All parties unite

VIENNA – It did not surprise me that the turbulent political situation back home (via texting) should dog the delegation led by Speaker JDV throughout their journey in Europe. Happily this did not faze them. The group worked as a team regardless of political affiliation and presented themselves effectively to their counterparts here in Europe. Everywhere they went, they spoke and acted for one country, the Philippines – Speaker JDV of Lakas-CMD, oppositionist Rep. Rolex Suplico, the deputy minority leader from the fifth district of Iloilo, Rep. Janet Garin, Rep. Monico Puentebella, Rep. Juan Miguel Zubiri, Rep. Biron and Rep. Augusto Baculio. Because they acted as one, they were taken seriously by their hosts. Indeed, when Speaker JDV requested that Rep. Suplico be at his side when he received an award from the President of the French National Assembly Jean Louis Debre, the latter quipped "now I know why you have been elected speaker of the house four times!"

But joking aside, it was good for outsiders to know that Filipinos could work together if they wanted to. It showed that despite the political turbulence back home of warring politicians, Filipinos can be trusted upon to rise above personal interests. The Europeans I spoke to told me there are great possibilities for such a country and that having met the multiparty group in person they were disposed to re-think their evaluation. This has been largely shaped by media criticism that dismissed the Philippines is a country that cannot get its act together.

Indeed, it was oppositionist Rep. Rolex T. Suplico of Iloilo who told this column that the de Venecia-led road show was very timely. ODA, coming from traditional sources (primarily coming from Japan) had just about been exhausted and other sources had to be found if projects, roads, health care, etc. for their constituencies were to be sustained. Still, with the cellphone phenomenon (by the way, the Philippines, as the texting capital of the world has the most advanced systems and resources topping even developed countries like France, etc) their political conflicts were never far behind them. I saw for myself the congressmen in action belying Manila media hype focused on the worst of them. One newspaper report even said the group was asking for debt relief (far from the truth) and that they were too late ( grossly wrong). What they were about as propounded Speaker JDV was for debt for equity not debt relief. It is a new thrust and cannot ever be too late. The reporter was probably referring to the Bush-Blair debt relief recently for the poorest African nations but as JDV explained the Philippine argument for debt for equity is a second wave of tackling economic support for developing nations.

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For example in conversations with the Austrians, the Speaker JDV-led group stressed that their mission was how to put together an innovative tripartite funding from Austria, their German partners and the Vienna-based OPEC Foundation for the railway system in Visayas and Mindanao. The meeting with OPEC’s Director General, Dr. Suleiman Jasir Al-Herbish was groundbreaking especially insofar as the Philippines was concerned because of its unique relations with Saudi Arabia and should be worked on in the days ahead. The OPEC Foundation through the years has grown as a source of funds for developing countries.

Its work in providing for the road system in Ethiopia is a good model to follow for what the Philippines seeks from them. Its lack of roads, one of the lowest in the world, was seen as a stumbling block to development, no matter how much aid is poured into the country. Well, the Philippines is not as poor as Ethiopia but it comes close to its desperate need for a transportation infrastructure what is envisioned for Visayas and Mindanao. Happily, in recent years, OPEC officials understand the predicament. Transportation projects have commanded the largest share of OPEC development financing. Even if there were ceilings to their grants, its support would be a magnet to attract other funds from other sources. There is the added fillip that the Philippines and Saudi Arabia have unique relations with more than a million Filipinos working there.

Its role will be increasingly significant to provide the push to achieve the United Nations Millennium Development Goals. It commits the international community to aim for reducing world poverty by half by 2015. The Philippines has been regarded as an exceptional example of a country pushing for the United Nations program.

A lot of work is still to be done but as Speaker JDV told OPEC and other potential financial partners, we can achieve those goals only with their help. Moreover these would be in equitable terms. The Visayas-Mindanao railway system will depend on just how seriously the UN program is taken seriously by groups like the OPEC.

The Philippine delegation of Visayan and Mindanao officials were able to demonstrate in their meetings that a combination of concessional financing in the form of loans, credits, grants, equity and foreign direct investments may be the answer. As countries like the Philippines struggle to strengthen their economies, open their markets and the pressures of globalization, they need increased support from both traditional and non-traditional donors. That was the Filipinos’ message to OPEC.

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Happily with enough persistence, things may be looking up for the Philippines. One of the highlights of the visit to Vienna included the signing of a memorandum of understanding between Austria as represented by State Secretary MAG. Eduard Mainoni of the Austrian Federal Ministry for Transport, Innovation and Technology (BMVIT) and Philippine Department of Transportation and Communications (DOTC) as represented by Transportation Assistant Secretary Mamondiong who hails from Mindanao. The MOU enjoins both parties to continue working to achieve a bilateral railway cooperation agreement in due time. It will start off with the establishment of a bilateral joint working group and a project list, indicating projects to be implemented ‘bilaterally under commercial conditions and supported by both parties within their legal possibilities.’ High in the project list is the opening of a railway institute, the first in Asia, which would train future railway personnel crucial to a well-run transportation system

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OBITUARY TO CARDINAL SIN – I finish this column with an obituary to Cardinal Sin whose death I found out by accident on my way to beautiful Lake Como. He must be taken for what he is – a man of religion with all the strengths and weaknesses that come with it. Cardinal Sin’. As a man of religion he was the catalyst needed to unite Filipinos against failed governance. Paradoxically, that strength also made him irrelevant as the country confronted more secular political and economic problems spawned through the years. Then as now, the separation of church and state in the Philippines is as clear as muddy water and can be said to be one of the drawbacks for a country desperately needing to modernize.

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