward. "We already had a housewife-president, a military-president, an actor-president, and today, we have a professor-economist-president. What we need now is a businessman-president who will run the country like a corporation." Manolo Lopez readily agreed. Political will is the only antidote to the country’s plague of Ps, and perhaps it would take a businessman’s strong will to move the country forward. Take for example Thai Prime Minister Thaksin Shinawatra, who is also a businessman. Despite what human rights groups are saying about Thaksin, it seems he is getting the job done, especially on the war against illegal drugs. More than 49,594 arrests have been made so far in Thailand involving 51, 531 drug suspects. About 15 million "speed pills" and over one billion baht worth of drug paraphernalia and assets have been confiscated since the crackdown started. More than 2,000 drug lords, dealers and addicts have been killed over the past few weeks because of gun battles with the Thai police and "gang wars." In the area of population, both Thailand and the Philippines had about the same number 20 years ago. Today, the Philippines is nearing 83 million and Thailand has 68 million. Thailand has surpassed the Philippines with free education, infrastructure and tourism. To put it simply, the Thais made a decision, and they stuck to it. Now that is political will.

Are we going to be open to changes or not? Who and what kind of leader should we choose in 2004? These were the questions raised. Even Danding was open to suggestions. In fact, he said that if there is anyone whom we could find who has the capacity to lead the country, he will support that person 101 percent. But as I have always maintained, people of power and influence – entrepreneurs, businessmen, and the media – have this last chance to influence the outcome of 2004. Because in 10 years, population and poverty would be so overwhelming, change would be close to impossible. I think Henry Sy, Doris Ho, and Manny Pangilinan agreed with me on that point.

Time is indeed running out. The stakes are high, and higher still would be the irreparable damage if we make the wrong choice. Since it’s the businessmen who have the highest stake, then we must take the lead because I have always believed that politicians come and go, businessmen are here to stay.

* * *

E-mail: [email protected]