Wishes for the New Year

ANAHEIM, California — It is fun to watch the children, many with Mickey Mouse caps and other costumes from Disneyland walk along Harbor boulevard on their way to or from the enchanted kingdom. Oh, the innocence of childhood! Even the parents are into the act, dropping their daily concerns with chasing the buck for a few hours of frolic in a make believe world where all is always well.

But it is clear, a make believe world can exist without the actual real estate. Or how else can one explain a news story on the website of a Manila-based newspaper that Ate Glue’s fondest wish for the New Year is for the country’s strong economy to flow its benefits to the masa. She can certainly wish, can’t she?

I guess she is just reacting to the SWS survey which reported an increasing number of Filipinos experiencing hunger over the past year. But she has to recognize the fact that despite what looks like promising macroeconomic figures being reported by NEDA, the economy is far from strong. The masa does not live on GDP figures alone, if it can at all. Money is now being made in our country mostly at the highest levels of society and the economy. The trickle down has slowed considerably to offer any hope for those at the bottom.

The GDP figures, that Mr. Neri of NEDA always point out as strong is in reality mediocre, and not just in comparison with our neighbors. It is worse of all, basically a jobless growth, especially in manufacturing. The bulk of the new local jobs created in the past few years are concentrated in business process outsourcing, and we are running out of people qualified to fill positions in this area. Economists always point out we have one of the highest ICOR (incremental capital output ratio) levels in the region, meaning, it costs so much to create one job here, especially in manufacturing.

It does appear unseemly for the head of state to publicly wish for a fairy godmother to come from out of the blue to grant her wish. What is expected of her is to show some kind of leadership to bring about the conditions that would make her wish something people can hope for in the coming year. In fact, the press release did not give specifics on how her fondest wish would become reality. All it said was that it was her fondest wish to cascade the benefits of a strong economy to the masa.

Well, if I get my impressions right from reading the websites of the Manila papers, it would seem that there are a number of serious booby traps for the economy in 2007. On top of the list is the social unrest that would be generated by a general frustration of the masa arising from the futility of the recently passed P125 a month minimum age increase. Her allies in the House are surely playing games with the masa because they know that measure can only mean more problems with the economy down the line.

The suspicion that the House did it to put the Senate in a bad light is probably true. If the Senate fails to act on the measure, it gets blamed by the masa who will then take their revenge by joining the House move to abolish the Senate. But the Senate can also play the same game by passing the measure and by doing so, put the onus now on Ate Glue.

As it is, Ate Glue’s NEDA Chief is warning that there would be a one percent charge to GDP if that measure becomes law. I am sure Ate Glue knows that too and she will face heavy pressure from the business sector to veto the bill. But if she does veto the bill, the communist-inspired left will go to town to proclaim Ate Glue’s anti-worker sentiments. It is a no win situation for her. Too bad it is her allies in the House that put her in such a bad position.

As it is, data from the labor department now reveal that many businesses have in fact sought exemptions from the couple of Palace-mandated cost-of-living allowances (P25 additional per day, a far cry from P125). As for those whose petitions for exemptions were disallowed, many have in fact been forced to close down. We do not create enough jobs as it is, we certainly can’t afford massive job loss as a result of this bill.

What is scary about the proposal is the impact on local entrepreneurs. The impact on multinationals and large companies are probably minimal beyond bracket creep. But the congressmen forget that 90 percent of the economy is accounted for by SMEs. These are companies with very precarious balance sheets, many existing month to month on a hand to mouth basis.

The legislated national wage increase also disregards the disparities in costs of living between regions, cities and provinces in the Philippines. The regions outside of the NCR will lose a large degree of their competitiveness. This is precisely why the regional wage boards are supposed to reflect such disparities when determining how much additional wage a certain region must set.

Then, there is the matter of inflation. A sudden sharp legislated wage hike is inflationary, and we must not forget that inflation is the worse tax of all, specially for the poor. If the congressmen were playing games when they passed this piece of legislation, they were playing with a loaded gun that’s going to explode in the face of their beloved Ate Glue. The worse part of this deal is, we all suffer the consequences… not just those despicable clowns.

Oh well… maybe Ate Glue can wish again… this time for her non thinking allies to vanish, or at least turn into toads. If only she and we can be so lucky….

Local medicine

At the risk of sounding like a medical column, here is another email from a regular reader, a doctor who was a student of my Dad, on the frustrations of the profession here, in the context of what it would take to get us up to par for serious medical tourism.

Up until your Dad’s years at UST, Filipino docs were coming back to the country. THE reason for the travel was study and training. Thus, there was a continuous supply of new knowledge courtesy of those early balikbayans. At UST, more than half of our professors at the clinical level were foreign trained.

Post Marcos, the travel became one way, i.e. away from the Philippines. Those who did, started staying over there as there was not much to come back to. In time the country’s healthcare became locally produced with just a sprinkling of balikbayan docs. And as these doctors started dying off and/or retiring, it is thus not a surprise that systems and standards are stuck in the early 70’s style with very few exceptions! Just a theory.... but try these few examples:

• in the USA gall bladders are removed via a laparoscope 95 percent of the time. Only five percent get the classic cut. In the Philippines it’s the reverse. Laparoscopic surgery is the basis of telesurgery. Telesurgery is operative in Thailand. What are the chances of this coming over here? From 0 to none!

• radical mastectomy (or anything radical) is hardly ever done anymore. In some countries, they are banned. It is still done here.

• exploratory laparotomy is the most popular operation in Makati Med (this is why UCLA backed out). This is hardly ever done anymore; in favor of electronic (non-surgical) laparotomy

• the "on-call" system in the country is so passe. In case of a real emergency, it’s a hit or miss situation, i.e. is YOUR doctor available. Thus, you are relegated to the ER doctors, who are by and large residents.

• chemo must be done by oncologists and oncologists alone. (there is only one maybe two USA certified oncologist in the country – those who did come back left again for lack of referrals).

If one has a big prostate, this will be operated here for sure. A Hopkins or a Harvard will not necessarily go for that. To Wit – witness what happened to Cebu Mayor Tommy Osmeña. They wanted to open his brain – both in Cebu and St Luke’s!

After nine years here, l have come to a painful conclusion. There are powerful forces that like the status quo and don’t want linkage(s). St Luke’s tried to get Hopkins but wanted the linkage on its own terms. Hopkins backed out.

In short, linkages can be obtained. It is in the interest of renowned institutions to globalize. The problem is HERE. Within certain parameters, it is in the interest of renowned institutions to globalize. The problem is HERE. They will adjust to local conditions but not to practices which would amount to malpractice in the USA, e.g. radical mastectomy, exploratory laparotomy and the like! The Thais adjusted. I can’t really see why we could not!

> Side effect

And here’s Dr. Ernie E.

The Census Bureau said Wednesday the birth rate in the United States reached an all-time low this past year.

It’s another side effect of Viagra.

More women are running off with older men who have higher bank balances and lower sperm counts.

Boo Chanco’s e-mail address is [email protected]