Who’s our torch bearer?

Typhoons, landslides, torrential rains, catastrophic floods, deaths, properties destroyed. Corruptions scandals, explosive investigations and media wars. Mass protests, religious expressions of strong positions, academic discourses, political maneuverings and systematic intrigues and bickering.

We are now in the midst of a destructive, vicious cycle where the road to progress and full recovery is mired in the mud of obstacles and blinded by deadly smoke of conflicting interests and views. Almost zero visibility. Our people are once more being made to merely survive and become oblivious of the world that has left us behind.

The basic issues that plagued our nation decades ago are the same hindrances that deprive us of enjoying an inclusive and vibrant economy. The benefits of a liberal economic regime have yet to cascade to the homes of Filipinos. We are farthest from that.

The statistics will not lie

The numbers are clear. More than 17 million of our countrymen are poor. Regardless of the final definition of the poverty threshold from the National Economic Development Authority (NEDA), we can visually see the meaning of poverty in many corners of our urban centers.

Informal settlers, more than 4.5 million, are scattered all over the country. And growing instead of decreasing. These communities, unfortunately, usually breed lawlessness and propagate hopelessness. Most of them are internal migrants from the countryside because, once upon a time in the past, they dreamed that the cities would help them fulfill what the rural areas couldn’t provide. They aspired to be free from the proverbial bondage of the soil. Remember, in the Philippines, to become farmer is almost synonymous to being poor. More than 10 million agricultural workers suffer from the disparity between decently paid workers or employees in the cities and the tillers of the farmlands whose daily income of less than P400 will always not suffice to afford the costs of rudimentary education, decent housing, basic medical care and let’s include human dignity. No wonder why the longest communist insurgency thrived in these areas.

Recently, our Gross Domestic Product (GDP) slowed down to four percent, lowest in four years. The economic slowdown surely indicates that the impact of all the ongoing issues has started to challenge the confidence of the business sector. Investors would naturally look elsewhere, other options for their destinations, because of the uncertainties in our environment. This is coupled with our continuing budget deficit and ballooning national debt of at least P17 trillion.

Meanwhile, we are kept afloat by the remittances of more than two million overseas Filipino workers (OFWs) who courageously took their chances in venturing abroad. Annually, we are lucky to receive around $17-20 billion from them. These hard currencies help stabilize an economy that is structurally weak because we don’t have a solid industrial base, consumer driven, fledgling manufacturing sector and an agricultural industry that is trapped in the past and could hardly provide any surplus for the export, even domestic, market.

Be strategically focused

Our problems are persistent, and they occur simultaneously. Protests and rallies are scheduled one after the other. Our people would want to be heard and participate in resolving our collective problems. And understandably, results are expected and demanded, especially from the Independent Commission for Infrastructure (ICI) headed by the former Supreme Court Justice Andy Reyes. I’m confident that he will deliver fair and just recommendations either to the Sandiganbayan or the ombudsman. Meanwhile, we have to endure the successive onslaught of natural calamities that have claimed the lives of more than 200 Filipinos already and ruined billions worth of properties and livelihood, aside from the psychological trauma that these deadly typhoons and earthquake caused.

The road map towards our real progress as a nation should reach several milestones. We have to revisit our organic law and rid our Constitution of the provisions that block our march forward. For example, liberalize ownership of real properties and corporate ownership. Let’s also re-engineer the structure of our government simply because it keeps on failing. The problem is no longer on the drivers of our political engine. It’s the engine itself.

Let’s cease from believing that elections, in the current form and system where personalities dominate instead of party platforms, shall deliver the changes we need. Time to seriously consider drastic and structural solutions such as adopting a federal and parliamentary form of government, decentralize political power and democratize economic controls. Election reforms, believe me, will not be enough. As I mentioned before, doing the same thing twice and expecting a different result is foolish. We have conducted our elections not only twice.

We are all anxious on how we shall survive our present travails, both natural and self-inflicted. There’s no panacea that will instantly cure the illnesses that we suffer from. The higher challenge is how we can look beyond the horizon and chart our strategic course. But who, in the middle of all the noise and confusion, will lead the way?