Of course, ECOP president Donald Dee always had a pessimistic view of the Philippines as compared to say, a guy like Tourism Secretary Richard Gordon. But then, Donald Dee has obviously taken into account all the problems besetting the country, hence, it is understandable that he sees those mass layoffs in election year 2004.
Well, it is not really difficult to predict what might happen in 2004. For instance, we already said that the so-called Brat Pack who miserably lost in their effort to have Supreme Court Chief Justice Hilario Davide Jr. ousted from the bench through impeachment, would certainly take a shot at it next year. Hence, pretty much of what is happening today would be repeated in the year 2004. So we ask the poignant question which the mother superior in the movie Sound of Music queried with a song, "How do we solve a problem like Maria?" So how do we solve a problem like the Philippines?
Frankly speaking, I think we Pinoys know how to solve this problem. It’s just that most of us don’t get too indignant on certain issues, until and unless it develops into a full-blown crisis like the Davide impeachment case. I mean, do we have to be told that bad news drive away foreign investors? Well, this is exactly what British Ambassador Paul Dimond who was in Cebu the other week said before the students of the University of San Carlos (USC). As for me, I’ve said it here and I’ll say it again, let’s reduce our politicking… get people away from politics and into business… and not make a business out of politics! That should do the trick! But are we ready to do that? Alas, I don’t think so!