That would have been okay except for two things. The 1997 Asian financial crisis changed the business environment drastically. And secondly, neither the Ramos administration nor its successor administrations did anything much to prepare our local industries to survive in the tough new world. Neither safety nets for workers and companies nor a conscious effort to choose industries we will champion because of some competitive edge we have were implemented.
When Trade and Industry Secretary Manuel A. Roxas II said he was not bound by the commitments entered into by his predecessors on tariff cuts, he didn’t have much of a choice on what he should do. We simply couldn’t afford to keep our commitments ahead of time.
The Asean free trade commitments are challenging enough. Add MFN to that too. The most-favored nation (MFN) tariffs for non-ASEAN or under the World Trade Organization (WTO) are scheduled to go down to a minimum of five percent by 2004.
This year, there is the added complication to industrial competitiveness. The decline in tariff rates also has quite an impact on the worsening fiscal deficit problem. Customs collections have become an important source of revenue for the cash strapped government.
Hopefully, the government will use whatever little time it now regained to do its homework. The task of making ourselves fully adjusted to globalization should now be undertaken a little more vigorously. We need an information campaign to let our entrepreneurs know what industries should be given up and what industries should be developed.
For instance, we keep on talking about our supposed competitive position in IT. But what are we doing to catch up with India, the obvious front runner among the third world countries in this area. We have heard the speeches, read the press releases and seen the photo ops. The time has come to move on with more concrete things, with government and private sector leaders working together.
Actually, Mar and Ate Glo’s economic managers need not prepare another Powerpoint presentation directed at investors. I understand the President’s own council of business advisers composed of top executives from some of the world’s largest corporations already told her the problems that hinder us. We just have to start working to show that we finally mean business.
Defensive medicine will increase healthcare costs? How much would it cost to do an ultrasound study, BEFORE a ceasarian section or gall bladder resection? The cost of a second opinion is a consultation fee (free in charity and government hospitals), which in the Philippines amount to less than P300.
If a surgeon "forgot" a sponge in a patient’s body, who pays for the extra hospitalization? In the Philippines, the patient does, though he can "ask for a discount". Another facet to the debate, which is totally ignored is: WHO PAYS THE PREMIUMS? In the USA, the government pays for the MD’s in public health, the university/hospitals pay for MD’s on salary, i.e. only private physicians on fee-for-service pay individually.
Impact: GROUP COVERAGE CAN BE VERY CHEAP. Plus, the partnership between the MD’s and the hospitals will be raised to a different level. Hospitals as "employers", will now have an incentive to police their "employees" and who knows, perhaps we will see more QA’s and UR’s (which by the way DO NOT COST THE PATIENT EXTRA - MANY TIMES THEY ACTUALLY CUT PATIENT COSTS, vis-a-vis non-indicated procedures) in hospitals.
The point is NOT ALL DEFENSIVE MEDICINE COSTS. But here’s a little tidbit for the med establishment, just to prove, that l am not really against them – MMLIC, the largest med insurance carrier in New York, is a subsidiary of the New York Medical Society! l hear, it earns a lot. New York is not alone in this.
Their experiences last week are typical for many Pinoys who find their place in the sun abroad. There are those who would say that the difficulty people like them experience in developing a good image at home is nothing more than the crab mentality at work here. Maybe, we have an allergy to anyone who succeeds in what they do by efficiently playing by the established rules of the game, whether it is politics or business.
Success, as any lotto winner will tell you, brings with it its own seeds of problems and frustrations. Ate Glo’s success as a politician is her biggest handicap. Dr. Lucio’s phenomenal ability in making money is his Achilles heel.
It isn’t that we are naturally envious of success or enjoy putting down people. We have just become so jaded through years of muddling through. We can’t believe anyone of us could be that good.
Well, the Pinoys are good, no doubt about that. We are world class, if we set our minds to achieve anything. The fact that Pinoys are the workers and professionals of choice abroad should clear any lingering insecurity about how good we are.
A guy went for his annual follow-up physical. When the examining doctor did the rectal exam part, the patient felt more uncomfortable than usual. Realizing that the doctor was using two fingers this time around, he wondered aloud why the doctor is now using two fingers instead of one, like the first time.
Whereupon the doctor replied nonchalantly, "Second opinion!"
(Boo Chanco’s e-mail address is bchanco@bayantel.com.ph)