Finally after a series of bad news that we’ve got with the Abu Sayyaf killing those seven Marines followed by the deaths of eight Philippine National Police (PNP) SAF members on a medical mission blown into bits by a landmine placed by the New People’s Army (NPA), not to mention the tension in Taiwan, were overseas Filipino workers (OFW) are facing violent reprisals due to the uncalled for killing of a Taiwanese fisherman, and the still questionable election results, thanks to the controversial Precinct Count Optical Scan (PCOS) machines, at least we are getting some pieces of good news.
As the National Statistical Coordination Board (NSCB) reported last Thursday, the Philippine economy grew at 7.8 percent year-on-year in the first quarter. It was not a fluke, but rather this new growth was fueled by a strong performance in heavy industries and by public and consumer spending. Best of all, we just beat China’s 7.7 percent growth and Indonesia’s 6 percent and Thailand’s 5.3 percent growth. This was quite unexpected because the National Economic Development Authority (NEDA) expected only a six or seven percent growth.
The other piece of good news is that the country’s competitiveness has improved a little bit, ranking no. 38 out of 60 in the International Institute for Management Development’s (IMD) 2013 World Competitiveness Yearbook. Last year, the Philippines ranked no. 43. Thanks to the tireless effort of Bill Luz for pushing hard for the nation to improve our competitiveness against all those other nations. However we are still behind Thailand on this.
However, before the Aquino regime beats its chest to boast this feat, let me remind them that the growth on consumer spending is due to the reality that the Philippines has a huge population. In fact the countries we bested were China and Indonesia, whose populations are far larger than ours. Again, we exhort Malacañang to abandon its population control policies and concentrate on the creation of jobs, jobs and more jobs for our people.
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Our schools are scheduled to open next week and the headlines of local newspapers in Cebu are screaming “Increases in Tuition Fees.†Yes, 120 private schools in Central Visayas have applied for tuition increase on an average of 8%. I’m sure that the schools in Metro Manila are also seeking tuition hikes. To alleviate this dire situation, the Commission on Higher Education (CHED) has come up with a financial assistance plan called “grant-in-aid†programs in order to prevent future incidents like what happened to Kristel Tejada last March. Let’s hope this will be successful.
In Cebu Province 75 schools are applying for these increases. In my book, this is bad news coming from another bad news that was reported in The Philippine STAR that 4.5 million students might not be able to enter school this year for the same perennial problem of lack of classrooms.
When millions of our children cannot get an education they are doomed to a life of poverty, and it is for this reason that the number of people lining up for jobs abroad are still increasing, despite our robust economic growth. Rather than boast to the world about our economic gains, I exhort the Aquino Regime to spend more in infrastructure network facilities especially in Tourism areas so they can create jobs for our people.
Speaking of Filipinos seeking jobs abroad. As I pointed out in my last column, I saw those domestic workers in Central Park of Hong Kong last Sunday and clearly they were on their own…no one in the Philippine government takes pity on them and please, don’t expect much for the Special Administrative Region (SAR) in Hong Kong after what happened to 8 Hong Kong tourists killed in front of the Quirino Grandstand.
Call it a blessing that while I went to hear the Holy Mass at the St. Peter’s church inside the Mariner’s Court, I bumped into my good friend, Mr. Bart Borja of the International Marketing Group (img) the parent company of MyTV, which I manage for them. When I asked Mr. Borja what he was doing in Hong Kong, he told me that Sundays are the day off of these Filipino domestic workers and they can be found at the Central Park.
He was there to give them a seminar or a talk on the issue “Life after Hong Kong?†I’m sure that you know the plight of our Overseas Foreign Workers (OFW) who earns just enough to send their money back here at home. But when they get old and tired… who will take care of them?
But I learned some good news from Mr. Borja that the img company goes on a Financial Education seminars or summits not just in Hong Kong, but in Macau, Dubai, Milan and even in New York this month. img is an organization that goes out of their way to teach financial independence to the OFWs and many who respond to their call; often quit their current jobs to be an img marketing agent. They have become businessmen and women rather than domestic workers. Kudos to the img group.
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For email responses to this article, write to vsbobita@mo-pzcom.com or vsbobita@gmail.com. His columns can be accessed through www.philstar.com.