America votes: Will we see a new President?

Today there will be a necrological service for former Cebu City Councilor Bienvenido “Bing Bing” Tudtud who was one of the longest serving councilors in Cebu City that I have known from 1963-1986 and was the first “Teniente del Barrio” of Talamban. One can say that Noy Bing Bing as he was fondly called was “Mr. Talamban” having lived there almost all his entire life. If you live in Talamban today and don’t know him, then you are not from Talamban. He was also a known World War II Veteran. My family’s heartfelt condolences to his family, Amy & Romy Bersonda, Nelson & Alona, Laverne & Backie Rosello, Bonita Porras and Helen & Corrdao Ciotti. May we request the pious reader to please pray for the repose of his soul.

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Today, Americans will decide whether to reelect US Pres. Barrack Obama or replace him with Republican challenger Mitt Romney in what is perhaps the most crucial elections that American has ever seen in decades. Both Presidential candidates are in what we call a “Statistical dead heat” meaning, the White House is literally a toss between the two… with the votes of the undecided playing a most crucial role.

If Americans will choose US Pres. Barrack Obama, it would mean that they would have another four years in the economic doldrums. Pres. Obama won the Presidency four years ago with a big promise of change. This was coming from a first term Senator who had no track record in the Senate and yet, despite his zero performance, he had four years as President of the United States and continued with his zero performance especially in getting back the US economy on its feet.

If American still chooses Barrack Obama over Mitt Romney, then one can say that the American economy will continue to stagflate, which has been happening in the last four years. Here at home, we’d rather have America choose a new President, in the hope that their economy would improve under a new leadership back to the Republicans. A strong America is good for us.

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Pres. Benigno “Noynoy” Aquino, III is in Laos for the 9th Asia-Europe Meeting (ASEM) in the hope that he can woo European investors by showing the European participants the reforms he has implemented to fight corruption and alleviate the lives of Filipinos. I can only wish him luck. Europe is in a financial bind with the Euro losing so much in just one year. I was in Paris last year and got my Euros at P62 to 1 Euro, but a couple of weeks ago while we were in Rome, the Euro had plummeted down from last year to only P52 to 1 Euro.

If there is one thing that Pres. PNoy cannot do with the European leadership it is to tell them that all is well in the Philippines. Come now, we are still at the top of the list of countries that is so difficult for foreign investors to invest because of an inherent bureaucracy and stringent legal laws. Only last Sept. 29, 2011 PDI columnist Mon Tulfo came up with a column “Why Foreigners Don’t Invest in the Philippines.”

Tulfo said in that piece, “Ours is not an investor-friendly government and country. Potential investors will have to reckon with corrupt officials at the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC), Department of Trade & Industry (DTI) and Bureau of Customs (BoC), which will assess the machinery and equipment to be brought in. Potential investors will have to bribe officials of towns and cities where foreign-owned companies will be set up.

Even Barangay officials will have to be bribed for a business permit to be released. You think that’s the end of it?  No sir! We have one of the highest power rates in the world; so much of the investor’s expenses will be for the payment of electric bills. What also drive away Foreign Investments are our militant employees. They stage strikes and walkouts once they see their company is earning.” The reason why I got this quote from Mon Tulfo is to show that we are not alone in this way of thinking. If this is happening to Metro Manila, I’m sure that it is happening elsewhere.

Proof that things do not really augur well for the Philippines is the reality that a couple of weeks ago right after the canonization of San Pedro Calungsod, there were many Filipinos who were given a Shengen visa who literally “jumped ship” and are now considered “Tago-ng-Tago” in Rome. No wonder that the Italian Embassy was so strict when we secured our visas for Rome. Anyway, I will still give PNoy the benefit of the doubt.

But the reality is that, the economy of Spain our former colonizer is so bad, 25% of Spaniards are out of work. Greece has been in a financial bind for more than a year ago. France itself isn’t in a good financial shape. Perhaps the only country in Europe experiencing a good economy is Germany, which of course has to help its Euro neighbors. So good luck to PNoy!

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