PHILIPPINE

DAILYINQUIRER

SATURDAYOCTOBER9, 20I O
0prnqroN
Thenext2,000davs
THERE AXI about2,190daysin a six-yearpresi boomsectorfor thePhilippines. Thegovernment
dentialterm.Thefirst 100daysusualiybecome estimatesthat as much as about three million
focalpointsof interestof mediaand otherob- square metersof addjtional officespace wouldbe
followinga traditionrootedin theUnited
servers needed to accommodate thisindustryin thenext
States,
starting
withthepresidency of FranklinD. six years.Clearly,demandis strong,The con-
Roosevelt.TheUSfacedsevereeconomic crises straintis supply-i.e., the numbersof qualified
thenandthenewlyelected. President RooseveltRObeftO E de OCAmpO -..liijii Filipinos thatthecountrycanproduceeachyear
promised t0 putthings onrherighttrackwithin ,.,,,1
to meetdemand. Here,themajorareas to address
hisfirst100daysin office.Thus,thebirthofthe arethe needfor a quantumincrease in appropri-
"first100days"mediamania. hardpressed to goon a differenttack."Thevision ateeducational coursesandfacilitiesandaneven
Well,P-Noy's first 100daysarenow up andthe presented at that meetingis of a Philippines en- moredynamicpro$amof strengthening ourEn-
surgeof first i00 dayscommentary flowethover.I joyinga high-growth economy (sustained at 7 to glishlanguage advantage.
am not partakingthereof.There'smore than 8 percentstarting2011),leadingto markedly Miningneedsa reviewof theMiningAct'sim-
enoughsruffon thatalreadyandI ieantowardthe lower levelsof poverryand higherlevelsof em- plementing rulesandregulations, aswell asin-
viewthat excessive importancegivento the first pioyment,and establishing its nichewithin a tensifiedgovernment-led promotionof continu-
100daysrisksthe maintenance of a short-term, competitiveglobal economyin the key areas ousdialogueandeducation amongmajorindus-
quick-fixmentalitythat ultimatelybecomes self- identified
asitscompetitive strengths. Thiswould try participants,local governments and church
deceiving, Wehavebigproblems rofix,insrirutions be accompanied by incessantanddetermined ef- leaders.
to build or rebuild,valuesto revisitandreinvigo- fortsto eradicatea mindsetand cultureof graft Housing at theminimumwouldneedrational-
rate,an appropriate nichein theglobaleconomic and corruption,a relianceon heaithypartner- izationof thenumbers andfunctions of themany
landscape to establish. And we needto rid our- shipswith the privatesector,andthe buildingof (perhapstoo many) publicentitiesinvolvedin
selves ofa penchant for hopingfor a politicalMes- muchneeded infrastructure. housingand the riseof appropriate housingfi-
siahto solveall ourwoes.P-Noyhasrepeatedlv Thesix identifiedkeyareasaretourism,BPO- nancialinstruments asvitalDartsof thedomestic
stressed that we areall in this tbgethe4'thathis IT services,electronics, mining, housingand capitalmarket.
would not be a presidency burdenedby either agribusiness. I thinkthislistreflects a realistic
as- Finally, agri-business
wiil remaina pipe-dream
Messianic delusionor self-importance. and that sessment of thePhilippines'competitive posirion- without a revisitingof the countrjs landreform
theoperational modeof govemance wouldbean ing, leaningas it doesmoretowardthe Philip- strategy that needsto beginto provideasmuch
honestday'swork on behalfof the nationandits pinesasa mainlyservices- ratherthanmanufac- emphasis on productiviry as it doeson owner-
peopleratherthana continuing circusofflamboy- turing-based economyHowever,eachof these siiip.Smallerholdingsresulting fromredistribu-
ance,photoopsandpoliticalmachination. key areasmustovercomeseriousconstraints for tionshouldbeenabled to consolidate to resuitin
Theseprovidea welcome moraltonefor thep- eachto proceedtowardits respective promised economies ofscalethatarebasicbuildinsblocks
Noyadministration's leadership,but toneis not 1an0. towarda vibrantagri-business sector.
enough. it mustbeaccompanied byvision.In oth- Thekeyconstraint to tourismis theabsence of Canthe P-Noyerapu1lit off?Well,indonesia
erwords,wemaybehappyto beledbyP-Noy, but a beneficialopen skiespolicy,the passage of jumped10ranksup injustthelastyear(from54
towardwhat?At a meeting withbusiness leaders, whichhadbeenthwartedtimeand againin the to 44) in the Global,Cornpetitiveness rankings,
bothlocalandforeign,priorto P-Noy's USvisit, pastby strongprotectionist lobbyrng onbehalfof with betterleadership andeffective implementa-
thePresident andhiseconomic managers provid- PhilippineAirlines,leavingthe government un- tion of soundeconomic strategies. Wecurrently
ed a glimpseof theadministrarion's straregy for ableto decidewhetheritspriorirywasprotecting rank85.Hasevenmatching Indonesia become a
thenext2,000dayswhichhopefully will resultin PALor promotingtoudsm.Sufficeit to saythat tallorderfor us?I hopenotl
thesortof positivechangein our country'sfuture without a sensibleopenskiespolicy,we cankiss
thatin hisownwordswill provide"a minimumof thetourismdreamgoodbye. RobertoF.deOcompo k at'ormerfinance secretqry
(good)governance that will be at sucha level Asfor BPO-lTsewices, includingeiectronics, it andwwFinance MinkteroftheYear in 1995, 1996
that any administration subsequentlv will be is nowcommonknowledgethatthisis a potential and1997,