FPJ for president? Take a look at JAZA first!

When asked by reporters if he was running for President, former Pres. Fidel V. Ramos (FVR) remarked that Filipino voters ought to choose a young President! Well, Cebu just celebrated the Sinulog Festival and we probably doubled our population for that festive week and most of those who came here were young kids who enjoyed many nights of street dancing. Thinking aloud… if those kids are going to vote in the 2004 elections… then FVR is right, if given a choice, I’m sure they’d choose a leader who can rally this country not just to survive… but to win in the highly-competitive global economic race!

Looking at the current lineup of presidentiables, it seems no one fits the bill that FVR is looking for. Sure, we have Sen. Raul Roco or Sen. Aquilino "Nene" Pimentel Jr. or Tito Guingona, but they belong to the "old politics" and didn’t Pres. Gloria Macapagal Arroyo (GMA) say in her inaugural speech two years ago that we should embrace a "New Politics"? What about FPJ? Well, he maybe popular as a movie star, but definitely, he has no experience running a big company nor does he understand the global economy or politics!

To my mind, only one man fits that criterion… I’m referring to Mr. Jaime Augusto Zobel de Ayala (JAZA). He’s young, he’s handsome, he’s rich, thus, he could never be corrupt! He’s head of the biggest and well-loved company in the country and is an accepted international leader. Best of all, he’s a man who can see opportunity where others only see gloom and doom!

For example, last Jan. 15, 2003, JAZA spoke before the Financial Executives Institute of the Philippines (FINEX) and he made a speech worthy of shaping him into a real "Presidentiable" and a serious contender in the 2004 elections. Let me reprint some excerpts of his speech. "This brings me to my second point – which is the strategic role that Filipino overseas workers are playing in the global economy today and their natural place in Philippine global strategy. This may come as a surprise to some, but we are now seen as a trailblazer in effectively deploying our workers – both skilled and semi-skilled in virtually every part of the world. And we have now surpassed Mexico as the chief source of migrant labor in the world."

JAZA continues "As with globalization, however there are some among us who see our overseas workers in antiquated terms. They regard our OFWs as "brain drain" for the country and there are even some who look on them disparagingly as "slave labor". There is nothing more misguided and out-of-step with reality today. Besides demeaning a clearly invaluable contribution to our economy, it fails to take into account the changing conditions in the international labor market, which is already putting a premium on the kind of skills that our people supply.

"So rather than bewail the "loss" of our homegrown talent, I believe that we should instead rejoice in the fact that we have found a truly unique niche that many other countries envy, celebrate the significant contribution that it brings to our struggling economy, and give the industry our full and unequivocal support! The OFW contribution to our economy today is truly awesome. Remittances for 2002 alone are projected to reach over US$8 billion. At this level, the OFW contribution represents a significant part of the Gross National Product (GNP). According to recent government data, this contribution is nearly as big as that of the entire agriculture sector and approximately half of what that entire manufacturing sector is expected to contribute."

Towards the end of his speech, JAZA said, "The time for feeling guilty about our OFWs is over; the time to raise them to the heart of our engagement in the world has come. . . However we may be frightened by globalization or saddened by the exodus of our people to foreign lands, they are part of the reality in the new world that we must face. And our best chance of success is to embrace these challenges and face the future." In closing his speech, he quoted from Victor Hugo, "The future has many names; For the weak, it is unattainable; For the fearful, it is unknown; For the bold, it is an opportunity".

Indeed that was a great speech and I asked for a copy of his entire speech and after reading it… my first impression was… this should have been Jaza’s State of the Nation Address! Mind you, past administrations were chastised for not coming up with enough jobs which caused the Diaspora of our people who had to leave home and family for greener pastures.

Well, it took an Ayala to see something positive out of what others only saw was a big negative for us. JAZA’s speech raised a lot of eyebrows because it was the first time all of them heard someone looked at our diaspora with a positive note, which made our country very competitive against our neighbors because they do not have this resource of $8 billion remitted back to their country annually! Now if you ask me, JAZA is the kind of man that we would all be looking to run for president, not FPJ! Best of all… he’s young!