Duterte on inclusive growth, globalization

WE have long known President Duterte to be a shrewd political leader, anti-crime fighter particularly against drug operations, and advocate of strong and effective government. Last week, in Vietnam, we saw him in a new light as he spoke on globalization and its ill effects at the Asia-Pacific, Economic Conference (APEC) CEO Summit in Da Nang, Vietnam.

Globalization, he said, may have been generally beneficial for the world economy, but it has had adverse effects on some economies, including the Philippines. Growth has not been equal or inclusive, he said. Growth has been much greater in some countries, so that countries like the Philippines have suffered a “brain drain” as skilled Filipino workers migrated to rich nations.

“We must ensure that globalization does not just lead to wealth generation but, equitably, wealth distribution as well,” he said. He stressed the need for an “inclusive environment where everyone has the opportunity for growth. This could be achieved through the promotion of competition, complementation, and cooperation in business.

The President said he would pursue this matter further in his meetings with leaders of the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) in Manila. “If Europe can do it with its Union and America is starting to revive its industries, why can’t we, the ASEAN, do it?” he asked.

President Duterte cited one point in his comments on globalization which, he said, is of particular to Southeast Asian nations. They should review, he said, their present practice of exporting raw materials to industrialized countries, only to import finished products made from the raw materials at four times the value.

Last March, at the height of the dispute between then Secretary of Environment and Natural Resources Gina Lopez and the mining industry, the Chamber of Commerce of the Philippine Islands, the oldest business organization in the country, made a proposal. We should not just export raw ore from our mines, it said. We should process the ores and produce iron, copper, nickel, and other metals used to make finished products. At a further level of our economic development, we could one day produce the finished products themselves.

The President’s thoughts on globalization and proposals for economic development will, we hope, augur a new phase in the Duterte administration.

The anti-drugs drive, the campaign on corruption, the efforts for national security through settlement of our age-old disputes with rebel groups – these led the movement for change for which President Duterte won election in 2016. With his words on globalization at the APEC Summit in Vietnam and his call to move on to processing our raw materials, we look forward to greater efforts by the government for economic development.

National economic growth will, in turn, lead to a better life for our people.