Distractions

Seeing the weeklong freak show at the Commission on Elections, lawmakers should increase next year’s funding for the National Center for Mental Health in Mandaluyong. Although it’s understandable that you can go crazy in this country especially in Metro Manila, who knew there were so many Pinoys coming unhinged?

Of course all the nutcases trooping to the Comelec must have been inspired by incumbent elective officials. From the barangays to the highest levels of government, we have sociopaths, murderous psychopaths – every candidate for counseling at what we in pre-PC days called the mental hospital.

When it comes to sanity, there’s a thin line between the man who prefers to be called the Archangel Lucifer and the politician who actually sends rivals to hell through murder just to bag a low-paying, three-year job. “Lucifer” at least is harmless and provides comic relief.

In the US, attention is currently focused on issues in the presidential debates of the two main parties. In our country, where political parties are largely temporary alliances of convenience that stand for nothing and are mere vehicles for campaign financing, candidates resort to entertainment, including crude dancing by half-naked Playgirls, to woo votes.

Philippine politics has become so dirty it is shunned by many people of competence and integrity. We’ve had brilliant presidents. But after being betrayed by the nation’s best and brightest such as dictator Ferdinand Marcos, Filipino voters are no longer impressed by academic excellence, believing that brilliant minds make brilliant criminals. So we take chances on show biz stars, comedians, athletes, many of whom never made it to college, but at least they make us laugh.

And seeing all the clowns making it to high office, who can blame Lucifer and the self-styled leader of Pinoy Nazis for filing their candidacies for president?

We’re fully distracted by election fever, as predicted by businessmen and foreign diplomats. I’ve been told that many business plans are on hold. Our country is notorious for failure to guarantee the sanctity of contracts and honor investment incentives committed by a previous government or even by a previous Cabinet secretary within the same administration.

That was what happened with the roll-on, roll-off project initiated by the Arroyo administration. The RoRo is a boon to the masses in inter-island travel and for business logistics. But daang matuwid froze the project for two years and nearly scuttled it on suspicion (disproved after an eternity of “review”) that the deal was anomalous. It’s ironic that the administration tandem is now dubbed Ro-Ro.

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Despite the election distraction, investors are still hoping that a few things can be done within what’s left of the Aquino administration.

In case you missed the story a week ago, the Joint Foreign Chambers of the Philippines (JFC) issued a statement on the 40 percent drop in net inflow of foreign direct investment in the first half of the year compared to the same period in 2014.

Last year total net FDI reached a record high $6.2 billion. As in other rosy economic indicators, however, we must compare that figure with those of our neighbors. Singapore attracted an enviable $67.4 billion in FDI in 2014. Indonesia got $25.7 billion; Thailand, $11.8 billion; Malaysia, $10.5 billion, and Vietnam $6.6 billion. Thailand saw a 57 percent increase in FDI and Vietnam 40 percent in the first half of 2015.

As in per capita GDP and tourist arrivals, we’re the laggard in FDI among the founding members of the Association of Southeast Asian Nations.

The JFC thinks FDI can still rebound in our country in the coming months, but the government must deal decisively with several investor concerns.

Among the suggestions: continue awarding major public-private partnership projects and speeding up their implementation, and ensure timely processing of VAT refunds for eligible companies. (Good luck on the refunds.) Pursue investment treaties with the European Union and work on membership in the Trans-Pacific Partnership (I was told we have not yet been formally invited to join the TPP).

The JFC also wants the enactment of the following pieces of legislation: Customs Modernization and Tariffs Act, the law creating a Department of Information and Communications Technology and Freedom of Information Act as well as amendments to the Foreign Investment Negative List, Apprenticeship Act, Right-of-Way law and BOT Act. Even with chronic absenteeism at the House of Representatives, some of these proposed measures can still hurdle Congress. Several of the measures are low-hanging fruits that daang matuwid can trot out as accomplishments in time for the 2016 elections.

Other proposals of the JFC include ensuring no blackouts next summer, avoiding a repeat of port congestion in Manila, reducing flight delays at the NAIA and increasing flights at Clark in Pampanga, and reducing traffic congestion in Metro Manila. The last two look like Mission: Impossible at this point and will have to wait for the next administration.

To boost investor confidence in this volatile transition period, the foreign chambers are hoping for commitments from the presidential aspirants to modernize infrastructure and support policies that will further open the economy including the mining sector, reduce business costs, and cut red tape and corruption.

Except for the part on mining, I’m sure all the presidential hopefuls will readily commit to support those policies. The question is whether they can deliver, particularly in cutting red tape, which is a problem all the way down to the barangay level.

The JFC includes the chambers of Australia-New Zealand, Canada, the EU, Japan, South Korea and the United States as well as the Philippine Association of Multinational Companies Headquarters Inc.

The group represents over 3,000 member companies with $230 billion worth of trade and about $30 billion worth of investments in the Philippines.

That’s serious money betting on our country. Daang matuwid should consider the suggestions that can still be implemented within what’s left of P-Noy’s term. The government cannot be distracted by campaign brawls and loony entertainment.