Pinoys getting restless for results

What did Eliza Doolittle tell her ardent suitor Freddy Eynsford-Hill in that musical My Fair Lady? “Don’t talk of stars burning above, if you’re in love, show me! Tell me no dreams filled with desire… if you’re on fire, show me!” That’s somewhat the thing Pinoys want to tell P-Noy’s economic managers these days… don’t talk of progress… don’t talk of economic growth… don’t talk of PPP… show us… now!

And if you have been monitoring Facebook and other social media lately, impatience is starting to show on the part of Pinoys out there. But the good thing about this impatience is that people also seem to be bored by all the usual complaints about what’s wrong with, for example, NAIA 1, the world’s worst airport. People are taking things into their own hands.

One such group of Pinoys took to their computers, produced not a power point presentation but a full animation video of a plan to make NAIA 1 presentable. And they posted what they call a pro-bono proposal which they hope government officials will notice and do something about.

The plan carries the sponsorship of the National Competitiveness Council of the Philippines, which was led for quite a while by former DTI Secretary and Ambassador Cesar Bautista. It was a frustrating and thankless job for Ambassador Bautista because hardly anyone was listening to him. But he carried on. The website says it is now jointly chaired by DTI Secretary Greg Domingo and Bill Luz representing the private sector. Their website also carries the video of the NAIA1 proposal.

I don’t know if Sec Greg talked to Sec Mar Roxas about it before posting it the web. Mar, after all, is the guy who can act on it. In fact, I hope Sec Greg saw that video before it was posted. I made sure Sec Mar hears of it by calling the attention of his publicist, who was apparently impressed enough by it to post it too on his Facebook wall. By the looks of the number of people who have shared the video, as in going viral, it has already achieved some momentum on social media… feeding even more impatience for results.

The proposal was prepared by Budji Layug, Royal Pineda and Kenneth Cobonpue. In their note to introduce it, the trio observed that “it is time someone did something about the worst airport in the world. So we made this design because we believe that no matter how beautiful our country is, our airports give the first and last impressions.

“This plan is relatively inexpensive and simple to adapt. The plan also involves renovating the interiors to allow faster flow of travelers between security, immigration and departure. The first step has been done. Let’s hope our government moves on this proposal quickly.”

The presentation made me excited about possibilities I didn’t realize existed. The drawings showed what the creative imagination of Filipino artists can do. Best of all, the estimated price tag is just about P1 billion to cover both interior and exterior renovations. That is well within the capability of NAIA to finance out of our terminal fees. I understand they collect some P8.5 billion from us in terminal fees every year.

There were some comments by Facebook friends that wondered if there are other studies to compare the proposal of the Layug/Pineda/Cobonpue group with. I don’t know if there are other such proposals hibernating in some bureaucratic cabinet. I heard Jun Palafox has one too. Maybe, we can open up the whole thing to competition where the most aesthetic and cost effective proposal gets the job of modernizing NAIA 1.

But first, we have to agree that NAIA 1 has to be refurbished because we will probably be using it for the next five if not 10 more years. Clark will take a while to build, specially with its requirement for a fast train to Metro Manila’s business hub. If that is the case, we have to do something along the lines of the Layug/Pineda/Cobonpue proposal. We can’t just clean the toilets and splash a coat of paint to make NAIA1 civilized. It is good to know that embarrassment of an airport wasn’t hopeless after all. Sec Mar Roxas was being too rash in publicly announcing that he wants to sell it as junk.

The important thing is, concerned citizens took the first step. If we couldn’t imagine how to do it before, there is now a plan ready to go on a moment’s notice. Better still, privatize management of NAIA 1. Call for bids among the top five property developers to carry out the modernization plan at no cost to the government and at terminal fees that would be no more than what it is now or if at all, adjusted annually to inflation.

I am convinced we will need NAIA in the future and it is not a good idea to sell the place to property redevelopers even after Clark is operational, as Sec Mar is contemplating. We could take the Narita/Haneda strategy where the Japanese built Narita first and then they modernized Haneda. The only difference in our case, we need to put improvements on NAIA 1 in the meantime because Clark’s development will take time.

The thing is, Sec Mar has to act quickly. Almost half a year into his job and there’s nothing to show that’s tangible enough for the public not to feel restless about seeing results. Too bad Ping de Jesus didn’t leave behind PPP projects that can be implemented immediately, as Sec Mar claims. But Mar can’t live on excuses… he still has to show results fast.

I want to see government acting while citizens have not totally lost faith in the ability of P-Noy to deliver. It is also good to take action while the iron is hot for citizen participation. They are building Facebook pages to invite people to Come Visit My Philippines after being inspired by Tourism Secretary Mon Jimenez. Now, there is this proposal to rehabilitate NAIA 1 that’s complete with colorful animation so it can be fully visualized. The Gawad Kalinga spirit of citizen involvement is alive and well in other areas of governance where it is most needed.

The question is, are P-Noy’s officials fast enough to respond?

(Those who want to see the NAIA1 rehab proposal can go to the website of the National Competitiveness Council or my Facebook wall. But it is a subversive video. You will hate government after watching it. Ganun lang pala ka-simple… why didn’t the lousy bureaucrats think of or did something solid about it first?)

Tourism impact

A reader from Cebu, Roland Redoble, e-mailed his reaction to the column on Tourism Secretary Mon Jimenez.

Way back in 1997 when I was drafting the economic development philosophy for PROMDI with Lito Osmeña, our core concept for national development was Tourism. Way back then we saw how a 50,000 annual arrival improved the lives of one small town in Cebu. The massahista, the labandera, the boatman, the cooks, and the waiters. All of a sudden these people had income while before that they used to sit all day along the highway of the town chitchatting endlessly watching the buses that pass by.

Obviously, with our national tourist arrivals stuck at 3M the idea was and until recently nowhere in the radar of national leadership as main anchor for national development. Reading your column about Mon Jimenez encourages me. I still believe tourism is the only possible main anchor for national development. It can spur all the other necessary elements of full development for the Philippines.

Our main problem is very low domestic demand. It is still so low in spite of our population of close to 100M. Just compare our industrial or commercial consumption outside food with our ASEAN neighbors. The annual remittance (formal) computed at US$18B last year and government expenditure are the only sustainable drivers of that domestic demand.

If we hit 10M arrival in 5 years, that can spur domestic demand to stratospheric level. And every investor will rush in spite of all the negatives we have… e.g. high labor rate, high power rate, changing national government policies etc....greed for profit will drive all investors to come in spite of these. And industrial base will necessarily expand after that.

Can you just imagine what 5M tourist arrivals in Palawan province will spur in the Visayan Sea, the Mindoro Masbate Romblon Corridor? Imagine construction boom, food supplier boom, employment boom, reverse migration effect, and full infrastructure development expenditures.  The prospect is fantastically unimaginable yet the main product has been there all along free for the country to tap.

Tourism is our future. I hope Sec Jimenez will succeed. I agree with him a goal of 10M tourist arrivals is achievable.

Paper?

Lito Balquiedra e-mailed this thought: No matter how much you push the envelope, it’ll still be stationery.

Boo Chanco’s e-mail address is [email protected]. He is also on Twitter @boochanco