Hopeful in ’24

L(Part 2)

ast week, we shared with our readers our elation over the results of the year-end survey done by the Social Weather Station (SWS). The survey, which was released just before the New Year, revealed that almost all Filipinos were set to welcome 2024 with a record-high level of optimism. As reported by both traditional and social media, 96 percent of the respondents in the SWS survey said they are hopeful that 2024 is going to be a better year.

One probable reason is the active participation of the private sector in the government’s aggressive infrastructure development initiatives. One of the most active participants here has been the San Miguel Group led by its chairman, Mr. Ramon S. Ang, affectionately referred to in business and philanthropic sectors as ‘RSA’. RSA steered the conglomerate beyond its traditional core business into a major infrastructure development concern. The group’s projects – finished, ongoing, and at the drawing board – contribute to the hope that travel will eventually be seamless and comfortable.

RSA celebrated his birthday last Sunday, Jan. 14. We wish him good health and more meaningful years to come as he continues to do his share in improving the quality of life of our fellow Filipinos.

We also cited in last week’s column the aggressive infrastructure development program of the national government. We pointed out that before the end of 2023, the Department of Transportation (DOTR) announced that it was “all systems go” for the North-south Commuter Rail (NSCR) project. Transportation Secretary Jaime Bautista and Undersecretary Jeremy Regino had spurred hope following statements that the department is determined to finish the project on time.

As mentioned, the NSCR is the 147-kilometer railway system that will connect Calamba City in the south and New Clark City in the north. Many of our Luzon-based countrymen are probably banking on the promise that the commute from south of Metro Manila to Central Luzon will take half the time it does today and that international air travelers can get to the Clark International Airport comfortably and fast through the NSCR’S Airport Express component.

The DOTR assurance is a source of hope because that particular rail project had difficult beginnings. It was started in the 1990s and met serious setbacks along the way. It looks like it will finally commence under the present administration and that makes for a lot of hopefulness for a traffic-strangled public.

The second reason we mentioned was the soft-launching last December of the first phase of the National Fiber Backbone (NFB) project of the Department of Information and Communication Technology (DICT). We said we are hopeful that once the NFB is completed, highly efficient internet services will be more available to national government agencies and local government units. We also noted that the project will bring us closer to the aspiration for Free Public Internet Access.

We singled out transportation and communication infrastructure projects because these two sectors play a major role in spurring social and economic progress. Get people and goods to their destination efficiently and comfortably; help them use the best technologies available to communicate – these will advance commerce and social interaction.

In today’s column, we offer a third possible reason for the high levels of hope pervading our country today, based on the SWS survey.

It is President Bongbong Marcos Jr.’s resolute pursuit of economic development opportunities for the country.

One of the recent moves by the President which points to this direction was the creation of a special advisory office to help him with his efforts at spurring further growth in partnership with the private sector.

At the same time, he named a Special Assistant to the President for Investment and Economic Affairs in the person of Frederick Go who, we understand, will have a cabinet rank.

The local business community has warmly welcomed the move by the President. George Barcelon, president of the Philippine Chamber of Commerce and Industry, said the President’s move has given them “an additional channel” through which they can relay the concerns that their group hopes the government would address with urgency. Employers Confederation of the Philippines president Sergio Ortiz-luis echoed the positive sentiment, saying “If he (Go) has the President’s ear, then it will be good for us”. Robert Young of the Foreign Buyers Association of the Philippines lauded the President’s choice, saying Secretary Go “has strong credentials and has been “exceptional at his job”.

Secretary Go was head of the Robinsons Land Corporation before his appointment to the advisory post.

Secretary Go’s appointment gave the investor community two important signals. First, that the President is truly focused on the economy. Second, he has strong support from the business sector. That strong support, in turn, gives us hope that national government policies will be attuned to the aspirations of the engines of growth.

There will be major challenges this year, 2024. Our view is we have sufficient hope to overcome those challenges.