Among the worst

After the Philippines recently bagged two dubious honors for being among the world’s worst, boxing champion Manny Pacquiao saved the day, although even some of his Filipino fans were dismayed by the nature of his victory yesterday.

Filipinos are no different from everyone else; we take pride in having one of our own honored as the world’s best.

Sometimes we can take this to extremes, as when we express nasty resentment over having our contestants lose in beauty pageants. One thing worse than losing is being a sore loser. (Okay, violent losers, such as football hooligans, are the worst.)

Like everyone else, Pinoys also don’t relish being dubbed as the world’s worst. We’ve had a double whammy recently: NAIA was picked by Cable News Channel’s travel website CNNGo as the world’s worst airport, while the country was picked by US business channel CNBC as one of the five worst for doing business among the world’s 50 largest economies.

I wish I could say that the airport ranking covers only those in relatively safe travel destinations. As far as I know, the Ninoy Aquino International Airport is still better than the one in the Afghan capital Kabul. But Iraqi Ambassador Wadee Al Batti has told me with pride that the airport in Baghdad, which for security reasons is officially still off-limits to Filipino workers and tourists, is way larger and more modern than our international airport in Manila.

Even Aden Adde, the former Mogadishu International Airport in Somalia’s capital, is currently undergoing major rehabilitation and might soon eclipse the NAIA.

As I’ve written recently, there have in fact been some improvements at the NAIA’s main terminal, particularly in the toilets and overall cleanliness. But compared with other airports particularly in this part of Asia, which is home to several of the world’s best airports (Seoul-Incheon and Singapore Changi are among the top two), the NAIA is a cramped, impoverished cousin, even in its airline lounges.

There’s little room for expansion, but certain amenities can still be introduced. The key is to make a traveler’s stay at the NAIA as comfortable as possible. Travelators may be too much to ask, but additional escalators and even elevators can be installed including at Terminal II. Carry-on luggage can be heavy and an escalator can save travelers from a painful frozen shoulder (women also call the affliction shopper’s arm). A cheaper alternative is to provide small carts for carry-on luggage while moving around the terminal.

Communication is of utmost importance these days, and free Internet access or wifi spots will be appreciated. There are ways of automatically limiting access to about 15 minutes per user. Internet outlets were introduced in the departure area but I’ve never tried them and I’ve rarely seen people using them. They’re probably too slow or clunky to use.

At the arrival area, airport authorities will have to end the chaos that spills over from the parking lot to the end of the ramp outside the main exit from the NAIA 1 arrival hall. The appalling lack of discipline in this country becomes evident starting at that point. The chaos is a most unwelcome way of greeting visitors to our country.

At least I haven’t received complaints recently from foreigners about being harassed or shaken down by Customs and immigration personnel at the airport, or worse, being waylaid by robbers along C-5.

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Personal security is also a concern of investors in this country, but not the main one. That CNBC ranking was based on the World Bank’s latest annual Ease of Doing Business survey, which ranked the Philippines a dismal 148^th among 183 economies in ease of starting, running and shutting down a business.

When President Aquino assumed office, members of his economic team correctly observed that one of their biggest hurdles is restoring investor confidence.

That confidence has been shaken by years of flip-flopping on business policies, poor regulation, a weak judicial system and corruption.

The tepid response to the flagship public-private partnership (PPP) program, on which P-Noy’s administration had initially pinned much hope, shows that investor confidence still has not been restored to the levels desired by the nation’s new management.

As the CNBC noted, the Philippines has attracted one of the lowest levels of foreign direct investment (FDI) in the past year among the 10-member Association of Southeast Asian Nations.

Apart from long-entrenched weaknesses in the general business environment, local governments have aggravated the problem, imposing their own roadblocks to FDI especially if the foreign investments would adversely affect the family businesses of local politicians.

P-Noy and his economic team will have to deal with these politicians with a combination of carrot and stick, to make them ease restrictions on doing business for locals and foreigners alike.

Competition for job-generating investments will become stiffer amid Europe’s debt crisis, America’s continuing economic woes and sustained unrest in the Arab world. Already we are feeling the impact of global economic problems in our worst export performance in two years.

We don’t have to remain among the world’s worst in anything. We just have to work harder at being better.