When did business in RP ever shut down?

An explosion near a fastfood outlet close to the De La Salle University (DLSU) last Sunday narrowly missed Cebu City Mayor Michael Rama who was with his son Mikel who at that time had just taken the Bar examinations. This was allegedly the result of a fraternity war between two groups who were supporting their respective Barristers. Mayor Mike and his son just entered the Starbucks coffee shop when the explosion took place near the “Bar Ops” Team from the University of San Carlos (USC).

Mayor Rama already sensed trouble as he arrived in the area; hence he called up Manila Mayor Alfredo Lim requesting to deploy policemen in the area for crowd control as things started getting unruly. Mayor Rama was with Cebu City Consultant Rene Mercado and Regional Trial Court (RTC) Executive Judge Meinrado Paredes when the explosion occurred. As of presstime, we have no report on the result of the investigation by the Manila Police as to who was responsible for the bombing. Let me just say it here that never had a Cebu City Mayor been this close to a bomb explosion since the Plaza Miranda bombing 37 years ago when then Sen. Serging Osmeña Jr. was one of the casualties of that infamous incident. However the device that blew up near La Salle wasn’t really meant to target the Cebu City Mayor.

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After getting our share of $434 million grant from the United States for the Philippines to achieve its UN Millennium Development Goals, President Benigno “Noynoy” Aquino III spoke before the United Nations (UN) 65th General Assembly and said, “For so many times in our history, my people have shown that, united, nothing is impossible. We called it ‘People’s Power.’ It is my earnest hope, and in the greatest interest of humanity, that we harness the energies of dialogue, solidarity and communal responsibility, so that a global People’s Power towards equitable progress may be achieved.”

Before the UN General Assembly, any world leader can say great words of wisdom (while Iran President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad used his speech to sell that cockamamie idea that it was America who planned the 9/11 attacks!) and that’s what P-Noy just did. Unfortunately P-Noy cannot go back to our own Philippine history and tell the whole world that we missed the unique People’s Power Revolt opportunity to rid ourselves of that vicious cycle of poverty because 24 years after the EDSA People’s Power Revolt, the majority of Filipinos are still below the poverty level and that sadly despite People’s Power, we are still a third world country.

Like it or not, the People’s Power Revolt targeted politicians who remained in political power for so long, who have amassed great fortune, while they have forgotten to improve the lot of the Filipino people. We can only thank our politicians today that have remained in power in the last 24 years, while the majority of us Filipinos wallow in poverty. So much for those so-called Millennium Goals, which we can only hope would work!

While in New York, Pres. Benigno “Noynoy” Aquino III also spoke before a group of American businessmen, declaring, “We have embarked on this journey to send a message to the world, particularly to our biggest trading partners, the United States of America: The Philippines is open for business!” This statement immediately got me into thinking… “When did Philippine business ever shut down its doors?” Maybe Pres. Aquino should have been more circumspect and told his audience that the Aquinos are back in power!

Let me make it clear… the Americans are not clueless about the Philippines; they know that we’ve long been opened for business! Business in the Philippines was never closed; in fact American business process outsourcing (BPO) businesses were pouring into the Philippines for the economic advantage that we have over our other competitors. But these are potential investments to the Philippines that we already developed in the last six years. What we need are new investments from the United States to show that they truly have confidence in our country. Of course, it must be said that this isn’t an easy task given the current realities of America’s economic woes.

If any, what P-Noy needs to do is look for other business investment opportunities with our ASEAN or Asian neighbors. China for one has a huge potential for investments, while a lot of Filipino entrepreneurs are also looking at business opportunities in China. These are socio-economic ties that we should develop. Of course, after the Aug. 23rd issue finally dies out.

Finally, I would really like to know who was the protocol officer who fumbled or bungled the way the Philippine Flag was displayed behind US President Barack Obama and President Aquino. The Philippine Flag was inverted with red side up, signifying that we are on a war footing. This is a faux pas that should never be allowed to pass unnoticed!

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