Now comes the New Year!

Another Christmas gone. All that hassle, all the shopping, all the gift wrapping, all that cooking, and finally all that eating. After the extra poundage, the mounds of trash and all that food stacked in the refrigerator waiting to be reheated several times over, we look forward to yet another celebration – New Year.

But Christmas, minus all the commercial connotations, is a great way to give back and a once-a-year chance to bond with extended family. Aging aunts and uncles you see once a year, nieces who travel all the way from Canada, or other far-away places, now with husbands and grown up children in tow whom you meet for the very first time, the younger set who come home from work overseas every Christmas to be with family. The Philippines has laid claim, and with so much credibility, to having the longest Christmas in the world and the season cannot be complete if one member of the immediate family is absent. So family members who work abroad are willing to shell out so much money for air fare in this peak season just to be with family for a few days. Just to sit down and enjoy a lavish Christmas table, Noche Buena prepared with so much loving care, a home decked with all the trimmings of the season, and the warmth of a family-these are all worth coming home to for the Filipinos

There’s still the New Year’s celebration to look forward to. I think this extra long holiday is unprecedented in our history. Don’t get me wrong – I really need the break. 2008 was kind of hectic for me, and I suspect for my dedicated staff as well. For most of our local businessmen, 2008 has been kind, like 2007 was. With all the warnings of a global recession coming, and all the warning signs pointing towards such a scenario, 2009 promises to be a difficult year. 

Judging from our interviews with some of our top business leaders whose credibility I have no reason to suspect, we will not be hit as hard as we fear. First of all, our banking system seems to be healthy. Credit has not tightened, and we appreciate the Bangko Sentral’s unrelenting efforts to keep it in check. The Peso, while it has slid so fast in a month’s time, has recovered a bit and is still at a comfortable level now. Comfortable enough for the exporters too who earlier declared that P47 is still within their comfort level.

For the backlash that we are set to receive in the first quarter of next year, I guess it is still the OFW remittances that will keep us afloat. That and the stringent monetary policies that the BSP, under the stewardship of Governor Amando Tetangco has set in place.

But even with the most prudent economic fundamentals in place, we still have to do our own private share. Some belt-tightening is in order, and I have relayed this with much concern to my own staff. Check out the systems we have working right now – is there room for improvement? Short of cutting down on labor, there are still corners to cut, like savings in power consumption, business forms, messengerial trips, unnecessary representation expenses, gasoline expenses, overtimes. A review of our current system is in order, as early as first week of January.

Precisely because we foresee difficult times ahead, our labor force should also appreciate the times. Local unions should not demand unreasonably. While the rank and file have economic difficulties to hurdle, employers are also faced with daunting times. Better to tighten the belt a notch than face unemployment when the company bosses deem the business unprofitable due to high labor costs.

Finally, let’s lessen the political noise as it drives away the foreign investors. Yes, corruption should be checked, by all means, but politicizing it any further to get mileage as what some political hopefuls have been doing is exacerbating the situation to frustrating levels.

May the coming year be a good one for all of us, if not in terms of prosperity, at least in terms of good health, solid family relationships and our personal relationship with our God, regardless of our religion.

Mabuhay!!! Be proud to be Filipino.

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