We need a miracle to be an economic miracle

The World Economic Forum (WEF) on East Asia is over and done with. So folks, you can roll back the red carpet now because the 700 foreign delegates are either leaving today or have left yesterday so we can return back to our normal selves and continue living with the Aquino regime’s economic policies that have widened the gap between the rich and the poor.

I’ll bet that when those delegates get back to their respective homes they would find some comfort in what they found out here in the Philippines. that the reality is, for as long as the Aquino regime stays on the same course, no matter how robust our economy is, we won’t be a threat to their respective countries in the world market. They know that we just can’t fix ourselves

One of the biggest stumbling blocks to our economic growth is the imbalance in infrastructure development, which is sadly concentrated only in Metro Manila. Come on, this government couldn’t even fix the nation’s premier international airport, the Ninoy Aquino International Airport (NAIA) in the last four years, which has been dubbed as worst international airport in the world.” Surely those delegates saw that with their own eyes. As for the rest of the Visayas and Mindanao… we are not a priority under this Presidency. Just look how many more months Mindanao have to suffer through 10-hour brownouts with no solution in sight.

Last Thursday morning I was watching live on TV the opening ceremonies of the World Economic Forum for East Asia (WEF) and ANC had a message scrolling below the screen which blared, “The Philippines the next economic Miracle of Asia.” Then another slogan was on people’s mouths, The Philippines is open for business ” Apparently, this was the mantra for Filipino businessmen and government offi cials who joined the WEF.

I fully agree with those who say that we could be the next economic miracle in Asia, because we Catholics know that it would take a miracle from God to turn our nation around and be at par with our ASEAN neighbors. I am normally an optimistic person, but just take a good look at the headlines of BusinessWorld last Thursday, which blared, Philippines slips in competitiveness.” That headline immediately tells you that there is something gravely wrong with the economic policies of the Aquino regime.

I heard Finance Secretary Cesar V. Purisima boast on TV that the robust economic growth of the Philippines was due to the acceptance of the good governance policies and leadership of President Aquino. Of course, he was pulling the legs of those foreign delegates. What else can we expect him to say? He had to toe the yellow line and proceed with their usual propaganda… that things are doing well for the Philippines.

Perhaps he has not yet read the front page news of BusinessWorld about our slip in competitiveness rankings, which was quite an embarrassing report coming from the 2014 World Competitiveness Yearbook (WCY) where the Philippines now ranked number 42 out of 60 economies…down by 4 notches from last year’s rank of number 38 out of 60 economies. Now isn’t this piece of news very embarrassing for us Filipinos?

The irony here is that President Aquino can’t blame this on his predecessor former President Gloria Macapagal Arroyo. It just makes you wonder what P-Noy would talk about in his coming State of the Nation Address (SONA) by the end of June? A month ago, former President Fidel V. Ramos (FVR) said that we should appreciate” President Aquino… but I’ve been looking around for something to appreciate the President, but I’m having trouble finding out what thing to appreciate from Mr. Aquino. Perhaps FVR should tell us what it is?

Also in the same front page news just below the banner story, there was another report that blared, Growth seen to have slowed,” which should be more bad news for the Aquino regime because those reports came smack in time for the opening of WEF. With our economic growth slowing down and our competitiveness ranking dropping by 4 notches, there wasn’t really much for us Filipinos to crow about. In short whatever good policies the Aquino regime has introduced isn’t working for our people’s benefit.

Finally on that other mantra that the Philippines was open for business, how many times have Filipino businessmen been saying this slogan? If you recall, no less than President Aquino in his first SONA also made a similar statement. Come now… how many times should we make a public announcement that the Philippines is open for business? With the world already wired through the Internet, surely those foreign delegates already knew that we were open for business. However, with the cost of power so excessively high… with a government bureaucracy running amuck with nearly impossible requirements, foreign investors aren’t taking the bait.

E- mail: vsbobita@ mozcom. com or vsbobita@gmail.com.