EDITORIAL - No one’s lackey

Setting the mood for this year’s celebration of Independence Day, president-elect Rodrigo Duterte has said the country under his watch will not be anyone’s “lackey.” Any sovereign state should pursue this policy. This must be matched, however, by efforts to make the nation progressive enough to be able to stand on its own feet.

Since revolutionary president Emilio Aguinaldo declared Philippine independence from Spain 118 years ago today, the country has taken its own place in the community of nations. We now live in a global village where nations have become increasingly inter-dependent. Still, there are aspects of nationhood in which states must have self-reliant capability.

To this day, the country continues to depend on others for many of its needs, including emergency response during disasters, development efforts and poverty alleviation, food security and climate resilience, and yes, external defense.

Unable to generate enough employment and livelihood opportunities, the country has sent a tenth of its population overseas for jobs – even to states where different values and social systems open Filipino migrant workers to abuse and discrimination.

The past six years have been marked by sustained growth and generally positive economic performance. Still, the nation remains the laggard among the five founding members of the Association of Southeast Asian Nations in terms of many economic and human development indicators. Our neighbors, after throwing off the yoke of colonial rule, have powered their way to self-reliant progress, giving deeper meaning to their celebrations of independence.

Today the nation is once again at the crossroads, with an incoming leadership promising change. Winning the presidency by the widest margin ever, the new chief executive is assured of public support, at least in the early part of his term, for difficult reforms that he plans to implement. He is expected to build on the gains achieved under the watch of his predecessor, and to strengthen the foundations of independence.