Merrill Lynch and Charter change

It isn’t just because I am an advocate but it was good to read Merrill Lynch endorsing Charter change. Bankers, especially with the reputation of the London-based group, are usually not disposed to make political statements. They’re there for the business regardless of the politics of a country so long as it is good business to invest there. It happens that good investments in the Philippines also need good politics. Investments require a sustaining and stable environment that we cannot have if we were to continue with the presidential system. When a banker says it is good to invest in the Philippines because of the possibility that Charter change will succeed and shift the country to a parliamentary system, you can be sure some hard thinking has come with it.

UK-based strategist Benoit Anne also commented on "President Arroyo’s unpopularity" which may rile the Opposition but as far as they are concerned "this has not translated into heightened political risk." What that means is that the popularity or unpopularity of a president has less to do with economic success than the stability when Charter change shifts the Philippines from presidential to parliamentary government.

Moreover, they did not think another impeachment against Arroyo would succeed. The chances of her being impeached were quite limited, the report said. Consequently, Merrill Lynch reaffirmed its "overweight," buy, recommendation on the Philippines. Good for us. Anne agrees with the political analysis that Charter change would have a 50 percent probability of success. But here is the whopper of this analysis: Charter change, Anne said would be a positive development.

"The move to a parliamentary system would contribute to the streamlining of the decision-making process, as it would lead to a merger of both houses," she said. "It would also be cost-effective."

This hard analysis of an outsider who does political analysis for a living is more believable than senators who continue to resist political reforms by the swan song that "economic reforms" should be enough. It flies in the face of bankers Merrill Lynch’s analysis and many others that economic reforms without political reforms are enough. These may succeed initially but in time return us to square one. Why can’t the senators accept the challenge of change instead of whining on a lost cause to keep them in power?

* * *

Inshallah, Mr. Ambassador. President GMA and her entourage will visit a different Libya. The new political winds blowing in that country spanned a period from the time Imelda Marcos courted Libyan strongman Muammar Gaddafi to broker a Tripoli agreement between the Marcos government and the MNLF and today. It is being increasingly talked about as the next democracy in the Middle East seeking closer ties with the West. In that span of time, HE Salem Adam was the Libyan ambassador to Manila. During his stint an Office of the World Islamic Call Society was opened here and memorandums of understanding signed between the two countries on political consultations and intelligence. He helped to bring Muslim leaders together, especially the MNLF and the MILF, who met with Leader Gaddafi twice in Tripoli. He thinks highly of our quality of education and got his Ph.D. from the University of the Philippines.

He speaks Pilipino, wears his ‘Filipino barong’ well and counts many Filipino friends. He was ambassador here twice, first in March 1984 to August 1990 and then again in January 2000 up to the present time shortly after the hostage crisis. It is not well known it was the Libyans led by Gaddafi’s son, Saif al-Islam Gaddafi who came here to help secure the release of the hostages. It is well known that he is the driving force behind new initiatives to modernize Libya. His work has been acclaimed through a development foundation that has helped thousands of poor Muslims around the world. .

* * *

If you think only underdeveloped or developing countries are into bicycles, you are wrong. The revolution, more a return to bicycles is now in Britain. I remember the shock I received while on a visit to Beijing and saw the thousands and thousands of bicycling commuters in the rush hour. These were not shunted into a narrow corner of the road but were occupying wide bicycle lanes. Independent says "Britain is in the grip of a cycling revolution as clogged roads, concern at global warming caused by air pollution and the quest for improved fitness persuade millions to opt for pedal power."

This is something our government could emulate and plan for now not just because of the rising cost of fuel but also for health reasons. There would be many more Manila cyclists if the infrastructure for bicycles as a means of transport were made possible. I can’t see that if first world Britons opted for it, why not us who can use the precious dollars for other things. Apart from the great savings it is also the only answer to the infernal pollution of our city.

There was a time when bicycles simply went out of fashion and were considered the vehicle of the delivery man. But not anymore. In the UK there has been such a dramatic leap in commuters and leisure cyclists. But first the government had to help by allocating a network of cycle routes. In London, trips by bike have increased by 50 percent in five years to 450,000 per day. Still Londoners are complaining the government has not done enough to meet the demands of the changing lifestyle with the explosion of bikers. One of the demands was for wider road space for the cyclists, I suppose like it is in Beijing. Manila would do very well to revive bicycles more than any other country with the pollution that is said to be behind an explosion of pulmonary diseases.

Not surprisingly experts say the bicycle boom in Britain is also driven by "the "feel-good" effect of getting fit and reducing the impact on the environment. Traffic is another factor driving the Britons to take to the bicycle. It is quicker, cheaper and more pleasant way to get around with a bicycle than a car in jammed roads and overcrowded buses and trains.

"I usually try to cycle the 13 miles to work each day from where I live in Oxfordshire," says Ed Lehmann, a chemical engineer from Stanford-in-the-Vale, who has cycled for 44 years. "I love it because it gives me the vigor of someone 10 years younger". He read in one study that bicycling will give him a longer and active life expectancy, 15 years more than one who does not.

* * *

We will soon have an electronic central repository in the DFA of treaties and agreements entered into by the Philippines since 1946. Prior to this, it was done manually and usually unavailable to our embassies and researchers. A memorandum of agreement will be signed between the DFA, the Foreign Service Institute and the Philippine Ambassadors Foundation on Tuesday, June 23 at the Supreme Court Session Hall.

My email is [email protected]